Do-it-yourself black bath - the entire technological process from the foundation to the stove. Russian bath in black - what is it

The steam room heated on black is considered one of the most sterile and medicinal species. They used such a steam room in Russia in ancient times, when they simply did not know other methods of heating. We will talk with our readers in today's article about how a do-it-yourself black bath is going, what features it has.

A black bath during heating can scare you with smoke.

Features of the steam room in black

Main distinctive features steam rooms on black from traditional in how the piping works. smoke in traditional bath drawn out through the chimney, there is no chimney along the black one and digging with soot goes straight into the steam room. They settle on the walls, canopy, floor and ceiling. Because of this, the steam room becomes black, which is why the bath got its name.

The steam room on black does not look attractive.

The reader will ask why smoke is needed in the steam room? But having visited the black bath once, the question disappears by itself. Why is the black bath so not popular in our time? Just to properly heat a steam room without a chimney is a whole science that has not survived to this day. It is necessary to know the subtleties from preparation, heating, to the adoption of procedures. If it is wrong to heat the bath on black, then apart from a migraine and an unpleasant sensation, it will not cause anything else in the bather.

The exception is Siberia, where steam rooms on black are not at all uncommon. The point is economy, since heat losses during the furnace of such a design are minimal.

Do-it-yourself black bath - installation features

In terms of construction, the black bath project differs significantly from the simple one. Usually, the heater is located directly above the stove, and the smoke leaves the room into the chimney, which is additionally isolated from heat loss. The stove for a steam room for a black fire is assembled in a completely different way. Outwardly, the stove resembles a box with an iron grate on top, stones are laid on top of it. For steam, infusions of herbs are splashed on the stones. When burning, the smoke passes through the grate with stones and heats the entire steam room. Therefore, it is important to reduce heat loss in the steam room melted over black to a minimum. Doors are mounted smaller and lower than traditional ones, window openings are absent or small, low with triple glazing. There is no sense in the windows in the black bath. The fact is that digging will still settle on the glass and the light will not get inside, and washing the glass every time is too laborious.

Bath on black has small size with a low door.

Inside, after heating, there is soot and soot on the walls and canopy. When the steam room is heated, you might think that the structure is on fire, just smoke is pouring from everywhere. For beginners, visiting the bathhouse will seem unpleasant, the room is dirty and steaming in this is not hygienic. This is the biggest misconception. This steam room is one of the most sterile. The point is smoke with soot and soot. They are an antiseptic and not a single bacterium can settle in such a steam room. People suffering skin diseases, after visiting the black bath they see significant improvements, and after 2-3 sessions the disease completely recedes.

The smell in the black bath is also always pleasant, soot absorbs all foreign particles from the air and breathes easier. It is necessary to build a bath on black individual project. Typical for a simple traditional steam room are not suitable here.

black bath project

The project of a bath on black is usually small. Washing is built separately or combined with a steam room. The steam room is small, designed for 1-2 people no more than 6 m². The ceilings are low, the walls are sealed. The canopy is either completely absent or small located in the far corner from the stove. There is no stove at all, just a box with a grill.

It is a misconception that a black bath does not have an exhaust hood. The hood is necessary, but it is opened only after heating, otherwise it will quickly become clogged with soot.

The design of the bath in black with a porch.

There can be no attic or second floor above the bath in black. And here small veranda, which is used as a rest room maybe. The black bath often goes to an artificial reservoir, so that after taking the procedures you can wash yourself without getting dirty with soot and soot.

If the project is chosen incorrectly, you can get a number of negative factors that will cause a lot of trouble for the bather:

• soot from the ceiling will fall on the head;
• the stove smokes too much and throwing firewood is simply difficult;

For construction, wood is used: aspen, alder, birch. You can use pine and spruce, but they must be closed from the inside with lime or birch clapboard. It is better to take a lining wide, so it will be more convenient to periodically clean the walls. After the material is selected, the project is selected, proceed to the installation of the foundation.

