I had a whole different post planned this week. Then the recall notices started landing in my inbox, my group chats, and about a dozen worried DMs, so we’re talking about the infrared sauna recall instead.

If you own a sauna, you might’ve felt that little stomach-drop when the headlines hit. And if you’ve been saving up for one, you might be wondering if the whole category is a bad idea now. Take a breath. Neither of those panic spirals is where we’re headed.

Full disclosure: I’ve spent years in this industry, I own a sauna myself, plus owned/operated a wellness center and sauna studio for many years in Madison, WI, and I recommend them to clients all the time. So a big recall gets my attention fast.

Like most Ask Jen weeks, I’m working through a few real questions here—the same ones filling up my inbox. Which brands are caught up in the recall? Is Clearlight one of them? And when every company promises a “lifetime warranty,” what should you look for before you trust one with your home? Let’s take them one at a time.

What’s Behind the Infrared Sauna Recall

On September 17, 2026, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of 41,580 infrared and hybrid saunas in the U.S. (plus another 6,758 in Canada). It was issued by a company called Sauna360.

The problem is in the infrared panels. According to the CPSC, the panels can short-circuit and overheat, creating a burn and fire risk. We’re talking about an electrical component tucked inside a hot, wood-lined box you sit in; it’s not a small matter.

This recall spans a handful of brands sold under the Sauna360 umbrella, including Finnleo, Helo, Radiant Health, Saunatec, and Tylö, along with Sauna360’s own models and some infrared kits and custom-built rooms using their panels. If you’re squinting at your sauna trying to remember what brand it even is, hang tight—I’ll show you how to check in a second.

Is Your Sauna Part of the Infrared Sauna Recall?

Good news: figuring this out is straightforward, and most of you will be just fine.

How to Check If You’re Affected by the Infrared Sauna Recall

Every recalled unit can be identified by its brand badge, its control panel label, or its serial number. On most models, the serial number lives under the lower bench or on the wall beneath the upper bench. The CPSC notice lists every affected model number, and Sauna360 will confirm your specific unit if you send them the serial. I’ve linked both at the bottom of this post so you can check yours in about five minutes.

If your sauna is on the list, stop using it until you’ve gone through the official recall steps. Sauna360 is offering a free repair, and I’d take them up on it rather than crossing your fingers and hoping.

And if you own a Clearlight? You can exhale. Clearlight isn’t part of this recall, and it comes down to how the company is built. They make all their own saunas and heater components in their own factory, with zero affiliation to Sauna360—no shared parts or supply line to worry about. Full disclosure, Clearlight is the brand I personally own and recommend, so I know this one well.

What to Look For in an Infrared Sauna, Recall or Not

Nothing makes you scrutinize a big purchase quite like a recall. So while we’re here, these are the things I look at first, whether you’re shopping or just want peace of mind about the sauna you’ve got.

What a Lifetime Warranty Should Really Cover

I’ll say this plainly: a company’s warranty tells you how much it believes in its own product.

The catch is in that one word, “lifetime.” It should mean the life of the original owner—yours, for as long as you own the sauna. But some companies quietly define “lifetime” as the life of the sauna, then decide that life isn’t very long. One well-known brand sets the life of a sauna at just seven years. Read further into that same fine print, and the electronics—the heaters and control panel, the parts doing the real work—might be covered for as little as one to three years, depending on the model. That’s a long way from lifetime.

A true lifetime warranty covers all of it: wood, frame, heaters, and the electronics that tend to give out first, for as long as the original owner has it. When a company backs the whole unit that way, they’re telling you they don’t expect it to fail. So read the fine print before you buy, every single time.

Heater Placement and Full-Body Coverage

This one gets overlooked constantly. Infrared heat travels in a straight line, a lot like sunlight, and it only reaches your body if you’re sitting directly in front of a heater. So where the heaters sit inside the cabin matters as much as the heaters themselves.

Look for coverage that surrounds you: back wall, side walls, and under the bench for your legs and feet. Your calves and lower legs carry you around all day, and they’re the first to get left out when a sauna skips the under-bench heaters. Miss those, and you get a session that’s warm up top and cold from the waist down.

Heater height is the other thing to check. Some saunas run heater panels right up behind your head, and that’s a design miss on two counts. Up there, the infrared isn’t reaching your body—it’s heating the empty airspace above your shoulders. And a heat panel pressed against your head and brain for 30 or 40 minutes isn’t doing you any favors either.

Your hair notices too. Rest your head against a heater for a full session, and it’s a hair dryer on high the whole time, which is one of the real reasons “sauna hats” are suddenly everywhere. A well-built sauna skips the drama and cuts the heaters off at neck and shoulder level, so your head and hair aren’t parked on a hot panel in the first place. No hat required.

EMF, ELF, and What You’re Breathing In

Infrared saunas run on electricity, so EMF (electromagnetic fields) is a fair thing to ask about. Some brands test for it and publish their numbers. Others go quiet. I like seeing third-party lab testing that shows low EMF, and ideally shielding for ELF (extremely low frequencies) coming off the internal wiring too.

One more that flies under the radar: off-gassing. When you heat a wood-and-glue box to 130 degrees and climb inside, what’s in the materials matters. Solid, certified wood with low-VOC construction means cleaner air while you sweat. Ask for the testing—a company that’s proud of its numbers will hand them right over.

Wood, Floors, and the Structural Stuff

Look for solid, certified wood rather than particleboard or veneer. And here’s a detail almost nobody thinks about until it’s a little gross: the floor. A lot of saunas use slatted wood floors sitting right over the heaters, which slowly become a catch-all for sweat and grime. Solid floors with the heaters tucked underneath are far easier to keep clean. Ten years in, you’ll care about this more than you’d guess.

The Bigger Picture: Buy From a Company That Stands Behind Its Product

I’ve watched a lot of wellness brands come and go, and the ones that vanish usually cut a corner somewhere, whether it’s cheaper heaters or a thinner warranty. An infrared sauna recall like this one is a gut-check moment that sorts the serious companies from the ones hoping you won’t read the fine print.

None of this is a reason to swear off saunas. Infrared saunas have been part of my own healing for years, and I’m not stopping now. Take it instead as a reason to shop like a grown-up: ask the boring questions and put your money with a company that’ll still be around to answer the phone in ten years.

Your home should be the place that helps you heal, right down to the appliances you sweat in. A recall is just a nudge to make sure the tools you bring into it earn their spot.

Links & Resources

• Official Sauna360 recall notice (CPSC): https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Sauna360-Recalls-Infrared-Saunas-Hybrid-Infrared-Saunas-and-Infrared-Kits-Due-to-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-or-Death-from-Fire-and-Burn-Hazards
• Check your model with Sauna360: https://sauna360.com/product-recall
• How to Choose the Best Infrared Sauna (my full guide): https://jenhellerlifestyle.com/2023/10/24/how-to-choose-the-best-infrared-sauna/
• Browse Clearlight models and specs: https://jenhellerlifestyle.com/infrared-saunas
• Take a peek at my Jen Recommends list to see more of my favorite products.
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