Modern baths are about comfort. Entire bathhouse complexes, including relaxation areas, fonts and other delights of progress, have little in common with the classic Russian bathhouse.
At the dawn of its existence, the bathhouse was a small building, often half dug into the ground. It was made from logs of deciduous trees. There was at most one window in the wall. However, the benefits of soaring in such a hut were incredible. Later, the baths began to improve, new amenities and features appeared.
Today, the majority prefers the standard white bathhouse, undeservedly depriving attention of its original version. But what’s so special about a black sauna?
What is the difference?
The main difference between both types of baths is the structural features of the building.
As mentioned above, the old baths had only one window. In many cases, they did without it, making a small hole in the ceiling or simply opening the door slightly.
Everything is wrong in the bathhouse. There must be a chimney through which the smoke comes out. In addition, it is melted in a real oven. There is always a waiting room.
In a black sauna, the hearth is located directly in the steam room. A large number of stones are placed on it. Thus, when the wood burns, it heats the stones. The smoke goes directly into the steam room and evenly warms the entire room.
Often in such baths there is no waiting room. Sometimes they simply put the fifth wall as a partition. But in the old days, peasants, for example, undressed right at the entrance.
Safety precautions
Safety regulations:
- Damaged ovens must not be used.
- It is necessary to regularly clean the chimney to prevent smoke from entering the bathhouse.
- It is prohibited to use chemicals or liquid fuel for kindling. Compositions for igniting stoves are allowed for use.
- Firewood cannot be stored or dried close to the walls of the stove.
- There should be a sheet of metal under the ash hole to protect the floor from coals falling out.
- Do not leave the oven door open during combustion.
- Bathrooms should have proper ventilation.
- After each fire, you need to clean out soot and ash from the combustion chamber and ash drawer.
- You cannot fill the firebox to the very top.
The following cannot be used to light stoves:
- painted boards;
- old clothes, rags;
- plastic products, rubber;
- rotten, rotten logs.
Garbage not only clogs the firebox and chimney faster, but also emits a pungent, unpleasant odor.
Why in black?
The bathhouse received this name precisely because of the heating feature.
The smoke that pours out of the fireplace and warms the room settles as black soot on the walls. It eats into the wood forever, and the bathhouse takes on an unsightly appearance. It is no coincidence that foreigners in the old days, who first saw the Russian traditions of steaming, compared the bathhouse to purgatory.
Not only is the temperature prohibitive, but also the walls are black with soot.
Peculiarities
The black sauna was based on one idea - to achieve the fastest possible effect by using the minimum amount of firewood.
Such a structure had to quickly warm up and retain heat for a long time, so that everyone could wash themselves.
From this came the distinctive features:
Room size. This is always a small building, even the ceilings should be low.
The window must be insulated. Currently, double and triple glazing is installed.
Small door. There is a tradition of placing a black door in the bathhouse even below human height.
The hearth is built directly in the ground, and not on the wooden floor of the building. Most often, it is lined with bricks for safety.
Firebox material. Logs from deciduous trees containing little resin are used. They should produce intense heat, and at the same time not emit sparks when burning. Oak, aspen, linden, alder are suitable. But opinions about birch are divided. Some advise heating only with it, while others, on the contrary, recommend avoiding such logs due to the fact that birch smokes heavily. In any case, there is one rule - the firewood must be very dry.
The stove is located in the corner near the exit. If you suddenly need to enter the room during the fire, this location is most convenient. You can quickly add firewood and do not go deep into the room, otherwise there is a risk of inhaling carbon monoxide.
The water container is placed next to the stove. She manages to warm up perfectly in the allotted 2-3 hours. Sometimes the barrel is placed directly on the hearth, but this is overkill. The water will literally boil and an impressive amount will evaporate.
On a note! It is better to insulate the ceiling too. For example, Ivan Boyarintsev, the author of the “Living Bath” project, suggests doing this using birch bark, laid with the light side down, and expanded clay.
More about kindling
A useful advantage of a black sauna is the reduced heating time. This takes about 3 hours, depending on the size of the building.
Firewood is laid at least twice. After the first approach there is always a large amount of smoke, but that’s how it should be. When the stones warm up better, there will also be less smoke.
After the room is warmed up:
- The fire is being put out.
- Burnt logs and coals are removed from the premises.
- The building is ventilated from smoke.
- Sometimes they immediately spray the walls and ceiling with water to avoid washing.
Important! It is necessary to ventilate the room, because carbon monoxide is released during kindling. Breathing it is dangerous to your health!
