Outdoor Sauna Maintenance: FAQs

Outdoor sauna maintenance extends the life ensuring you can enjoy its benefits for years to come. For those wondering how to maintain their outdoor sauna, here are some common questions asked by Calgary-area customers.

How Should I Clean The Inside Of My Barrel Sauna?

There are two types of outdoor sauna maintenance routines. Once every few days for regular cleaning and twice a year for deep cleaning sessions. 

Regular Outdoor Sauna Maintenance

For regular cleaning sessions: wipe down seats, handles, and floors with a cloth and leave the door open to ventilate. This can be done any time after you’re done using your sauna. If you intend to use it more than once a week clean it once every few days. 

Deep Cleaning 

For deep cleans, it’s recommended that you clean your barrel sauna once a month. If you notice unpleasant odors, it’s likely time for a deep clean. Here are some tips we recommend to clean it: 

• Vacuum the sauna room floors to reach into tight spaces where dirt can gather.
• For a deep clean, make sure to wet the floor with hot water to open the wood grain.
• General-purpose cleaning solutions, like Pine-Sol.
• Or hot water or a specialized sauna wash works well to keep your sauna clean and fresh.
• For tough stains that won’t come out use a fine-grit sandpaper to sand stains out of the wood grain. 
• After cleaning all surface areas rinse the areas off with cold water to close and seal the surfaces. 
• Keep the heater on after use to dry out the sauna completely, and ventilate your sauna to prevent moisture buildup.

Outdoor Sauna Maintenance: Clean the Outside?

Despite outdoor exposure, barrel saunas are built to withstand a wide range of conditions. Any damage to the exterior walls will typically be cosmetic. If you’re looking to protect the sauna’s exterior, you have the option to stain the outer walls if you’d like. 

For staining the outer walls, we recommend any stain with a UV inhibitor to protect the wood from UV rays. If you stain your walls, make sure to re-stain them if you ever decide to pressure wash to remove dirt and debris. 

Important Note: Do not stain or paint the inside of your sauna. Saunas require the wood to swell and contract and should be left untreated for your sauna to work properly. If you stain or treat the inside, toxic fumes can fill up the sauna the next time you use it again. At most, use a natural oil or wax specifically designed for saunas if you want to preserve the wood. 

Another way you can protect your sauna is by investing in an outdoor cover. Copper rain covers, for instance, can protect the outer wood from rain, snow, and discoloration and keep your wood bright and healthy. However, it’s also important to remove the cover every once in a while to check for water leaks and mold growth along the outer surface. 

How Do I Care For My Heater and Sauna Rocks? 

Depending on the type of heater your sauna has, both heaters and sauna stones need to be checked regularly. Here are some ways you can keep up with heater maintenance: 

Outdoor Sauna Maintenance: Inspect Your Heater

Heaters that have been heavily used will often need replacement parts or a full replacement. If your heater has holes, rust, or debris inside it, it can pose a fire risk to your outdoor sauna. Check your heater monthly or at least when the seasons change. If you notice holes, rust, or debris, consider replacing it immediately.

Clean and Replace Your Sauna Stones

Your sauna stones are the core part of your sauna, as they help release steam into the sauna’s interior. Sauna rocks should be replaced any time they show signs of cracking, discoloration, or wear and tear, which usually happens after a year or two of sauna use. Make sure to restack your stones every year.Prolonged use causes heat to wear down the stones, leading to flattening and reduced air circulation in the room.

If your sauna rocks don’t appear flat or damaged, clean them with a soft brush and warm water. If the stones appear crumbly or yellow in color, then it’s time to replace them with new stones. 

Clean Out Your Heater

Saunas tend to accumulate limestone stains along the heater’s surface, wash with water and vinegar mixture for easy cleaning.

What Time of The Year Is Best For Cleaning? 

We recommend outdoor sauna maintenance in the spring or summer. Spring is ideal for cleaning since it follows winter, when dirt and debris often accumulate in your sauna. However, summer is also an excellent time to clean up your sauna as it will be used less frequently. Outdoor saunas are typically used during colder months, so as the warmer months approach, both spring and summer can be the perfect time to start cleaning and ventilating your sauna space. 

What Problems Should I Look For With My Sauna? 

Most outdoor saunas can handle almost any weather but require some diligence with their upkeep. If you regularly experience severe weather, such as extreme cold winters, then you should keep an eye out for these issues: 

Mold and Bacteria Growth

Mold and bacteria thrive in damp, warm places, and outdoor saunas, being more exposed to the elements, can develop these issues if they’re not cleaned regularly. There’s a higher chance of mold growth if your outdoor sauna doesn’t have proper ventilation or if you don’t air out your sauna after each use. 

Overheating

Overheating occurs when your heater isn’t regularly cleaned. If wood burners, steam generators, and even electric heaters are damaged or have large amounts of dirt in them, your outdoor sauna can overheat. This is also a huge safety risk, as it can increase the amount of carbon dioxide in your sauna, so make sure to install a carbon dioxide detector to keep you and anyone using your barrel sauna safe. 

Resin Leakage

Most saunas are made with either pine or spruce wood. Pine and spruce are softwoods that are adaptable to moisture but are also prone to resin buildup. High heat temperatures can melt the natural resin of your wood over time, which can make the resin ooze out of the wood as hot liquid. Make sure that when you purchase and construct your barrel sauna, these woods should only be used on the outside walls. The interior walls should be made with resin-free softwoods, such as aspen, red cedar, poplar, and radiata pine. If those options aren’t available, you can also consider Thermowood as a viable replacement. 

Wood Warping

Wood, when constantly exposed to humid moisture, can warp over time. It will shrink, warp, and expand, and this can show through cracks and splits in the wood surface. This issue is usually caused by overheating or the type of wood itself, so inspect your sauna for these signs and get replacements. 

Foundation Problems

One of the biggest issues that most new barrel sauna owners face is construction problems. If the foundation isn’t sturdy or placed in the wrong area, it can breed mold, warp wood, and have a harder time handling outdoor elements. While DIY kits can be great, if you don’t have basic carpentry skills, you should hire a professional handyman or specialist to install your barrel sauna. 

Create An Outdoor Sauna Getaway With Backyard Canada 

Our saunas are crafted in Canada and specifically designed to meet the demands of our climate. At Backyard Canada, we offer outdoor saunas that are customizable to fit your needs. From cabin style to barrel saunas, each sauna we provide comes with a five-year warranty and is made to perform with locally sourced materials. 

We partner with trusted brands like Leisurecraft, a premier sauna manufacturer in Melancthon, to provide quality saunas that exceed in delivering a clean, warm, and comfortable experience. 

If you’d like to learn more, reach out to our experts today to receive a custom quote for the sauna you’ve always wanted.