Why is cedar best?
The traditional sauna for thousands of years has
been made predominately from close grain cedar for
many obvious reasons:
1) Cedarwood is soft wood that resists the cracking
and splitting caused by the heating up and cooling
down in the sauna. No sauna wood lasts longer than cedarwood.
2) Cedarwood contains aromatic oils that are known for their
healing and cleansing properties to aid detoxification during the
sauna. Cedarwood can also help disperse excess fluids throughout
the body.
3) Cedarwood is naturally anti-fungal and anti-bacterial owing to the
unique properties of the cedar oil. This is especially important in the
sauna where bodies, moisture and heat combine to make the environment perfect for molds and bacteria.
4) Cedarwood is one of the most beautiful woods available ranging from a
very light honey to a deep walnut shade.
5) Cedarwood smells good and gives you a true experience. Normally a
"non-aromatic"cedar is used in sauna construction that is very subtle and
satisfying to the senses.
6) Cedarwood can be easily sanded inside the sauna to remove any stains
caused by perspiration and to bring back the fresh cedar smell.
7) There is a lot of misinformation about cedar wood on the internet. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put it best in their September, 1993 report:
âEPA believes it is unnecessary to regulate these products because they pose little or no risk to human health or the environmentâ¦EPA is not aware of any evidence of injury to human health or the environment due to their use.â Click here to read the full report in PDF format.
Cedar is non-toxic according to the Regulatory Information for Cedar from the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) and World Health Organization(WHO).
Click Here for the report.
Please note that an extremely small percentage of the population cannot
tolerate the smell of cedarwood. These people have multiple chemical
sensitivities(MCS). These people cannot as a rule tolerate any aromatic oils,
perfumes, shampoos or herbs. This is unfortunate, but for the rest of us,
cedarwood is the sauna wood of choice.