How to Build a Homemade Steam Sauna

Steam sauna rooms offer you the relaxing and skin-benefiting feelings of warm steam. These are often expensive sessions in spas and resorts, but you can build your own homemade sauna at home with ease. Without any construction experience you can set up a temporary steam sauna in your bathroom. This project is one that anybody can complete and gives you the ability to relax after a long day of work without having to go to a resort or spa. Assembling The Steam Sauna

Things You'll Need
Wooden wine crate
Cookie sheet
Waterproof heating pad
Ceramic crock (2 gallon size)
Spa stones
Brass bowl
Ladle
Washrag
Essential oils
Masking tape
Towels

Step 1

Place a 16-by-24-inch wooden wine crate on your bathroom counter near an electrical outlet. Place an aluminum or tempered glass cookie sheet into the bottom of the crate.

Step 2

Place the waterproof heating pad onto the surface of the cookie sheet. Pull the cord through the slats of the wooden crate out the backside of it to get to the electrical outlet.

Step 3

Place the ceramic crock onto the heat pad-covered sheet. Fill the crock up to the top with spa stones. These stones are obtainable in spa supply stores or online.

Step 4

Place the brass bowl on top of the crock, choosing a bowl that is large enough to sit just into the opening of the crock. You also can use a pewter bowl.

Step 5

Arrange a basket nearby with a ladle, essential oils and rolled towels. These are essential items in a steam room.

Using The Steam Sauna

Step 1

Plug in the heating pad from behind the wooden wine crate. Remove the bowl from the crock and sit it aside. Add 1 oz. of water to the crock. Turn the dial on the heating pad's cord from behind the crate to its highest setting. Give it 15 to 20 minutes to heat the stones and water inside. Steam will start to rise in thin wispy amounts. This is normal.

Step 2

Fill the bowl with ice.

Step 3

Close your bathroom door and tape the opened cracks of the door with masking tape. Do this around any windows as well. Masking tape is gentle enough to not damage paint and it lasts long enough for an hour of steaming.

Step 4

Turn the hot water on in your sink and shower. If you have a bathtub, make sure the drain is opened so the tub doesn't fill with water. Do the same for the sink.

Step 5

Sit on a folded towel on your bathroom floor or in the back of your shower or tub. Drop an occasional ladle full of ice into the ceramic crock to create puffy clouds of steam that fill the room. Do this for up to 30 minutes before unplugging the heat pad. Empty the melted ice water down the drain of your sink and place the bowl back onto the crock to keep it compactly stored on your bathroom counter.

Tips
Add drops of essential oil to the steaming stones for an aromatherapy boost. Different essential oils possess different aromatic benefits. Lavender, for instance, soothes and calms while ginger and citrus scents invigorate and wake you up. Experiment with scents that you like the most.

Warnings
If you are 65 or older, are on heart medications or are easily overheated you should avoid using steam saunas. This causes your blood pressure to drop and you become dehydrated. The University of Alabama at Birmingham recommends that you drink plenty of water before going into a steam sauna, especially after strenuous activity.