How to Clean a Sauna Blanket

Never submerge or machine-wash a sauna blanket — it has heating elements and wiring inside. Clean it by wiping the interior down with a damp cloth and a mild solution after every session, then letting it dry fully open before you roll it up. Use a towel or liner inside during sessions and cleaning becomes almost automatic. A sauna blanket collects a lot of sweat, so hygiene matters — but it's an electrical device, not laundry, and treating it like laundry destroys it. Here's the safe, simple routine.

The one rule: it is not machine-washable

Start here because it's the mistake that ruins blankets. A sauna blanket has far-infrared heating layers and electrical wiring sealed inside — you cannot put it in a washing machine, you cannot submerge it, and you cannot soak it. Water getting into the heating layer can damage the blanket and create a safety hazard. Every blanket, from the premium HigherDOSE to a budget XL, is cleaned the same way: from the outside, with a damp cloth, never by immersion. When in doubt, follow the manufacturer's specific care instructions — but no reputable blanket is machine-washable.

The after-session routine

The best cleaning is little and often. Right after a session, while the blanket is still warm and before sweat dries in:

• Unplug it and let it cool enough to handle safely.
• Wipe the interior surface with a soft cloth dampened with water and a little mild soap, or a gentle sauna-blanket-safe cleaner. Wring the cloth well — damp, not dripping.
• Wipe again with a clean, plain-water cloth to remove any soap residue.
• Dry it with a towel, then leave it open and unrolled to air-dry completely.

That's it — a couple of minutes that prevents the sweat, salt and oils from building up into odor. Skipping it and rolling a damp blanket away is exactly how blankets start to smell.

The towel trick that saves you the work

The single best habit is to put a towel or a dedicated liner inside the blanket during every session, and wear light clothing or a long-sleeved layer if the maker allows it. The towel catches most of the sweat, so the blanket's interior stays far cleaner, and cleanup is mostly just washing the towel — which ismachine-washable. Many owners also use a purpose- made insert or liner. This is the same principle as using a towel in a wooden sauna: protect the surface that's hard to clean with the thing that's easy to clean. We mention it in how to use a sauna blanket too.

Preventing odor and mildew

Smell and mildew come from one thing: putting the blanket away damp. The fixes are all about drying:

• Always dry it fully open after wiping, before rolling it up. A blanket rolled away wet is a mildew factory.
• Store it loosely in a dry place, not sealed in a bag or a damp closet.
• Air it out periodicallyif it's been stored a while.
• Deal with any odor earlywith a gentle wipe-down; don't let it set in.

Do those and a blanket stays fresh for years. The same dry-it-out principle keeps every sauna healthy, wood cabins included.

What not to use

Skip harsh chemicals, bleach, abrasive scrubbers and solvents — they can degrade the interior surface and the seams. Don't saturate the blanket with cleaner; a barely-damp cloth is all you need. And never use heat to speed drying (no putting it in a dryer or over a heater) — air-drying open is the only safe method. Gentle and dry is the whole philosophy: you're wiping a surface, not laundering a garment.

The honest bottom line

Clean a sauna blanket from the outside, never by submerging or machine-washing it: wipe the interior with a damp, mild-soap cloth after each session, wipe again with plain water, and always dry it fully open before rolling it away. Use a towel inside during sessions and you cut the work to almost nothing. Keep it dry in storage and it won't smell. That's the entire routine — simple, quick, and the difference between a blanket that lasts years and one that starts to reek in a month. For getting the most out of the sessions themselves, see how to use a sauna blanket.