Last Updated on December 10, 2022 by Naomi Nimu
Using a private steam room at home means you have more freedom in what you wear during the sweaty moment, but using a public steam room requires more extensive etiquette. Remember that multiple people may share a steam room at the gym or spa simultaneously, and you also want to protect yourself from any germs and bacteria lurking in that public space. Before you enter any shared steam room, talk to the gym staff to understand the normally acceptable dress code in the steam room.
What to Wear in Steam Room
Here is how to dress for the steam room:
1. Towels
Since steam rooms and saunas can cause you to sweat quite a bit, you may choose to go in without clothing to avoid ruining your clothes. It’s fine to go without wearing clothes during the steam room session, but cover yourself with a towel. Always use the towel provided by your local gym to cover your back while you sit in the steam room. It will help prevent bacteria from spreading from one person to the next. Wrap whichever towel you use around your body and keep it tightly wrapped. This will help protect your skin from touching any other people’s steam room fluids.
2. Swimsuit
If you’d rather not go naked in a steam room, you can sit in a bathing suit and enjoy a steam room experience. It is recommended that people wear as little clothing as they can in a steam room, so wearing a swimsuit is a good compromise for both comfort and modesty. When shopping for a swimsuit for a steam room, stay away from clothes that have metal fasteners or other accents that will cause you to get too hot in the steam room. You’ll want to bring a bathing suit and a towel to use as a place to rest.
3. Footwear
It’s easy to go barefoot into a steam room for comfort, but going barefoot into a common steam room may be considered rude. Those bacteria that you pick up while walking barefoot through a health club will easily be transferred to a steam room, where they will cause a lot of fungal growth. Instead, devote a pair of rubber flip-flops to sauna use. You will then be able to protect your feet from dirt and germs without having to put on dirty shoes and bring them into a sauna.
4. Going Nude in a Steam Room
In other countries, such as Germany, it’s perfectly normal to nude in steam rooms and saunas. In countries like the UK and the USA, it’s very rare, though it’s pretty popular in some spas. Relaxing in a steam room or sauna while nude is best for your health; it means you can relax comfortably and enjoy lots of sauna time. Nude steam rooms are ideal for soaking up sweat since your body won’t be exposed to as much heat as normal.
Allow yourself to sweat as much as you want while in the steam room. But you’ll need a towel to dry off your body after you have sweated a lot and to keep the steam room clean as it can be. If something doesn’t feel right when you enter a nude steam room, you can position your towel to get a better feel for the space. But surprisingly, many nude rooms insist that everyone must be nude for the game to be interesting.
5. Wearing Your Swimming Attire
The best thing to wear when you enter a steam room is the bathing suit you would wear to the beach. You’ll mostly find steam rooms in hotels by the swimming pool or jacuzzi. It’s usually part of a treatment where you swim or do a bit of relaxing. You are going to sweat a lot in the steam room – that’s the point of a steam room! Swimwear works perfectly because it is designed to be wet. You don’t have to worry about sweat damaging any of your clothes. Moreover, you shouldn’t worry about your clothes falling off or being damaged.
For proper steam room hygiene, always use a shower outside the steam room because chemicals in swimming pools and saunas can damage your clothes. If you can find a shower right outside the room, be sure to rinse yourself effectively before the steamy session. Also, be sure that after swimming in the pool that chemicals like chlorine are rinsed off effectively to enable steam to circulate freely.
Benefits of Steam Rooms
Temperatures in steam rooms range from 110°F to 114°F, and the humidity level is 100 percent. There may be several health benefits of having a steam room, which are explained in detail below.
1. Improves Blood Circulation
Sitting comfortably in a steam room can relax your blood vessels, especially in older people. Studies show that moist heat from a steam room can increase blood flow by causing the small blood vessels to dilate. This allows blood to flow more easily around the body. As a result, oxygen can circulate freely around the body. This method of steam therapy can be used to reduce blood pressure, keep the heart healthy, and help the skin heal from wounds.
2. Skin Health
Steam room treatments can help to eliminate toxins from the skin and are also popular for skin health. Both saunas and steam baths cause people to sweat. Sweating opens up their pores and removes dead skin. Warm water will help people wash their skin by removing dirt and dead skin. This is also used to treat acne. However, a steam room does what resuscitators in saunas don’t. They allow people to detoxify by heating the water.
3. Opens Up Sinuses
The warming effect that steam rooms have on our bodies opens up our mucous membranes. Steam rooms can help people to breathe easily and deeply. Steam also helps clear congestion in the sinuses and helps people breathe more easily.
4. Burns Calories
Steam baths burn calories. However, it is not proven that they help you lose weight. When people enter a steam room, their heart rate may increase. If someone uses a steam room after a long run, their heart rate continues to increase.
If used as part of a healthy exercise program, the heat from the steam room and the sweat that it produces can cause the body to be more active and help it to feel better. It should be noted that there is no proof that using a steam room is an effective way to help people lose weight.
It is not possible to lose weight by using a steam room because a lot of the water you lose will be absorbed by your body late on. You will be dehydrated if you do not drink enough water a few days after using the steam room. Nevertheless, steam rooms can be used to burn calories along with a healthy diet and a regular exercise program.
5. Workout Recovery
Many people feel very sore and tired after a steam room session. This is called delayed onset muscle soreness, and it is very helpful to relax the muscles to speed up the process of healing. A study conducted by True Source in 2013 showed that applying heat to muscles after a workout reduced pain and maintained their strength. If you’re heated, you can calm your nerves and relax your muscles.
6. Loosens Stiff Joints
Using a steam room before you exercise helps you to loosen up your joints and to be flexible. It works just like a warm-up before a workout. A study done by truesource.com in 2013 showed that applying heat to a joint can cause it to last much longer and that applying heat to a joint can force it to move more easily by up to 25%. Steam rooms can help relax people in many ways.
7. Reduces Stress
Even the hot steam from a steam room can cause the brain to produce endorphins, which are good mood hormones. They help reduce the feeling of stress. Being in a steam room can reduce the level of cortisol, which is a hormone that is produced when people are feeling stressed. When people have less stress, they are more comfortable, feel more relaxed, and are able to feel more alive.
Conditions That Prohibit Steam Room Use
Most spa facilities run a thorough health check to determine if you can safely use a steam room, a sauna, or any other facilities. It may not be possible to use a steam room for several reasons:
- Diabetes and Kidney Disease – People with kidney disease or diabetes may experience problems when the temperature in a steam room is higher than normal. Always check with your doctor before going to a spa if you have concerns about your health.
- Pregnancy – If you are pregnant, don’t spend time in the steamer. It may cause your body temperature to rise, which could be harmful to the fetus.
- Heart Conditions – If any of your cardiovascular problems prevent you from using this facility, you should speak with a physician first. High blood pressure can cause severe health issues.
Don’t Overstay in the Steam Room!
You can relax and enjoy some nice quiet time in the steam room, but staying in there for too long is not good for your health. You will lose a lot of fluids by sweating, so you will need to rehydrate soon after you leave the room. When you go into a steam room and start to feel dizzy, or you start to feel really thirsty, take a short break.
15-20 mins in a steam room are more than sufficient. If your heart suddenly beats faster than normal, you need to take a break. Overall, it is very enjoyable to have a nice relaxing session in a steam room.
Wrapping Up
You should be dressed appropriately for your trip to the steam room. In gyms with steam rooms for both sexes, the rules will be stricter for women than men. Always talk with your hotel staff and check any signs posted at the front desk before using a steam room to ensure you’ve done it correctly.
