The Best Infrared Sauna Blanket UK Options: What You Need To Know

For a few years, infrared sauna blankets have entered the market. In this blog post I will talk about the best infrared sauna blanket UK option, but also compare it with alternatives. Examples are a portable infrared sauna or an outdoor sauna, or a regular far infrared sauna, which all have different benefits and downsides.

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What Is An Infrared Sauna Blanket?

Several companies have put out infrared sauna blankets nowadays. Most of these companies are located in the USA, so if you want the best infrared sauna blanket UK option, you’ll probably have to import a product.

But let’s first consider what an infrared sauna blanket is.

Simply put, an infrared sauna blanket is a low-cost option to replace an infrared sauna. The blanket wraps around your body and usually (hopefully) leaves your head unexposed. Heater elements are located inside the blanket, moreover. These heater elements are usually heated through a control panel.

That control panel is attached to the infrared sauna blanket. And with that control panel you can activate the sauna blanket for instance and decrease or increase the temperature. That control panel is similar to what’s normally attached to an infrared sauna, whereby you can increase or decrease the temperature.

Many reviews can be found online for infrared sauna blankets. But, whether the sauna blanket is a great replacement for a regular sauna or far infrared sauna still needs to be determined. Generally, people prefer a traditional wooden sauna - whether that’s a Finnish sauna or an infrared sauna - because it gets hotter.

But, there are a few more issues with an infrared sauna blanket - I’ll explore these issues in the next section:

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Infrared Sauna Versus Infrared Sauna Blanket

So let’s assume you’re located in the UK. In that case, you might want to compare the best sauna UK option with an infrared sauna blanket that’s imported to the UK. Below I’ll consider the benefits and downsides of both option:

1. An infrared sauna blanket is less expensive than an infrared sauna. Infrared saunas cost up to thousands of pounds, while an infrared sauna blanket costs around 600 pounds (GBP). So, initially, you’ll have to invest far less into a sauna blanket. Nevertheless, as the best sauna blankets are offered internationally, you’ll have to pay for shipping costs too.
2. An infrared sauna blanket takes up less space than an infrared sauna. The benefit of a sauna blanket is that you can easily fold it and store it. For that reason, if you’ve got a very small apartment and no room for an infrared sauna, the sauna blanket might be the better option for you (more on this later). 
3. An infrared sauna can be made from better materials than a sauna blanket. Unfortunately, some of the materials used in a sauna blanket might be made from plastics or oil-derived materials that can be toxic. While some of the materials like polyurethane, aramide, and PVC might not be the most toxic, they might not be entirely safe either. The benefit of a high-quality infrared sauna is that different non-toxic woods can be used that have decades worth of track record in being safe. Also, food-grade non-toxic glues can be added to that infrared sauna, lowering your overall toxic dose. And, while many sauna blanket companies go out of their way to make a product that’s as safe as possible, I want to see more research of the materials that are heated close to your body.
4. An infrared sauna can expose you to full-spectrum infrared light. Modern full-spectrum infrared saunas expose you to a balanced mix of near, middle, and far infrared. Sauna blankets that are on the market right now - to the best of my knowledge - don’t offer this experience yet.
5. A regular infrared sauna is more comfortable for most people than a sauna blanket. This one is simple: in a regular infrared sauna, you can read a book, do yoga, and sit upright. Sure, some people may prefer laying down and therefore prefer a sauna blanket, but for most people that’s simply not the case. People also go to a sauna to socialise, and spending half an hour or an hour together with another person who is wrapped up in a sauna blanket might not be the best vision of what socialisation entails.
6. A sauna blanket doesn’t allow you to use addons, like infrared saunas do. Examples of such addons are red light therapy with our Clearlight® Light Therapy Tower and salt therapy with the HALOONE™. Our infrared saunas are built in such a way that you can combine several therapies in one, which is harder to do with current infrared sauna blanket setups.

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Overall, I’m not negative about the development of infrared sauna blankets at all. However, for the best experience and health benefits, a normal infrared sauna is still the best option by far. 

Nevertheless, there’s another option that might be interesting to you that I haven’t discussed before. Here’s I’m talking about comparing a portable sauna to the other two options I just discussed:

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The Clearlight® Dome As The Best Portable Infrared Sauna UK Option - A Middle Ground Between A Normal Infrared Sauna And A Sauna Blanket?

