How can I get eucalyptus-scented steam for a steam room?
July 26, 2014 8:19 AM

My partner and I recently bought a house that has a steam room in the basement. I've been to spas where the steam rooms have eucalyptus-scented steam, and I would love to reproduce that environment, especially at the end of a long workday. Unfortunately, my Google-ing skills can't seem to turn up any resources or ideas for how to make this happen. Help!

A couple of more technical details (if these might help): The steam room is about 8x10 feet, with two showerheads (one in the wall and one from the ceiling). Walls are tiled. The steam vent is near the floor.
posted by Quaversalis to Home & Garden (7 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
Have you tried just squirting a few drops of eucalyptus oil into the steam vent with an eyedropper?
posted by flabdablet at 8:23 AM on July 26, 2014


When I worked at a gym we just did exactly what flabdablet suggested - squirt some eucalyptus oil in the steam vent. There was also a eucalyptus oil spray bottle in there that folks could just spray about if they wished.
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:27 AM on July 26, 2014


I hang a small branch of eucalyptus from my showerhead, and it scents the room. You can buy it at a flower shop (or, if you happen to live in a place where it grows, like I do, you can just pick up a branch off the ground in a park).
posted by three_red_balloons at 8:39 AM on July 26, 2014


Yep, good quality eucalyptus essential oil (not the fake chemical 'room spray' crap)- a few drops near the vent will do it. Careful not to put out too much, it's very, very strong.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 8:46 AM on July 26, 2014


I use this sort of thing for the same effect in my sauna. Though alternately, mixing good quality essential oil (a few drops per liter) with water works well too. Differently, but very well.
posted by Seeba at 9:47 AM on July 26, 2014


Buy fresh eucalyptus from a florist , arrange sprigs around the steam vent, like these.
posted by hortense at 10:29 AM on July 26, 2014


There's also homemade shower disks. The ones under the link use eucalyptus, rosemary and lavender oils, but I imagine you could omit the latter two if you don't like them.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 4:04 PM on July 26, 2014


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