Black bath foundation

The foundation for the steam room on black is lightweight. You should not choose columnar or pile, as the bath should be as airtight as possible. insulate columnar foundation will be more difficult. With your own hands, it is easier to fill in a tape that is not buried. After pouring, the tape is insulated with foam plastic or polyurethane foam material.

The foundation is poured in the following steps:

1. Marking is made along the entire perimeter and a trench is dug to a depth of at least 0.5 m.
2. A sand cushion is poured at the bottom of the trench and a reinforcement piping is mounted.
3. Formwork is made with a height above the soil level of at least 40 cm.
4. It is poured into the formwork concrete mortar and the base is covered with PVC film. The foundation must be watered every day so that the drying occurs more evenly. After a week, the film is removed and construction can begin.

The base is leveled, as otherwise the walls of the bath will warp and there will be no tightness.

Bath walls in black

The walls for the bath on black are raised low. For construction, it is better to use glued profiled timber. The profile will make the connection more airtight and it will be easier to heat the bath.

A heater is laid between each beam. It is difficult to perform an additional caulk after shrinking a bath from a profiled beam, so immediately take a high-quality insulation.

After assembly, the walls are additionally sealed, sheathed from the inside with a foil vapor barrier. On top of the vapor barrier, a crate is attached and the walls and ceiling are sheathed with clapboard.

A frame made of round timber in a black bath can not be additionally finished, the main thing is to seal the seams.

The floors in the black bath should also be as warm as possible. The pie is made with additional insulation between the finishing and subfloor or screed.

Doors are insulated and installed in place. Unlike a traditional steam room, the doors are small and low, it is better to bend down at the entrance than to have high heat losses.

The rest of the assembly steps are indistinguishable from a steam room in white. The roof and ceiling are insulated with mineral wool or expanded clay with clay. After the construction of the bath, you can start using it, but for proper kindling, let me give you some recommendations that will be useful to our readers.

It is necessary to heat the bath on black only with dry larch firewood: birch, alder. There is an opinion that it is better to use firewood from the wood that was used for the interior decorating lining of the bath.

It is necessary to heat the steam room several hours before the visit to the steam room is expected. During the heating, all windows and doorways open wide. Hot smoke will initially rise to ceiling space, warming it up, then it is pulled out through window and door openings to the street.
To prevent the smoke and the room from cooling down, it is necessary to carefully seal all wall and ceiling surfaces baths. It is unacceptable to leave even small slits.

After the steam room heats up, the flame is extinguished and the steam room is ventilated for another half an hour. Do not be afraid, the steam room will not cool down, but carbon monoxide will leave the room. You can burn yourself to death, and very easily, so you need to heat the bath in compliance with the rules.

The canopy is wiped during ventilation, the walls where the bather will lean on are also wiped. You can see in more detail how the process of heating the bath on black goes on the video:

Do-it-yourself black bath is assembled and ready for use. After airing, the doors are tightly closed and the heated room will pleasantly exude a woody aroma, and the walls and ceiling will remain warm for a long time. Warm air in a steam room heated on black, it penetrates the human body and has a relaxing effect. In terms of therapeutic characteristics, the black bath ranks first among other types of steam rooms. In Russia, in such a bath, they even gave birth to babies. And sterility as in a surgical room, high temperature and hot water will make the process easier. Lovers and connoisseurs of a real black sauna will never choose a traditional steam room. The benefits from it are less, and the consumption during combustion is much greater. A properly built bathhouse, and even with your own hands, will bring health to your loved ones and become a place of rest and treatment for the whole family.

Popular in big cities saunas replaced real Russian baths in due time. Although the latter are superior in their popularity. But what is black, many no longer know, especially young people. But this is the history of the Russian people, literally a century ago a black bath was used in almost all villages. So what is this type of baths, let's figure it out.

What is a black bath

Initially, this is a small log cabin, consisting of one room, in which a stove-heater was built with their own hands. A small window was installed in the room, a low front door that opened inward, and a high threshold that held back the flow of cold air.

As for such a structure as in black, this is a structure consisting of stones. The construction itself is large boulders sprinkled with small stones on top. Later, pigs of cast iron began to be added to the scattering of stones, for speed dial heat.

