It is most convenient to enjoy the heat in the steam room in a recumbent position on a shelf. For the greatest comfort, you will need an irreplaceable accessory - a headrest for the bath. It should be made of natural wood. Moreover, it is easy to make it with your own hands, following our instructions. Content:
- Purpose of the headrest
- Material selection
- Straight headrest
- Rounded headrest
- Curved headrest
- Fabric headrest
It is known that the bath has an excellent relaxing effect on the body. Therefore, the acceptance of procedures in the supine position should take place in conditions of maximum comfort. The spine and muscles should be in a comfortable physiological position. For this, it is customary to use a device called a headrest.
The purpose of the headrest in the bath
The headrest for a bath is a special removable device that allows you to conveniently bathe in a recumbent position on any shelf and acts as a kind of pillow. It is a structure in the form of rails, which are connected on parallel bases. The shape of the headrest can be straight, round, curved.
On sale you can find headrests made of natural fabrics - linen, cotton. However, the most popular are wooden fixtures. They dry out quickly, do not heat up in the steam room, are easy to clean and do not lose their shape. It is desirable that there are several such devices in the steam room, so that a small company can comfortably accommodate.
The choice of material for the manufacture of the headrest in the bath
Making a headrest for a bath with your own hands is a great opportunity to save money and create a device that is optimal for your bath in terms of size and design. Most often, wood is used for this purpose.
The requirements for the wood from which it will be made are the same as for all finishing materials in the steam room. The most important thing is that it must be well dried. This way the finished product will retain its shape and will not deform.
The most popular types of wood used in the manufacture of this bath accessory are:
- Linden … This tree is distinguished by its elasticity and good heat capacity. This allows the linden tree to not absorb too much moisture and not heat up to very high temperatures. In addition, linden has a beautiful color and texture. When exposed to high temperatures, linden secretes special phytohormones that have a therapeutic effect on the body.
- Pine … The most inexpensive wood material. Its pleasant feature is the ability to emit a pleasant pine smell when heated. But at the same time, pine can release resin from the fibers when heated. Therefore, if you have opted for pine as a material for the headrest, choose only high-quality lumber - without resin streaks, knots, "pockets", oblique.
- Birch … Dense wood with low moisture absorption. Birch can heat up quickly, exerting a warming effect on the neck and upper spine, and also cool down quickly. Moreover, the frequent change in temperature and humidity conditions is not terrible for her.
- Cedar … A relatively expensive material that smells great when heated and is highly resistant to mold. Contains a little resin in the fibers, so it will not release them when the temperature rises. But the special volatile substances secreted by cedar have a beneficial effect on the body.
- Aspen … This tree is dense and resistant to changes in temperature and humidity. It retains its original appearance for a long time and does not crack.
- Exotic wood species … They include ofram, meranti, abash, bamboo. There are practically no disadvantages of these types of wood, with the exception of the high price. But the headrests made of such materials will retain their original appearance for many decades.
Sometimes professional master carpenters combine several types of wood at once. However, beginners are advised to choose one type of wood.
In addition to wood, in our work we need self-tapping screws and special carpentry tools.
Manufacturing technology of a straight headrest for a bath
Before starting work, it is necessary to correctly calculate the dimensions of the headrest for the bath. Be sure to check the width of the shelves and benches in the steam room, as the device should fit there without any problems. But in any case, it should not be too high or low.
A straight headrest, without bulges and bends, is considered the simplest design, which even a beginner can make.
To make the simplest headrest for the bath with our own hands, we carry out the work in this order:
- We prepare wooden blocks that will act as rails. Their optimal width is 5-7 cm. Length - depending on the width of the shelves (on average - about 45 cm). We carefully grind the boards so that even the smallest notches are not left. For this we use sanding paper.
- Cooking the sidewalls. We cut out triangles of the same shape and size. Use patterns for this. Make sure that the tilt angle is about 30 degrees - this is the optimal angle for a comfortable head position. We also process all surfaces with a grinder or sandpaper.
- We place each rail on parallel sidewalls and attach it with self-tapping screws. The gap between the rails should be approximately 10 mm.
- We coat the finished product with linseed oil in order to prevent cracking in the future.
Remember that the caps of the self-tapping screws should be sunk into the wood so as not to burn the skin when heated.
How to make a rounded headrest in a bath
This type of headrest provides a comfortable fit for the head and upper body due to its anatomical shape. It is believed that the ideal width of such a product is 45 cm, length 40 cm, height 10 cm.
Consider the order of work:
- We give a rounded shape to the sidewalls on which we will attach the slats. To do this, we cut out a couple of rectangles measuring 40x10 cm. The ideal thickness of the tree is 25 mm.
- We put marks on the blanks with a pencil. The maximum height from one edge is 10 cm, the second edge should be 2 cm high. We connect the marks with a smooth rounded line using a pencil.
- Cut out a couple of details along the outlined lines. Rub all edges and surfaces with sanding paper.
- We prepare the slats of the required length - 45 cm. In total, 8-9 slats are needed. We cut them out with a hacksaw or jigsaw, we clean the edges with a grinder and sandpaper.
- At the ends of the sidewalls, we drill holes where the rails will be attached using self-tapping screws. We "sink" the screws into the wood so that they do not burn the skin when heated.
- We leave the gap between the slats about 1 cm. This is necessary to drain the water and circulate the air.
If you have certain skills, the finished product can be decorated with wood carvings.
Do-it-yourself curved headrest for a bath
The headrest for a bath can not only create additional comfort while taking procedures, but also have a certain healing effect. To do this, you can make your own curved headrest massager. This device will massage the back of the head and cervical vertebrae.
We carry out manufacturing work in the following order:
- We prepare blanks for sidewalls measuring 45x12 cm.
- Shaping the sidewalls. For this, experts recommend using not a simple rounded shape, but a more comfortable curved one. With a simple pencil, draw a smooth wavy line on wooden rectangles. We cut the parts along it with a hacksaw.
- We will carefully grind the parts to full smoothness.
- We prepare rounded sticks. Their diameter should be about 25-35 mm. We grind them.
- We cut rounded blanks of the required length - 35-40 cm. In total, about 10-12 such parts will be needed. Their number depends on the width of the gaps between them.
- Drill holes in the center on both sides of each of the sticks.
- We attach the round crossbeams to the sidewalls along a wavy contour. For this we use long screws or wood dowels.
- We process the finished product again with sanding paper to achieve perfect smoothness.
How to sew a fabric headrest in a bath
In addition to wood, you can make your own headrests from fabric or rattan. In the first case, flax and cotton are used. In the second case - wicker rattan. In order to create a wicker fixture, you need certain skills. But a fabric headrest in the form of a pillow can be built by any housewife.
The fabric headrest is roller-shaped. Various aromatic dried herbs such as lavender, thyme, mint are placed inside. You can use juniper needles or cedar shavings. Such a pillow will exude a subtle scent of herbs - have a healing and relaxing effect. The fabric of the roller can be sewn or bound with ropes.
Remember that this product needs special care. The headrest roller should be thoroughly dried regularly, and from time to time the herbs should be replaced with new ones. Watch the video how the headrest for a bamboo bath looks like - look at the video:
Before starting work, you should prepare a suitable drawing of the headrest for the bath. And following our step-by-step instructions, it will not be difficult to make it yourself. The device, made according to technology, will give comfort for many years. At the same time, you should remember the simple rules for caring for it: do not leave it in the steam room when leaving it, store it in a dry, ventilated room.
