I had the hardest time getting people to understand what I wanted in the room pictured below. This entire room is a soapstone sauna chamber. I put my shower and bathtub in this room as well because it made sense to use the heat from the sauna to help keep the tub and shower areas dry and mold-free. The toilet and sink are in a separate powder room.
A sauna is one of the most helpful tools I have had dealing with chemical sensitivity. More than 15 years ago I bought a sauna from Heavenly Heat, which builds saunas for people with MCS. Because many of us react to the terpenes in cedar and redwood, the saunas are made of aspen, with the option to have some walls made of glass, and the heaters are offgassed before they are shipped. I had a large sauna with a glass wall but it still felt claustrophobic. For my house I decided to create a more spacious sauna space. I upgraded to a bigger heater, and I salvaged some of the wood to reconfigure into a bench that will fit into this new space.
I chose soapstone because soapstone is close to impervious, so it does not need a chemical sealant. I bought the tiles from Tulikivi, a Finnish company that sells soapstone saunas and masonry heaters in Europe. Some soapstone contains naturally occurring asbestos, which is a problem when the tiles are cut and dust is created, but Tulikivi has had their soapstone analyzed and it does not contain asbestos.
The Victoria and Albert tub is made of volcanic limestone, which is also supposed to retain heat well. There was an alarming hiccup when the plumber started to caulk the tub with a product I had not tested or approved. I stopped the application and checked the MSDS, which listed butane and acetone as ingredients and cautioned that it should not be used in a heated area (like a sauna with a heated floor). I don’t think anyone, chemically sensitive or not, should breathe hot butane and acetone fumes. The caulk was removed.
