Missing the serenity of the sauna? Try MiHigh's Infrared Sauna Blanket instead

Saunas in England closed for six months due to the pandemic. New restrictions to keep them ‘Covid secure’ – including halving the number of people allowed in at one time – mean it's still difficult to get a spot. Fortunately, Australian company MiHigh might have the answer: an Infrared Sauna Blanket you can use at home.

Made popular by celebrities and sports stars, infrared saunas (sometimes called ‘far-infrared saunas’) have been a spa treatment hot trend in recent years. Unlike a traditional steam room, they use light to heat the body from within rather than the air from without. This means the saunas can work at much lower temperatures – at around 50°C rather than 70°C. As well as bringing down the cost, this makes saunas more accessible for people that can’t handle intense heat.

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While you often have an infrared sauna alone in a private room, MiHigh takes this to the next level. The Infrared Sauna Blanket costs £374. Though it's called a blanket, it's more like an oversized sleeping bag – you cocoon yourself inside it from the shoulder’s down.

You can use it for between 30 minutes to an hour, three days a week. A handheld controller allows you to adjust the temperature from 25-80°C, so you get the heat just the way you like it. When you’re done, its waterproof lining is easy to wipe clean. And it rolls up, so it’s simple to store.

MiHigh makes a lot of bold claims that it can boost your health and wellness. It says you can burn up to 600 calories in 30 minutes. Rejuvenate your skin. Reduce stress. Release happiness chemicals. And improve sleep (although if that's what you're after, you might also want to check out our guide to the best weighted blankets). Though the company doesn’t back up any of this with evidence, the science broadly supports these statements. However, its claim infrared heat is ‘seven times more detoxifying’ is just wrong. We cannot say this often enough: detoxing is a myth. 

But if you just want to relax and unwind while working up a satisfying sweat, this high-tech sleeping bag might be worth a look.

• Buy the MiHi Infrared Sauna Blanket at MiHi

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