Tell me more about these Sauna Hats…
Why wear a sauna hat?
Sauna hats are designed to increase your comfort in the sauna. The uppermost part of the sauna is usually the hottest and this is where the head tends to be. Wearing a sauna hat helps to keep your head cool, and provides some relief to ears and scalp particularly those with less hair up top! For those with more hair, the sauna hat helps to prevent hair damage. We quickly lose moisture from our hair in high temperatures and with regular sauna use this can lead to dry and brittle hair.
A wool hat? In a SAUNA?!
Wool is an excellent temperature regulator. We all know how wonderfully warm wool it is in cold temperatures but perhaps lesser known is that it also keeps us cool in hotter temperatures. This is all down to the wonderful wicking properties of wool. Wool has natural antibacterial properties meaning it retains little odour and so does not need to be washed regularly. Hence wool is the perfect choice for Sauna Hats!
The geeky bit: Our hats are made from boiled wool, a type of felted wool. Boiled wool is processed differently to felt, essentially boiled in hot water, creating a lighter more textured fabric where you can see the beauty of the woven fibres. Wool is a unique fibre in that it is able to take up moisture from the air. The core of the wool fibre is highly absorbent and can take up as much as 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling wet to the touch. Meaning it is highly water repellent and hence why you rarely see soggy sheep! In this way, it draws sweat away from the body and releases it slowly through evaporation, keeping a layer of dry air next to the skin. This helps to dissipate body heat more rapidly keeping you comfortably cool.
Consciously designed & handcrafted
The traditional sauna hat designs we've found on our sauna travels can be somewhat unappealing with high comedy value & probably not something you'd want to be seen wearing in or outside of the sauna!
It was incredibly important to us that our sauna hats are durable, appealing to wear and multi-functional to get the very best wear out of them. The water repellant properties of boiled wool means it is also perfect to be worn outside, whilst taking a dip to cool down between sauna sessions or simply out on a walk in the colder months. We've worked hard to find a design that was aesthetically pleasing as well as working its magic in the sauna. We made a few prototypes which we have tested with our regular sauna users with great feedback and when the requests started to come to buy our hats we decided it was time to get to work!
Our sauna hats are handcrafted in small batches by Suzy, a very talented seamstress (& also Monique's Mammy) whose passion for sewing was ignited when first taught by a Couture Atelier. These detailed techniques are deep rooted in everything Suzy sews from evening gowns, wedding dresses, everyday clothes to home furnishings, resulting in beautifully made garments that last a lifetime. She relished the challenge of turning our ideas & design into reality. She has an innate talent & love for her craft which is apparent in everything she creates, especially our sauna hats!
Where possible, we have consciously sourced natural biodegradable materials for our hats from other Irish businesses so in buying one of our sauna hats you are also supporting them. The beautiful boiled wool & corozo buttons are supplied by Steph at Fabric Romance (www.fabricromance.ie) in Moycullen. The embossing tool used to create the Driftwood vegetable tanned leather motif comes from Rubber Stamps Ireland.