Attention! Granite and limestone were not used for the construction of a black sauna heater.

If this type of stones get hot and splash on them cold water, then the cobblestones exploded with a crash, injuring people.

They heated the bathhouse with firewood, as they said in the old days, up to “red stones”. At the same time, the furnace devoured a huge amount of fuel, which made it very unprofitable. By the way, the burning time is more than 4 hours. It was a stove without a chimney, so carbon monoxide and smoke remained inside the room, which is why all surfaces of walls, shelves and other fixtures were always black, hence, in principle, the very name of the bath. Of course, in such a frenzy, no one washed or steamed. The door was slightly opened to let the smoke and gases out into the street. This often took an hour or an hour and a half, after which it was possible to wash.

In order not to become black from soot, benches and shelves were fanned with a broom with their own hands. By the way, as such, there was no dressing room in the black bath. Clothes were taken off on the street, where they left them.

Structural elements of the bath in black

As mentioned above, a black bath is a log house, therefore the interior decoration was wooden. The main elements of the bath were floors, shelves (this is a high bench under the ceiling, on which you had to lie down to steam), benches or low benches.

The floor was built from logs or boards, required condition- a gap between them in order for water to flow down to the ground. Usually it and the benches were necessarily hewn so that there were no splinters. Tub was an integral attribute of the Russian bath. Most often there were two of them: for cold and for hot water. The water was heated in a simple way- with their own hands put in a tub with cold water stones heated on the stove, for which special tongs were used.

To give the bath a true sauna spirit, spruce or pine branches were thrown on the floor. Poorer people used straw for these purposes, richer hay.

The black sauna stove is a unique, but very simple structure. They laid it right on the ground, no complicated preparatory work. The main thing here was that the stove was very hot, exuding heat. Moreover, it was located right next to front door. The wooden floor was located further, this is a kind of precautionary measure against wood fires. The floor in front of the stove was earthen. That is, when entering the bath, a person first stepped on the ground, and only then moved to a wooden base.

After the stove warmed up, this was determined by the scarlet color of the stones inside the structure, its mouth was covered with a large boulder. She did not lose her heat for a long time, while it was possible to splash water on the upper small stones. By the way, water was not poured on the stones in those days. For this, various herbal tinctures were used:

• Mint:
• thyme;
• Horseradish;
• Needles and so on.

Immediately after spraying the heater, the entrance door of the bath was not closed. The steam was supposed to displace the remnants of carbon monoxide and smoke, it was after that that the bath could be tightly closed. After that, with their hands, they constantly turned on the heat, high humidity, the aroma of medicinal herbs, a good broom - this is the guarantee of the health of those who took a bath in a black way.

An interesting fact is that the black bath in those distant times is a place where many rituals were held. For example, guests were often met here, weddings and even small wedding walks were held, and the birth of a child was celebrated. By the way, they bathed in black baths before twice a week. If it was necessary to treat the sick, then they drowned it every day.

Modern changes in black baths

Of course, the black bath should have changed.

And one more element of the improved Russian bath in black is the dressing room. His appearance has become a simple necessity. You just needed somewhere to undress and store clothes so that they were not cold. Therefore, sheds first appeared in front of the bathhouse, which over time were closed with walls.

As an addition to the innovation of the dressing room, they began to display the doors of the furnaces exactly here. This design solved several problems at once. First - it was possible to completely cover the floors in the bath wooden coating. The second is that the dressing room itself is heated in this way. The third is the ease of maintenance of the bath stove. By the way, firewood was also stored in the dressing room.

What are the advantages of baths in black

It is not worth talking about the fact that today black baths are very popular buildings. But this variety also has its own positive points. Which?

• Compared to other baths, this is the most cheap option construction, especially when it comes to building it with your own hands.
• Simplicity of a design of the furnace. Collecting it from stones with your own hands is not a problem. In principle, there is no strict design and technology, the main thing is to lay out the hearth well. And it can be of any configuration.
• Soot on the walls and ceiling in a black bath is a natural absorbent that absorbs unpleasant odors. So in such a bath it always smells like wood.
• The ajar entrance door of the bathhouse is an opportunity to change the air during indoor areas. Professional bath attendants assure that in one hour there is a change of air up to seven times.
• Virtually zero heat loss.

