08/10/2026
Is showering during or after a sauna good?
A legit question and the answer is, depends.
When you sauna, your body temp raises, your heart rate rises, and your pours are open. If you shower mid, you are removing some of the toxins you’ve already sweated out, which is good. But, you’re sort of resetting the clock.
If detox is your goal, best to leave the shower to the end, if at all. Your body will continue to sweat for about 30 mins post your shower. Why? Well, your body is trying to regulate and come back to homeostasis. The blessed 37° mark. You want to force your body to get there, not let it off the hook. It’s the same for an ice bath, let your body naturally get back to the status quo. Don’t give it a leg up.
Now, you might then ask; well you just said it washes off toxins mid-sauna. Correct. But what do I do then to avoid that? That’s where a towel comes in handy. It’s good practice every 15 mins of your 45 min session, to wipe off excess sweat from your body with your “sauna towel”.
For lack of a better term, that then becomes, contaminated. Use that one throughout your sauna, then shower. Or as we said, if you can, wait until you get home, and then shower. That way you’ll squeeze that little bit more out of your sauna detox.
Now, so as not to contradict, if your goal is recovery or contrast therapy, then adding a shower every 15 mins is fine. See what I mean? Depends on your goal! Contrast therapy works a little like an accordion. When we sauna, vasodilation happens, the expansion of our blood vessels. When we cold plunge, ice bath or have a cold shower, vasoconstriction happens. This supports recovery, DOMS, the nervous system and stress response. Different outcomes to detoxing.
Try not to shower with the same towel you’ve used for your sauna, as you may reabsorb some of those toucans back into your body if you do. It’s not the end of the world if you have to but just if you can, don’t.
Stay tuned for more sauna tips and tricks soon. We’ll answer the question best of “What happens if I have black dots on my towel at the end of my sauna?” Comment “SAUNA” below and we’ll tell you what’s happening.
