If you want to raise the humidity in the sauna and sweat faster, you should pour water on the rocks. It will feel hotter because your body gets direct heat from the steam, but it doesn’t actually raise the temperature.
It’s purely optional to pour water on the rocks, and you should always ask other people in the sauna if they’re okay with it first.
No, you do not have to put water on the sauna rocks if you don’t want to. The rocks already do enough to keep the sauna nice and hot, and you will still get the same benefits from your session.
Technically, it does not make the sauna any hotter to pour water on the rocks. That being said, it still legitimately feels hotter, and your body reacts as if that’s true.
Rather than dumping a whole cup of water on the rocks, drizzle a bit at a time to create a steady stream of steam.
No, you should never use chlorinated water, such as swimming pool water, on sauna rocks. When pool water is released as steam, chlorine gas dissipates into the air and can be quite harmful to your health.