In one black, black room. A Russian bath fits the description of children's horror stories. The first mention of it was found in the Chronicle of Bygone Years. This is a 12th century vault. The note about the baths indicates the 10th century. The records of travelers who were in Russia are also curious. They have a comparison of the Russian bath with purgatory. The red-hot room with puffs of black smoke and people as red as lobsters seemed to the visitors of the underworld. The Slavs did not agree. In conditions Russian climate the black bath turned out to be a boon and a major convenience. What is it, we will understand, studying the device of the steam room.

The device of the bath in black

From the white bath, the black one differs in structure and size. An old version without a chimney. Soot settles on the walls of the bath. Hence its name. Circulating in the room, the smoke helps it to warm up. The dimensions of the steam room also contribute to the speedy heating. The construction of a black bath is limited to a five-wall 3 by 4.5 meters. The fifth wall is placed inside the building, separating the dressing room. Sometimes it doesn't even exist. Then a four-wall is placed. The steam room is combined with a sink. Undressing in the street. Such a miniature and modest device carries a practical load. The bath heats up quickly. The dimensions, the presence of smoke, the unity of the room and the design of the stove help.

The stove in the Russian bath is far from modern, replaced by a hearth. Firewood is placed in it and covered with a net. Stones are placed on top. It becomes clear fast warming up. In a standard furnace, heat is first gained by the firebox, walls and valves. Then, the heat is transferred to the outer surface of the firebox. The heat comes from her into the room. Russian banya in black "supplies" heat almost directly.

Fast heating is relevant for frosty regions and large families. With one bath in the courtyard and 7 in the beauty shops and the spaciousness of the washing room fade into the background. Achieving maximum thermal insulation, the Russians deprived the building large windows and tall doors. Ceilings have also been lowered. But they did not skimp on the glass, they put it in 2 and 3 layers. Otherwise, heat is lost.

The benefits of a black bath

Forgetting for a while the unsightly bath in black, the Russian people are returning to it. Nearby amenities are sacrificed for the benefit of the steam room. In terms of influence on the body, there are advantages over the white bath with a chimney that replaced it, standard oven, several rooms.

• The black firebox is covered with tar. It floats in the air and settles on the walls of the bath along with soot. The composition of tar is a set of hydrocarbons. They disinfect. No wonder tar soap is relevant in cosmetology. Organic phytoncides in it are active against fungi, actinobacteria, cell protozoa. Some microorganisms die from heat reaching up to 70 degrees. The space of the bath, and with it the body, are sterilized. This is one of the reasons for the absence of plague epidemics in Russia. In Europe in the Middle Ages, it "mowed down" 25,000,000 people. The banya was adopted by Westerners from the Russians only in the 18th century during the reign of Peter the 1st. He built steam rooms for his soldiers in Amsterdam and Paris. Looking at the Russian military, the Europeans decided to try the black bath themselves.
• The benefit of the black bath is also in the humidity of the air. Achieved 100 percent, as in a sauna. In the white bath, the humidity does not exceed 70%. Vapors have a beneficial effect on the respiratory system. The higher the humidity, the lower the temperature should be. This is a steam bath. A hot steam room with low humidity is called dry. This is typical for a bath in white.
• The specific advantages of the black bath include infrared radiation. It is converted into thermal energy, accumulated by the walls of the steam room, black from soot. It turns out a primitive infrared camera. In physiotherapy rooms, she is asked for about five hundred rubles per hour for using it. The result of the procedure is: the removal of spasms, the acceleration of metabolism, the expansion of blood vessels, the analgesic effect, the activation of intracellular processes. The latter helps to eliminate toxins from the body. The waste products thrown out by the cells are picked up by water, which comes out in the form of sweat.