After 20-30 minutes you can begin bathing procedures. In a properly constructed sauna, the heat will remain for about two hours.
Even the stones are special
Any stone for a black bath is not suitable. Since it must withstand the intense heat from the stove, a volcanic stone is ideal.
For example, jadeite. But not every amateur can afford such a price tag.
The solution was found a long time ago.
In the old days, ancestors chose stones like this:
- They went to the river bank and took away the washed stones.
- They made a fire and placed stones directly inside. Those that burst were immediately thrown away as unusable.
- Then the fire was filled with water. Another batch of stones burst, and they were also sifted out.
- Those that remained and were used.
There was another way.
At dawn, when the dew fell, they went to collect stones. Only wet ones were selected, dry ones were never used. The essence of this selection method is as follows:
If the stone is not covered with dew, it means it has cooled down overnight. But the stones that managed to retain the heat accumulated over the previous day, according to the laws of physics, were covered with dew. They became the best guides.
Expert opinion
Lovkachev Boris Petrovich
Bath master who knows everything about steaming
In Siberia, where the black sauna is especially popular, ordinary pebbles are used for kindling stones. It serves well and does not burst.
How to light a stove with raw logs?
Kindling stages:
- Chop the raw logs into slivers.
- Place them together to form a cone.
- Place crumpled paper or shredded bark inside.
- Open the furnace vent to maximum.
- Light a torch and use it to light paper or bark.
- Open the blower door to maximum.
The stove needs to be melted with wood chips for 15 minutes. After this you can add small sticks. Logs are added when there are enough coals and the walls of the oven are warmed up. To speed up the kindling, it is recommended to use a liquid ignition composition.
To ensure that moisture leaves the wood faster, raw logs must first be sprinkled with salt. Wait 10–15 minutes, clean off the salt. After this, you can start lighting the stove.
If wood is stored outdoors, logs or hemp should be laid out in rows so that adjacent rows do not touch each other. They should be located under a canopy. The edges can be covered with thick plastic film to protect from slanting rain.
Benefits of a black sauna
Thus, a black bath has undeniable advantages:
- Quick heating of the building.
- Savings on construction.
- Saving on fuel.
- Ease of installation. There is no need to even lay boards on the floor.
- Long service life. Such a bathhouse can easily last 15-20 years.
- High temperature and humidity, which provides maximum heating of the body.
- Undeniable health benefits.
Multitasking Makes the Brain More Prone to Exploring, But Not Memorizing
What contributes to loss of attention and deterioration of memory?
Some researchers believe that certain neurons in the brain maintain some balance between the states of “exploration” (new content) and “processing” (content for later remembering). However, in a state of media multitasking, as the amount of information the brain is exposed to increases, the range of information people receive visually expands, and the brain is likely more likely to enter an "exploration" state and is able to discover more new information instead of remembering information relevant to the task at hand.
Although the human brain has already undergone a long process of evolution, the way the brain processes information has probably not changed much. Some scientists say that constant exposure to information can have a detrimental effect on the brain in the long term. And some memory training and interventions can help people focus better.
Researchers at Stanford University have come up with a detector that can track a person's pupil, so the device can remind the user to focus on the task at hand. Perhaps in the future such a device will become very popular in schools and among parents.
Why is a black sauna healthier?
Surprisingly, the main benefit of a black bath is associated with its unsightly appearance.
Due to the nature of the kindling, soot settles on the walls, but tar also settles. This is a hydrocarbon compound known for its disinfecting properties.
In fact, he is active against:
- Gribkov.
- Actinobacteria.
- Cellular protozoa
So it turns out that microorganisms that were not killed by the heat die from the soot.
Thus, the space is sterilized, just like the human body. It is not surprising that in the old days they gave birth and washed the dead in the bathhouse. By the way, for the same reason, Russia was spared the plague epidemic that struck Europe. Every peasant must visit such a bathhouse.
Another plus is the humidity of the room. In white saunas it is possible to reach 70% humidity. Some commercial projects even use a dry bath. But the benefits of such vaping are minimal.
Black sauna vapors have a wonderful effect on the respiratory system. In addition, only in such a room the aroma of the trees and herbs used for the fire is preserved. The soot-black walls of the steam room better collect and release heat.
Otherwise, a black sauna has the same health benefits as a white sauna:
Fatigue is relieved.
Vessels dilate.
Intracellular processes are activated.
Toxins are removed.
Immunity increases.
The psychological state is normalized.
Disadvantages of a black bath
The only significant drawback of a black sauna is the need for proper kindling. As mentioned above, when wood burns, carbon monoxide is released. It is important to follow all the rules so that vaping does not harm your health.
