Three sauna styles, three very different experiences. Here's what sets each one apart.
Same idea, very different rooms
All three heat you up, but they get there in different ways and they feel nothing alike. Choosing between them comes down to how you like your heat: intense and enveloping, gentle and penetrating, or warm and easy to breathe in.
Traditional sauna
Dry heat from a stove full of hot stones, usually 70-90°C with low humidity — until you ladle water over the rocks and release a wave of steam. It's the most intense of the three: you'll sweat within minutes, and the heat sits on your skin. Sessions are short by design, 10-15 minutes at a time with cool-downs in between.
- Feels like: strong, dry, enveloping heat you can control with water on the stones.
- Best for: post-workout recovery, deep sweat, the classic ritual with rounds and cool-downs.
- Session length: 10-15 minutes per round.
Infrared sauna
Instead of heating the air, infrared panels warm your body directly, so the room sits much cooler — typically 45-60°C. That makes it far easier to tolerate if strong heat makes you lightheaded, and it lets you stay in longer. The sweat builds slowly and steadily, and most people describe the warmth as reaching deeper into muscles and joints.
- Feels like: mild ambient warmth with a deep, radiant heat through the body.
- Best for: sore muscles, stiff joints, anyone who finds traditional saunas too intense.
- Session length: 20-30 minutes.
Salt sauna
A gently heated room lined with Himalayan salt. The heat is the mildest of the three and the air feels soft and clean, which is why people who find other saunas stuffy tend to settle here. It's the most restful of the three rooms — less about sweating hard, more about sitting quietly in warm, mineral air.
- Feels like: gentle, dry warmth with soft, easy-to-breathe air.
- Best for: winding down, breathing easy, longer relaxed sits.
- Session length: 20-30 minutes.
Traditional for intensity, infrared for depth, salt for calm.
Can you combine them?
Yes, and it's the best way to figure out your preference. A common circuit is infrared first to warm the muscles through, then a short traditional round for a proper sweat, and the salt room last to cool down and settle. Hydrate between rooms, keep the whole circuit under about an hour, and finish with a few quiet minutes before you head back out.