The remaining advantages of the black bath coincide with the steam room in white. It turns out that, together, the ancient version has more pluses. This is in terms of a healing effect. The midwives called the women in labor in the black baths. The sterility of the "chamber" for childbirth excluded a number of complications. The Russian ambassadors in Constantinople in 907 stipulated in the agreement with the host that there were no restrictions on going to the bathhouse. Otherwise, the Russians refused to go to Byzantium. A couple of ambassadors had joint pains. The steam room relieved the discomfort. In Russian villages, they still say: - "A bathhouse without steam is like cabbage soup without broth." All this is an indicator of love and respect for the village steam room. That is how it is customary to call the bath in black. Citizens rarely resort to it.

Cons of a black bath

The harm of the Russian bath is the same as that of the white one. In other words, it's about limitations. A number of body states "conflict" with high temperatures, an abundance of smoke and steam. It's about:

• Alcohol intoxication. Alcohol dilates blood vessels, increasing the workload on the heart. Heat and high humidity also push the walls of the arteries apart. Double load "motor" can not withstand. Being in the bath drunk is fraught with cardiac arrest.
• Gluttony. Digestion of food is an energy intensive process. In the bath, too, there is a surge of energy. The body does not have enough strength for both processes. The result is dizziness leading to fainting.
• Wet head. Water accelerates the passage of heat into the tissue in the same way as it facilitates the transfer of current. Remember the scenes from the movies with the hair dryer lowered into the water? So, the increased heat permeability of a wet head leads to a blow. It is similar to that obtained from the sun.
• specific diseases. These include hypertension, atherosclerosis, coronary disease, diabetes, epilepsy, cancer, and tuberculosis. The last disease is not compatible with the bath only in open form. The infection can be transmitted to other visitors to the steam room. For the patient himself, the bath is beneficial. Other ailments from the list, coupled with steaming, are already dangerous for patients.

The time spent in the bath is also important. The latest record is 26 hours at 60 degrees and 70 percent humidity. Surprised Russian. However, with medical point view record is not justified. For an adult, 3-4 10-minute visits to the steam room are recommended. For children and the elderly, 2 visits of 5-7 minutes are enough.

Black sauna precautions

The ban on the construction of village bathhouses near residential buildings written into law in the 17th century. The primitive structure of the steam room, the absence of a chimney in it and the presence of an open fire are fire hazards. The baths burst into flames, being built of wood impregnated with combustible resins.

Other precautions are related to internal structure and use of the bath. The stove, for example, is placed near the door on the ground. The hewn wood floor begins behind the stove. Be logs back to back, they will light up.

So that a fungus does not start in a sterile bath, gaps are left between the floor boards. The water goes into the ground. Fungi and mold need extra moisture.

A bath without a chimney requires a backlash between splashing water on hot stones and closing the front door. They wait about a minute for the carbon monoxide and smoke to squeeze out. If you close the door right away, you'll burn out. Partly between horror stories about black, black rooms and the Russian bath there are parallels. Although, historically, the village steam room is a place of joy. In bathhouses in a black way, not only children were born, but also celebrated weddings, met guests, looked at the betrothed-mummers in the mirrors. The building has become almost a cult for the Russians. Until now, according to surveys, every fifth inhabitant of the country goes to the bathhouse once a month. In the old days, they steamed 2 times a week, and for the sick they drowned daily.

By the way, this book has not lost its relevance and value to this day. I strongly advise you to read if you are interested in the organizational and health aspects of the Russian bath. And, although it is written in Old Russian, if you wish, you can figure it out.

Black bath.

A small log house - five-walled, with internal dimensions of approximately 3m by 4.5m. It consists of two compartments - a sink (steam room) and a dressing room. Sink and steam room are combined. The dimensions of the steam room are 3m by 2.5m, the dimensions of the dressing room are 3m by 2m. The dressing room can be plank.

In the steam room there is a hearth, on top of which stones (heater) are laid. Firewood is burned under the stones, which heat the hearth and the heater. The smoke passes through the heater, dissipates throughout the sauna room, heating the walls and ceiling, and then, through a hole in the ceiling, through doors or windows, it escapes into the atmosphere.

