Should You Leave Sauna Door Open Or Closed?

To maintain the cleanliness of your sauna room, you need to be mindful of the temperature, humidity, and tidiness of the space. The sauna door does not seem like a huge factor in maintenance, but it can help keep your sauna healthy. Do you keep the door open or closed?

When you are done using your sauna, keep the door open until it cools down, then close it. Leave it open so the sauna can cool down and let humidity escape. Close it when it cools so no unwanted dust particles or bugs get inside. While you are using your sauna, you can keep the door closed to contain the heat.

The rest of this article will cover the benefits of keeping a sauna door open, the benefits of keeping a sauna door closed, and 5 essential tips for sauna maintenance.

Table of Contents

Benefits of Keeping the Sauna Door Open

open sauna door
There are several benefits to keeping the sauna door open (Image source)

When you choose to keep a sauna door open, you are allowing more heat to escape. If you are someone who wants to relax in your sauna without overheating, you should consider keeping your sauna door open and monitoring the temperature to get the best results.

Whether you are in a sauna for a short or long time, you should keep the door open if you’re worried about the high temperatures. The small room gets hot very quickly and it can overwhelm your body if you aren’t careful.

Another benefit of leaving the sauna door open is letting the harmful particles out. Since you’re going in and out of the sauna often, you’re bringing dust and germs inside. You’re giving the particles an exit so they can leave the sauna when you’re done using it.

Lastly, one benefit of leaving the sauna door open is airing it out. A way to maintain your sauna is to air it out after using it. Airing your sauna out will speed up the drying process. It will also prevent too much condensation from building up on the door, which can cause damage.

Benefits of Keeping a Sauna Door Closed

Keeping a sauna door closed keeps unwanted dust particles from slipping inside. If you’ve ever been to a gym sauna, you’ll see that the users keep the door closed to trap the heat and keep outside contaminants out. In a gym, there are more harmful particles, therefore justifying the shut door.

One benefit of keeping a sauna door closed is that it increases the heat in the room and can help fight infections. Sauna rooms can actually help relieve sinus infections. The increased heat relieves the pressure in your upper body, especially your head.

There’s also keeping the sauna door closed after usage. Keeping the door closed right after turning it off is not recommended since the sauna won’t dry as fast or air out the harmful particles. However, when the sauna airs out, it’s better to keep the door shut.

One benefit of keeping your sauna room door closed after using it is keeping it safe from outside particles. Like the gym example, the area surrounding your sauna could have harmful particles, especially if people or bugs are walking by it.

People spread germs just by touching surfaces, so if someone is going inside your sauna to check it out, it can be harmful to the sauna. You can keep unwanted visitors out, whether those visitors be people, bugs, or particles that will make your sauna dirty.

5 Essential Tips for Sauna Maintenance

clean your sauna regularly
Clean your sauna regularly (Image source)

To maintain your sauna, you should do the following: keep a large supply of towels, wear proper clothes, air out your sauna, wash your feet, and maintain the interior.

  • When you’re sitting in a humid environment, your body sweats. Although there are cases of people not sweating in saunas for various reasons, your body is going to naturally sweat as long as the sauna is functioning properly. Keep towels nearby to wipe up the sweat since it can harm the sauna.
  • To help keep dirt out of your sauna, go barefoot inside. You should wear little clothing, such as a bathing suit, and keep one of those towels underneath you so you don’t sweat on the bench. Make sure no matter what you wear, you bring as little dirt as possible inside.
  • Airing out your sauna will increase the speed of the drying process. Open the door and any vents so you can speed up the drying. From there, wipe down areas in the sauna that are moist or dirty. After the sauna is aired out, check the door and make sure it closes properly. If it doesn’t, wipe it down.
  • Washing your feet may seem trivial, but it helps keep the floors of your sauna clean. Think of your sauna as a carpeted floor. You wouldn’t want to get dirty over carpets since they’re hard to clean. The same applies to saunas. Wash and dry your feet before entering to reduce the germs.
  • Lastly, maintaining the interior of the sauna will keep it clean and healthy for a longer period of time. Be careful with what products you use. Use light cleaning supplies, like mild dish detergent and water, to clean the inside of your sauna. 

Conclusion

Sauna doors should be kept open right after use so the humidity can escape. When the room has cooled down, you should close the door again to prevent excess moisture and dust from coming inside the room. This will keep your sauna room healthy and clean.

There are benefits to keeping the sauna door both open and closed during and after the sauna’s active time. Keeping the sauna door open helps those who are sensitive to the heat, and keeping it closed traps the heat for those who like hotter saunas.

To better maintain your sauna, you should use towels to clean up, wear the proper clothes to prevent dirt from contaminating the area, air out your sauna, wash your feet before going in, and maintain the interior to prevent it from deteriorating.

(Featured image by Akshay Bineesh from Pexels)

15% OFF on HigherDose Sauna Products
Exclusive For Our Readers
saunahacks
15% OFF on HigherDose Sauna Products
Exclusive For Our Readers
saunahacks
Scroll to Top