Sure, it’s a difficult tradeoff between an infrared sauna and the sauna blanket. The former offers more options, more comfort, and better therapeutics. The latter is more easy to store, affordable for many people, and you can travel with it.

So what’s the solution?

Well, at Clearlight Infrared^® Saunas we’ve searched hard and long for the perfect middle-ground. For that reason I want to introduce the Clearlight^® Dome to you - a premium portable infrared sauna. Let me tell you why:

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• The Clearlight^® Dome contains different heaters. As a result, you get the best combination of different types of infrared light on the market. Many of the infrared sauna blankets only expose your body to one type of infrared light and are therefore limited.
• The Clearlight^® Dome is made from natural materials. In fact, we use 100% organic hemp, which has been used for thousands of years. You’re therefore not heating any oil-derived materials like PVC or polyurethane, that may expose your body to toxins.
• The Clearlight^® Dome is still portable. You can store the Dome under your bed, for instance. For that reason the Clearlight^® Dome is an extremely good option if you’ve got a small apartment or if you’re renting a room as a student. The only downside with a sauna blanket here is that the Clearlight^® Dome doesn't fit into your luggage when you’re travelling, so there’s a small tradeoff here. And yet, there’s more:
• The Clearlight^® Dome helps you achieve extreme core body temperature increases. In many scientific studies, researchers aim to achieve what is called an increase in “core body temperature” because it ensures that study participants gain the maximum benefit from their sessions. The research in countering clinical depression is one example. Without reaching a very high core body temperature, some of the sauna benefits don’t occur. Read my blog post on using an infrared sauna to counter a clinical depression for more information on this topic.
• The Clearlight^® Dome has a lifetime warranty. An infrared sauna blanket often has one or two years warranty, and only on certain components. The benefit here is very clear: you’ll only have to invest into a Clearlight^® Dome once and you can reap the benefits for the rest of your life.

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Lastly, one downside that I do want to mention of the Clearlight^® Dome is that you can’t combine it with addons, like a Clearlight® Light Therapy Tower or Vibration Resonance Therapy or a Full Spectrum Heater. But, of course, neither of these options is available for a sauna blanket either. 

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So, overall, you gain a lot of functionality by choosing a Clearlight^® Dome over a regular infrared sauna blanket. 

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What About An Outdoor Sauna?

Now, lastly, I’m sometimes getting the following question: “Johannes, what about an outdoor infrared sauna?” Well, if you’re looking for the best outdoor infrared sauna UK option, the comparison with the earlier products is much harder to make. 

Let me explain…

Comparing an infrared sauna blanket or a portable sauna to an outdoor sauna is like comparing apples and oranges. Outdoor infrared saunas have completely different requirements than the other versions. 

And, obviously, an outdoor sauna has completely different requirements because you’re placing it outdoors. An outdoor infrared sauna needs to be protected from the elements at all times. 

For instance, an outdoor infrared sauna indoor environment needs to be insulated from the outdoors because otherwise you won’t get sufficient increases in the temperature of your sauna. And, to withstand rain, snow, hail, and high and low temperatures, you’ll need additional protection for an outdoor infrared sauna that isn’t necessary for an outdoor sauna.

So, the comparison is far different than that of apples and oranges, and is more like comparing an automobile with an airplane. The latter options have very different goals.

And, sure, you can use an infrared sauna blanket outdoors during the summer time, or during a nice spring day. The same is true for a portable sauna like the Clearlight^® Dome. But, those options aren’t too nice when during a rainy dark winter day, so the comparison doesn’t really help.

To give you a bit more clarity, let me compare these aforementioned options from another viewpoint in my conclusion:

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Conclusion: All Options Have Benefits And Downsides - What Matters Is Your Requirements

Every person has a slightly different situation. People differ by their budget, their willingness to spend money on a healthy lifestyle, the location they live, their usage pattern with a sauna, and so forth. So, there’s no one size fits all recommendation possible here.

Nevertheless, I can give guidelines for purchases. If you don’t have much money and/or don’t have space in your house, then an infrared sauna blanket might be a nice solution. A better solution, if your budget allows and if you don’t want to travel with, is the Clearlight^® Dome, for many of the aforementioned reasons. 

And, for the ultimate sauna experience, you’ll want a full-spectrum sauna with different addons so that you can experience several therapies at once. Maybe you want an outdoor sauna, and in that case, check out our best outdoor infrared sauna UK option that won’t disappoint you. 

And never forget: as with any product, the cheapest is rarely the best option you can get…

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