Until recently, this type of baths was the most common in the villages. They were called so: "Rustic bath".

However, due to its small size, dull, smoky appearance, and the minimum of amenities, the black bath is rapidly being replaced by the white bath.

In some areas, the black bath is generally included in the list of hopelessly outdated phenomena.

And, as the Leader of the World Proletariat used to say, absolutely in vain!

Let's see what our neighbors, the Finns, think about this.

As you know, Finland is “ahead of the rest” in the bath business, the number of baths per capita is the highest in the world (one bath for three inhabitants).

So, in Finland, the most elite and most popular is Savu Sauna (smoke bath), i.e. black bath!

The number of these baths they have from year to year is steadily growing.

At first glance, this is a paradox. But only for the first. Finnish scientists have conducted serious studies of the effect on the human body various types baths. And it turned out that greatest health effect gives it a bath in black!

It turns out that the smoke during the heating of the bath in black, penetrating into all the smallest cracks in the structure, kills putrefactive bacteria, mold and other pathogens.

Soot, which is deposited on the walls and ceiling, is the strongest adsorbent that sterilizes the bath atmosphere.

According to some sources, the sterility of the black bath is comparable to the sterility of the operating room.

So much for the "stupid" Russian peasant, and so much for "unwashed Russia". In which, by the way, during the Middle Ages, if there were outbreaks of epidemics of plague and cholera, they could not be compared with epidemics in “pure Europe”, where the consequences were much worse.

Advantages of the bath in black.

1. For a bath, a small log house is suitable, measuring 3m by 4.5m. In order to save forest, the dressing room can be made of plank. The thickness of the boards is 5 - 7 cm.

2. The cost of the hearth is much cheaper than the cost of the stove. The need for bricks is approximately 400 pieces.

3. The heater heats up much less than in a white stove. Therefore, its service life is several times longer. As upper layers even jadeite can be used in heaters, without fear that it will melt or crack.

4. Readiness time in the cold season is one and a half to two times faster. In a black sauna, the smoke directly heats the room (walls, ceiling). In the white sauna, the stove is first heated, which then heats the room.

5. Firewood consumption is about one and a half times less.

6. In the process of taking bath procedures, as the heater cools down, three modes can be distinguished in the black sauna.

A. Within about two hours after the start of soaring - hard mode, close to dry air. The temperature in the steam room is around 80°C. This is the mode for the strongest men.
B. The next 2 hours moderate mode. The temperature in the steam room is around 60°C.
B. The last mode is soft. The temperature in the steam room is around 40°C.

In the villages, the first two visits were men, the third - women and children.

7. A black bath cannot be heated to extreme conditions, therefore it is the best suited for healing with the help of herbal infusions. When splashing on the heater, they do not burn out, but evaporate intensively and mix with the atmosphere of the steam room.

Disadvantages of a rustic bath in black.

1. Minimum amenities. First, everyone steams, then they wash. Due to the small area, it is possible to wash only in a gang (bucket, basin, trough ...).

2. Uncomfortable firing process. Light firewood - jump out of the bath so as not to swallow the smoke. In order to throw firewood, you enter bent low (smoke spreads on top, just above the hearth), quickly make a bookmark and run outside.

3. Due to the presence of open fire, high fire hazard. During the fire, you must not leave the bath unattended and you must keep a container of water ready in case of fire.

4. A massive heater (up to 1000 kg) must be moved once every two to three years. Soot, which accumulates on stones over a certain thickness, smolders (fumes) during the first session. From this child, the eyes are watery, and itchy in the throat.

5. For a black sauna, special requirements are placed on firewood. Firewood must be dried in a woodpile for at least a year (humidity about 15%). firewood only hardwood. The most preferred species is birch. Alder is in second place. Oak, pear, apple, maple can only be used in a one-to-one ratio with poplar or linden. Finely chopped aspen can be laid at the final stage of the firebox.
Firewood conifers in our area, baths are not heated in black.

6. You can build such a bath only on your site. In order to prevent smoke from disturbing neighbors and to comply with the rules fire safety, the area should not be small.

