Steam Or Sauna?

[ThaiPauly]

We are currently in the process of constructiong a room to house a saua or a steam room.

Does anyone have any ideas on which is the most theraputic?

Many Thanks

TP

[pumpuiman]

I grew up with a sauna in my home. My family is Finnish, and swear by the dry heat. I would wager maintenance costs are cheaper with a sauna as well. You can still enjoy an occasional "steaming" with the sauna, by pouring some water over the stones.....be sure to buy a stove made to handle the occasional dousing.

[Pink Mist]

I grew up with a sauna in my home. My family is Finnish, and swear by the dry heat. I would wager maintenance costs are cheaper with a sauna as well. You can still enjoy an occasional "steaming" with the sauna, by pouring some water over the stones.....be sure to buy a stove made to handle the occasional dousing.

thought they were the same and you controlled the humidity with water on the rocks, you learn summat everyday

[astral]

Haven't you seen the films with fat Russians sitting around in a steam filled room, which is usually tiled?

Quite different from the wooden saunas of Scandanavia.

Personally I like the hot tub idea from Japan/Korea.

[svenivan]

Hi Paul,

I am not an expert but I know something about saunas. I have built a couple, some with an open fire under the stove and some electric ones.

The most important thing is the stove. With an electric one it must be a size that can heat up the room. Big room. big stove. Second is the stonemagasine. Must have a stonemagasine so you can have at least 15-20 stones size of your fist.

The most wellknown brand in Sweden is Tylö. But there are some good Finnish ones too.

Most saunas in Scandinavia are wooden, walls, benches etc. But the last one I built had concrete walls but of course benches made by wood and railings for your back. That one worked as well as the wooden ones.

AND! Airflow! Inlet of air under or close to your stove and outlet high close to the ceilings.

Then you have a good sauna and you can choose temperature and grade of humidity.

I am not a friend of high temperature and low humidity. I like to sweat and I like to pour a lot of water on the stones and be able to sit there for 30-40 minutes.

And don't drink beer inside the sauna! Drink it after when you are cooling down. And then a quite cold shower and you feel like a newborn baby!

Good luck and call me when your sauna is ready for a test!

svenivan

[Breema_Ken]

The question is both personal and cultural. If you haven't experienced both of them for extended periods, you should try before you buy.

From my experience they have very different qualities. I find saunas to be great when they aren't as hot and I can sweat for a longer duration. Nothing is as miserable for me as a sauna that is too hot. And, the choice of wood for the benches and floor is important, as some woods get more hot than others. You should google wood selections, and find which wood is the coolest in Thailand.

I prefer steam rooms, but that might be due to my experiences with Mexican temascals, Native American sweat lodges, and Thai herbal steam baths. I like these the Native American style the most. They heat up stones over an open fire, and then bring them into the (temporary) shelter. Then with medicinal branches one splashes water on the rocks and experiences the quick rising of the steam. Once it is too much to tolerate, the door is opened and the steam released. Then new stones come in and the process begins. This is done three times. It creates a state of beautiful clarity and in-the-momentness. Lovely!

The Thai ones I've experienced were in the North. They have external heating devices (stoves with pots on top, or the proper manufactured device) outside of the room, with a nice mix of herbs inside of the boiling water. The fragrance is lovely, and they say it is cleansing. I must say that my little Ayurvedic understanding tells me that this would be most appropriate if you chose your herbs according to your needs of the moment. If you want to see a lovely one that isn't in a private house, check out the Four Season's Hotel outside of Chiang Mai.

Steam rooms in general aren't as hot as saunas, and my focus tends to be more on my breathing than on the sauna's sweating. Some steam rooms aren't hot enough for me, others aren't steamy enough for me.

In the end of the day, when I have full control over the process, there is nothing like a good steam. And, they are that much more enjoyable if they can be integrated with the outdoors a bit. The best way for this is for them to open into a garden with a cool outdoor shower (preferably with the water coming out of a piece of pottery embedded in a wall, rather than a traditional medal showerhead).

Discover your preference, and enjoy!!!

[ThaiPauly]

Thanks for the replies folks.

It will be FULL STEAM AHEAD