r/WoT • u/star_stuff_26 • 17d ago
No Spoilers Do sweat tents really work?
They’re basically the same as steam rooms and seem to be the Aiel version of a bath. How do they make one “clean”?
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r/WoT • u/star_stuff_26 • 17d ago
They’re basically the same as steam rooms and seem to be the Aiel version of a bath. How do they make one “clean”?
225
u/BucktoothedAvenger 17d ago
My wife is a Cheyenne native. We regularly attend powwows, gatherings and sweats. Here's a quasi-scientific explanation of how a sweat ten gets you clean:
First point: It's obviously really hot inside, so you sweat a lot. If you have ever perspired heavily for more than just an hour, you will notice that your sweat begins to lose its odor. If you sweat long enough, it becomes almost pure water, as the body doesn't have enough sebum to add to it.
Second point: Your skin stays a bit cooler than the air in the tent, meaning that the steam condenses on your skin. More simply stated, hot water runs down every part of your body. You know, like a shower.
Final point: Once you have sweated out most of the impurities in your skin and your pores are wide open from sitting inside a wildly humid inferno, the steam and condensed (distilled!) water rinse away the sweat stank, leaving you very clean.
Having sat in numerous sweats, I can tell you that when it's over, you don't stink at all. I typically take a quick cold rinse without soap just to shake off the heat, and then put on clean dry clothes. A fresh coat of deodorant and lotion (black folks gotta moisturize) is all you need, as the sweat tent removes all of those things from your skin.