In the village where I was born, where we go to the dacha in the summer, the black bathhouse still functions and, despite its unpresentable appearance, it copes with its tasks remarkably.

This bath was built by my grandfather more than half a century ago. During this time, the wooden floor was changed 5 times and the brick hearth was shifted 3 times.

Over a leaky shingle ( wooden roof), slate was laid about 30 years ago.

Many are firmly convinced that everything old or even ancient is the most useful and environmentally friendly. This belief is automatically transferred to the black bath. Since our ancestors used the black bath for many centuries, then there should be more benefit from it than from the white bath that appeared much later. Which real benefit black baths? And can this type of bath harm human health? What is better or worse than a "black" bath? It is these questions that are discussed in the article.

Internet fairy tales about a bathhouse in black

In general, a lot has been written and told about the bath in black. Unfortunately, one gets the impression that some of these writers have never in their lives been not only in a "black" but also in a "white" bath. Although this has a small plus: when you want to laugh heartily, go to such resources, read and you will really have more fun. Just three examples:

Someone is sure that a black bath does not need to be ventilated during and after the firebox, so all the smoke escapes through microscopic cracks between the logs. It turns out that the exit of smoke through the door, windows, portages (port windows) or the exhaust hole of the roof has nothing to do with it. And, judging by the text, the steam rooms in the white baths are literally stuffed complex system ventilation:

“... Many of the bad combustion products will not penetrate into the body in any way, since after a good warm-up, the entire smokeescapes through microscopic cracks between logs. No need complex ventilation in the steam room…»

Someone is convinced that the service life wooden bath, if it is equipped with a chimney, is sharply reduced and amounts to a maximum of ten to fifteen years.

“... Currently, many are drawn to past traditions and want to build a black bath near a pond or river, away from everyone. Traditional wooden bath rots very quickly, in just ten to fifteen years, but the black sauna lasts a very long time, as it is smoked .. "

Someone advises visiting the steam room in a black way in the event of the final ignition of firewood. Although in reality, before entering, the fire is completely extinguished, the coals are raked out, the bathhouse is ventilated, and so on.

“... You can enter the steam bath on black in case full ignition of firewood. Use only deciduous firewood ... "

There are dozens of such examples. But all this is not the main thing. The main thing is that most of the articles about the benefits of a black bath are literally permeated with quivering confidence in huge benefits of the black bath and her undeniable advantage above modern design with chimney. In order to understand what a black bath is really useful for and why it was so common in Russia, it is necessary to turn a little to history and, perhaps, then everything will become clearer.

The meaning, purpose and benefits of the black bath

Many of history know that long time huts in Russia were heated on black. The so-called "chicken huts" met at the very beginning of the 20th century. But their very existence does not speak of the convenience and special charms of living in them. After all, the majority of the population, having such an opportunity, built huts with pipes. Is it really the same with the baths, and the whole thing is in poverty? Not really. Just a black bath has its own Benefits and historical appointment.

It is clear that the banya was not just a place to get health and pleasant sensations, as for most lovers of the Russian bath and steam today. Let's not forget that bathtubs, showers, and washing machines didn't exist back then. First of all, the bath was the place where you could just wash yourself in warm water and wash your clothes in the warmth, and, only secondary, well, steamed.

Who and how used the bath?

Most often, men were the first to visit the bathhouse, although joint family visits were common. Men succumbed to the park, whipped with birch brooms, ran out into the snow or into the hole in the winter, in a word, steamed. After the men, when the temperature in the steam room dropped, and the dust and soot raised by intense steaming settled, women entered the bathhouse. They did not pour water on the stones, slowly bathed, washed things, and in general were engaged in ordinary household chores.

The design itself contributed to the successful implementation of these tasks. The absence of a chimney made it possible to heat the room and water to the required and comfortable temperature, and a large volume of heated stones made it possible to keep it for a long time.

Even the next day after the furnace, the temperature in many black baths is kept within 30-35 degrees Celsius.