Advice! If you need to go into the bathhouse during the kindling, it is better to bend down as close to the floor as possible and cover your head with some kind of cloth. Carbon monoxide is slightly lighter than air, so most of it accumulates at the top of the building.
Otherwise, a black bath can be harmful in several cases:
- Intoxication . Alcohol increases the load on the heart. In combination with heat and high humidity, the “motor” has to work with triple effort.
- Vaping after overeating . The body requires a lot of energy to cope with digestion. But in the bathhouse, metabolic processes are also launched, consuming it. As a result, a person may feel dizzy or even faint from a lack of body resources.
- Presence of diseases . You should not steam if you have hypertension, coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, or cancer.
- Wet hair . With a wet head, there is a risk of heatstroke, since water accelerates the passage of heat.
But it is worth noting that in the above cases, an ordinary white bath can also cause harm.
Arranging a steam room with your own hands
If you wish, you can make ofuro with your own hands in a spare room in a private house or a separate building.
It is easier to build a Japanese bathhouse than a Russian or Finnish one, but each stage of construction has certain features.
Materials and tools
To build an ofuro you need to prepare:
- cedar or oak boards;
- natural stone or ceramic tiles;
- fasteners;
- stainless steel hoops;
- wood-burning metal stove;
- miter saw;
- set of chisels, hammer;
- screwdriver, drill;
- grinding machine;
- shovels, concrete mixer.
It is prohibited to install plastic parts in a Japanese bath. This material will deform when exposed to high temperatures and release harmful toxins.
Stages of work
A hot tub on the street near the house
The process of building a Japanese bath:
- Construction of a pile or strip foundation.
- Construction of walls, construction of rafter system.
- Covering the rafters with roofing, assembling the subfloor, ceiling, sewing gables, anemones.
- Installation of windows, doors, communications.
- Furnace placement, interior decoration. For cladding it is better to use lining made of larch, alder or linden.
Barrel assembly:
- Cut oak or cedar boards into separate pieces according to the required dimensions.
- Attach them together using waterproof wood glue. Attach the bottom to the barrel.
- Place 2 metal hoops on top of the finished product.
- Secure benches inside the barrel and install a thermometer.
- Drill a hole closer to the bottom of the container and install a drain valve.
- Separately assemble wooden steps for the container.
You can assemble a lid that will cover the barrel when it is idle (for example, when visitors are resting, drinking tea or relaxing after a massage).
It will prevent the water from cooling quickly and protects the container from debris.
On sale you can find designs with built-in pumps, automatic water drainage, liquid filtration systems, and hanging tables for tea.
Features of further arrangement of the Japanese bath:
- If you have space and building materials, you can assemble a container for sawdust. After each procedure, the filler must be replaced with new ones, which can cause a number of purchasing difficulties.
- The surrounding decoration should be decorated in a traditional Japanese style, for example, by placing massive vases with plant branches. You can hang pictures on the walls. Pillows should be laid out in the rest room and a corner for incense should be equipped.
- The windows need to be covered with wooden slats.
Inside such rooms, calm tones should prevail.
Treatment
A wooden barrel will be constantly exposed to the destructive effects of moisture and temperature changes. To protect it and make it more durable, you need to use special antiseptics for wood. They will make it resistant to temperature changes.
Questions and answers
Is it necessary to wash the walls of a bathhouse to remove soot?
It is necessary, but it can be done infrequently.
Is it possible to steam immediately after the room has been ventilated from gas?
The black bath needs to stand for at least another 30 minutes. During this time, the desired microclimate is formed.
How many stones are needed for a bath?
Depends on the size of the room. Usually this is 2-3 hundred kg of stones.
How long does it take to ventilate the bathhouse to keep the heat in?
At least 10 minutes. If the sauna is heated correctly, you don’t have to worry about it cooling down during this time. The heat lasts for another 2-3 hours, and the temperature is comfortable the next day, so you can just wash yourself in the bathhouse.
What is the usual air temperature in a black sauna?
Hot stones can give off heat up to 80-90oC. Therefore, in the old days, men who were able to withstand such indicators were the first to enter the bathhouse, and after them women and children.
Modern modifications
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Joseph Podgorodnikov developed an improved design of a Russian stove that did not take up much space in the house. This design was already its prototype and provided heating from floor to ceiling.
A large, antique-looking stove is not used in the modern world for its intended purpose, but serves as an addition to the interior. Being multifunctional in its essence, it decorates the interior, being an excellent addition to family comfort, creating the atmosphere of a good Russian fairy tale.
Modern Russian stove
