Infrared Sauna Perth: What Actually Happens In Your First Session
If you have never used an infrared sauna, the first question is usually some version of "what am I actually walking into?" It looks like a sauna. It does not feel like one. And most of the useful information about it sits behind either marketing copy or a research paper.
This covers the practical things: what infrared sauna is, how it differs from the traditional Finnish saunas at our beach locations, what to wear, how long to stay, whether it is safe, and what a first session at our South Terrace studio in Fremantle actually looks like.
What is an infrared sauna?
An infrared sauna is a small cabin fitted with panels that emit infrared light. Rather than heating the air around you, those panels warm your body directly.
That difference sounds technical, but you notice it immediately. A traditional sauna hits you with a wall of hot air the moment you open the door. An infrared cabin feels closer to standing in strong afternoon sun. The heat arrives gradually and it arrives in you rather than around you.
How does an infrared sauna work?
Infrared is a wavelength of light sitting just past the red end of the visible spectrum. You cannot see it, but you feel it as warmth. It is the same thing you feel standing near a fire or in direct sunlight, minus the ultraviolet.
Those wavelengths pass through air without heating it much and are absorbed by your skin and the tissue underneath. Your core temperature rises, your heart rate lifts, your blood vessels widen, and you sweat. The physiological response is broadly similar to a traditional sauna. The route there is different.
How hot does an infrared sauna get?
Most infrared saunas run between 45 and 60 degrees Celsius. Ours sit in that range.
A traditional Finnish sauna, including the ones at our South Beach, Leighton and Hillarys locations, runs at 80 to 100 degrees.
That is a substantial gap, and it is the main reason people choose infrared. At 55 degrees you can comfortably sit for 30 or 40 minutes and hold a conversation. At 90 degrees you cannot, and you are not meant to.
Infrared sauna vs traditional sauna: which one should you choose?
Neither is better. They do different jobs and suit different people.
Choose infrared if you find high heat unpleasant or overwhelming, you want a longer and gentler session, you want privacy, or you are pairing your session with a massage or another treatment.
Choose traditional Finnish if you want the full contrast of intense heat and cold water, you like the communal side of it, or you want to be at the beach with the ocean as your cold plunge.
Plenty of our members do both. Infrared through the working week at South Terrace, beach sauna on the weekend. They are not competing.
What do you wear in an infrared sauna?
This is the most common question we get, so here is a direct answer.
At South Terrace your session is private, so wear whatever is comfortable. Swimmers are the most common choice. Some people wear loose cotton, some wear nothing at all. It is your own room.
Three practical notes:
Wear less rather than more. Fabric blocks infrared, so covered skin gets less of the session.
Skip anything synthetic and tight. It traps sweat against you and gets unpleasant fast.
Remove jewellery and take your phone out with you. Metal heats up, and phones are not built for 55 degrees.
We provide towels. Bring swimmers if you want them, and something loose to change into afterwards.
Are infrared saunas safe?
For most healthy adults, yes, when used sensibly.
On the cancer question, which comes up often enough that it deserves a direct answer: infrared is not ultraviolet. UV radiation from the sun and from solariums damages DNA and is an established skin cancer risk. Infrared sits at the opposite end of the visible spectrum and does not carry that ionising energy. There is no evidence that infrared sauna use causes cancer.
The real risks are the ordinary ones: getting too hot, and not drinking enough. Both are manageable. Drink water before and after, do not go in on an empty stomach or straight after alcohol, and get out if you feel lightheaded, nauseated or unwell. Nothing is being gained by pushing through.
Talk to your doctor first if you are pregnant, have a heart condition or low blood pressure, take medication that affects how you regulate temperature, or are being treated for anything where a rise in core temperature might matter. This is a general guide and not medical advice, and your GP knows your situation.
What are the benefits of infrared sauna?
Honestly, the research is younger and thinner than the marketing around it suggests. What follows is what the evidence reasonably supports, not what sells memberships.
Heat therapy in general has been studied for decades, mostly in traditional Finnish saunas, and the findings around cardiovascular health and circulation are reasonably consistent. Regular sauna use raises heart rate and widens blood vessels in a way that has been compared to moderate exercise.
Research specific to infrared is smaller in scale. Studies have looked at muscle recovery after training, at pain and stiffness in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, and at sleep and perceived stress. Results are generally positive but the sample sizes are small and long term data is limited.
What we hear at South Terrace is more consistent than the literature. People report sleeping better and feeling less wound up within a few weeks. Athletes come in between training blocks. People with persistent pain come in for the heat itself. That is anecdote, not evidence, and it is worth saying so.
Our honest position: try it for a few weeks and pay attention to how you sleep. That will tell you more than any study.
Does an infrared sauna burn calories?
A little, and far less than the internet claims.
Your heart rate rises and your body works to cool itself, so you do use energy. But most of the weight you lose in a session is water and it comes straight back when you rehydrate.
Infrared sauna is not a weight loss tool. It is a recovery and stress tool. Anyone selling it as the former is not being straight with you.
How long should you stay in an infrared sauna?
Start with 30 minutes.
The heat builds slowly. Most people notice a light sweat around the 10 minute mark and are properly into it by 20. Thirty minutes is a full session for a beginner and there is nothing to be gained by outlasting it on your first visit.
Once you are used to it, 40 to 45 minutes is a comfortable ceiling for most people. If you are still going strong past an hour, you are probably running the cabin cooler than you need to.
Get out if you feel lightheaded, regardless of what the clock says.
How often should you use an infrared sauna?
Two to three times a week is a solid foundation, and consistency matters far more than intensity.
Some of our members come daily. That is fine for most healthy people, provided you are drinking enough. But three consistent sessions a week beats seven sessions one week and none for a month.
Most people who notice a difference notice it in their sleep, and usually somewhere between weeks two and four.
What to expect at your first session in Fremantle
Our infrared studio is at 147 South Terrace, Fremantle. Every session is private: your own room, your own sauna, your own space.
Arrive about ten minutes early. We will show you the room, get the cabin to temperature and answer anything you want to ask. Towels and water are provided, and there is a cold shower for afterwards. Herbal tea and electrolytes are included and you are welcome to sit with them as long as you like.
Nobody hovers. Someone is always nearby if you need something, but the room is yours.
Sessions are available for one or two people in 30, 45 and 60 minute lengths. There is also a Fire and Ice session pairing infrared with a cold plunge, and a magnesium bath if you want to make a longer visit of it.
Where to try infrared sauna in Perth
We run four locations. South Terrace in Fremantle is the private infrared studio. South Beach, Leighton and Hillarys are traditional Finnish beach saunas with cold ocean plunges.
If you want to try infrared without committing to anything, our 7 Day Reset gives you unlimited 30 minute sessions for a week with no lock in contract. It is the easiest way to find out whether this actually does anything for you, which is a better question than whether it works in general.
Book online, or email us at hello@theneighbourhoodsauna.com with any question this did not answer.