Well, now it’s clear that the design without using chimney, indeed had its advantages for a large segment of the population for many centuries. Well, what about the special benefits of a black bath? Or is there no such benefit at all, or maybe only harm from it?

Black bath: "special benefit" or specific harm?

During the combustion process, the steam room is completely filled with smoke.

Often, when discussing the special benefits of the black version, they refer to the absolute sterility and “special hygiene” of such a steam room, which appeared as a result of direct exposure to smoke on the entire inner surface. They talk about the absence of mold, fungus and microbes. Many may argue about special hygiene, but where have you seen mold and fungus in a working and serviced white steam bath? With normal heating, even before soaring, heat and temperature effects leave no chance for any mold and fungus to exist in the steam room. So the black version does not have any features and benefits in this regard. Is that tar in the smoke? But now they began to argue about the impact of tar ...

Is there any benefit at all from a black bath? Oh sure! The process of proper soaring in the black bath has the same positive effect on the body as in the white bath. But for human health in general, this is a separate topic for consideration.

Two opposite but correct positions

Well, what about possible harm for human health? This question must be considered from two positions that are diametrically opposed, but both are correct.

The first position is that the black bath absolutely safe for a person. This is the right position, but subject to two simple requirements:

• The process of preparation for soaring, as well as the soaring process itself, are organized correctly, all the necessary stages and requirements are met;
• Maintenance, cleaning, washing and cleaning of the steam room are carried out efficiently and on a regular basis.

The second position is that a black bath can not only be harmful, but also dangerous to health and human life. It is also a correct position, while ignoring the above requirements for preparation and maintenance.

What could be the harm or danger?

More ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was aware of the lethal effects of carbon monoxide on humans. Of course, then this colorless and high toxic gas, now popularly known as carbon monoxide, were called quite differently. But the meaning remains the same. This gas is formed during combustion in conditions of insufficient oxygen and is extremely dangerous for humans. And what is absolutely disgusting, this gas has neither color nor smell. Doesn't it seem like a black bath and carbon monoxide are just made for each other?

Ensuring the complete absence of smoke in the bath - necessary step preparation for vaping

However, not everything is so bad and scary. After the complete heating of the steam room, the coals are removed from the furnace, the room is well ventilated and, with open doors and dragging, gives in to steam. The settling steam nails carbon monoxide, since this gas is lighter than air, and it erodes. Such a non-tricky order makes further procedures safe - carbon monoxide nowhere else to take.

As for potential harm. Harm, with low-quality, not timely service, or the absence of such service is really real. But it is real in the event that the use of such an unattended bath occurs not once or twice, but on a regular basis. What is it?

In the photo, the stones in the furnace of the bath in black

The constant presence of residues of combustion products, dust and soot suspension, or the peak of their concentration when steam is supplied, provokes the development of diseases of the human respiratory system: pneumoconiosis, bronchitis and even tuberculosis. Possible manifestations of coronary heart disease.

Soot is a simple amorphous carbon resulting from incomplete combustion hydrocarbons (which is the firewood in the bath). It belongs to the 3rd class of danger, because the size of some of its particles in diameter does not exceed five microns, and therefore is not filtered by the upper respiratory tract of a person.

Soot particles are dangerous for pregnant women, and especially for their offspring. Back in 2002 in scientific work a group of scientists from the respected Canadian university MSmaster in a publication "Air pollution induces heritable DNA mutations" tells about individual facts of a minor mutation of organs, which is transmitted to offspring precisely because of the toxic effects of soot.

In addition, soot adversely affects the normal development of young children. American scientist Dr. Shakira Suglia in his work "Wright RJ Black carbon associated with cognition among children in a prospective birth cohort study", published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2008, reports the results of the study. Adolescents living in polluted areas with elevated content combustion products in the atmosphere have a lower IQ and worse memory.

But then again, it's not all that scary. All this can be avoided if you take care of your bathhouse with high quality and love and regularly service it.

This article does not detract from the quality of the black bath as a wonderful and original place for real Russian soaring. However, the information obtained will not be superfluous for conscious choice type of bath during its independent construction.