Steam Clean

	LineaAqua's Apollo Steam Shower

There's nothing better than taking a long shower after a hard day at work.

Now imagine adding a steam and sauna treatment to that -- you might never get out of the bathroom.

Then picture being able to listen to music or even talk on the phone while you're in your shower. Talk about multitasking. Well, you would have to work a lot to be able to afford these extravagant showers.

Take, for instance, the many offerings from LineaAqua, a high-end steam-shower manufacturer.

Steam showers, once the province of spas only, are enclosed units that incorporate water vapor and other extravagances into a regular shower.

Yury Rush, an employee at the New Jersey-based company, compares the standard features of LineaAqua's showers to a Mercedes, in that all the different classes have basic elements of luxury. "Our showers have features which include a rain shower, hand shower, AM/FM built-in radio, body sprays, on-board computer and a foot massager."

And just like with any other deluxe toy, appearance is essential.

According to LineaAqua, frameless showers are a growing trend. "A shower with [less] metal gives you the ability to have any decoration in your bathroom and to make your shower stand out, or be minimalist," says Rush.

Not surprisingly, the price increases with customization. "You'll need someone to cut glass, which is not an inexpensive venture," Rush points out. This can run into the thousands of dollars.

Even though all LineaAqua's steam showers are completely enclosed, they don't require ventilation.

And don't worry about your shower smelling. "The 'auto flush' feature works so that no remaining water will cause the mildew smell inside the unit when the steam is working," Rush explains.

While you're relaxing inside, put on some soothing music. The radio can pick up any station and has iPod connectivity so you can choose your own tunes.

For the ultimate in high-end, try the Apollo Steam Shower, one of LineaAqua's most luxurious models. It retails for $24,000 and has six adjustable body sprays mounted on mirrored glass, a hand shower and a seat.

You can even experience an acupressure massage from eight additional water jets, which are strategically directed onto your body.

Of course, bacteria are common under such humid conditions. This model, however, has an ozone-sterilization feature that kills bacteria and viruses at the touch of a button.

Private Sauna

Wasauna started as a brand of infrared saunas. "Then we expanded into steam showers when we realized the many benefits of steam and that our market was much broader than what we thought," says Michael Kanko, president of the Scottsdale, Ariz., company.