The wood used in saunas is important.

Poplar is the most expensive and likely the best sauna wood to buy of all the woods that saunas are made from. We use poplar for one important reason: it is and always has been the wood of choice for health clinics world-wide. Even the most discriminating clinics, such as Dr. William Rae’s Environmental Health Center in Dallas, Texas only use saunas made from Poplar wood. Only Poplar has allowed some of the very sickest people to detoxify.

Hemlock has a much more visibly defined wood grain when compared with Poplar. It also has a very slight wood odor with a nice character, and combined with its appearance, provides a distinctly more traditional wood-sauna experience and may complement some home interiors quite well.

Our analysis has found that the Hemlock from particular Canadian forests, aged for a while, is a great option for saunas, with a low VOC profile.

Hemlock is not recommended for those who are chemically sensitive. Poplar is the only choice for those that are chemically sensitive or are dealing with an environmental illness. Hemlock is less expensive than Poplar and so provides an option to save some money while also benefiting from High Tech Health’s unique low-EMF sauna design.

Okoume (Aucoumea klaineana) is a lightweight West African hardwood known for its fine, even texture and warm reddish-brown color. It is widely used in the wider sauna industry — but most often as plywood or veneer, which reintroduces the glues and composite cores we build to avoid. Okoume is often marketed as "mahogany" by many sauna brands.

We use okoume the same way we use every wood in our cabins: 100% solid boards, no plywood, no veneer, no toxic fillers or materials.. That construction standard is what separates an okoume sauna worth owning from one to avoid. As with all woods other than poplar, those with chemical sensitivities or an environmental illness should still choose poplar.

Cedar has been traditionally used as a sauna wood because of its ability to withstand wet conditions and repel infestation by insects. A modern far infrared sauna, which does not use steam, has no need for Cedar. Cedar’s ability to repel infestation by insects comes from the odor it emits. That odor is composed of volatile oils called terpenes, two of which are cedrene and cedral. Cedrene is an unsaturated, aliphatic cyclic hydrocarbon. Both are lung irritants and even used in insecticides. There have been studies showing the toxicity of terpenes to insects, as well as hepatotoxicity (liver toxicity), and a study showing that people with chemical sensitivities cannot tolerate these oils. If you are sensitive to perfumes and chemicals at all, you do not want a cedar sauna in your home.

Many people find the odor from Cedar quite pleasant and tolerable. But our concern is that even those who are not initially sensitive to the smell of cedar can become sensitive to it when they are around it for huge amounts of time, such as when it is in their home. Some companies claim they use ‘special’ cedar that has less or no odor. If there were such a thing, we might consider selling saunas made from it. Like Poplar, Cedar can be quite attractive.

Basswood is one of the least expensive sauna wood types on this list. It was introduced by sauna companies because of its similar appearance to Poplar in an attempt to copy High Tech Health saunas.

These are the cheapest sauna wood types a manufacturer can buy that are strong enough to build a sauna. Most people are familiar with the strong scent these woods are famous for. These odors also come from terpene hydrocarbons, similar to the ones from Cedar. Pine terpene (specifically pinene) is used in the production of insecticide.

Even if you aren’t concerned about their contribution to your total toxic burden, it is important to note that many people eventually grow very tired of the pine smell constantly permeating their home. Some people can develop an allergy for these woods. Besides these drawbacks, these woods are also inexpensive due to the knots in the wood, which makes saunas built from them much less attractive.

Virtually every sauna from any other company uses one of these woods (Spruce or Pine) as framing wood in their saunas. So even if you buy a Cedar sauna from them, you are still getting a Spruce or Pine sauna too.

Eucalyptus is used in some infrared sauna cabins and can provide a distinctive alternative to lighter-colored woods. Its appearance depends on the species: rose gum (Eucalyptus grandis), for example, has heartwood ranging from pale pink to reddish-brown. “Eucalyptus” alone is not a complete material specification, so it is worth asking which species a manufacturer uses.

For indoor infrared use, we recommend looking beyond the wood’s appearance and asking about the actual timber, adhesives, finishes, and available emissions testing. For customers whose priority is minimal natural wood scent, our preferred option remains European poplar.

When comparing saunas—especially when a lower price is a major selling point—look beyond the advertised wood species. A thin veneer of real wood can provide the appearance of a more expensive timber while using a different material underneath. Veneer is genuine wood, but a veneered panel is not the same as a solid board. Veneering can reduce material use and cost, so the important question is what forms the panel’s core.

Some composite wood products use formaldehyde-containing resins, and EPA notes that heat accelerates formaldehyde release. Emissions vary by material and resin type, so it would be inaccurate to assume that every engineered panel emits the same amount—or that every adhesive presents the same concern.

Ask about the materials used in the walls, ceiling, floor, bench supports, and hidden backing panels. Also ask whether available testing covers only a wood panel or adhesive sample, or the completed sauna operating at its intended temperature. Compliance with a formaldehyde-emissions standard is useful information, but it should not be presented as proof that a finished sauna is free of all VOCs.