SAUNA

Finnish sauna 18.10.18

Contents
Finnish sauna ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Origins of the sauna........................................................................................................................................... 3
Finnish sauna customs....................................................................................................................................... 4
Types of sauna ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Smoke sauna...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Wood stove sauna ............................................................................................................................................. 7
Electric sauna ..................................................................................................................................................... 7

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Finnish sauna
The Finnish sauna is a substantial part of Finnish culture. There are five million inhabitants and over three
million saunas in Finland - an average of one per household. For Finnish people the sauna is a place to relax
with friends and family, and a place for physical and mental relaxation as well. Finns think of saunas not as a
luxury, but as a necessity. Before the rise of public health care and nursery facilities, almost all Finnish
mothers gave birth in saunas.

Saunas in Finland
1800000
1600000
1400000
1200000
1000000
800000
600000
400000
200000
0
1980 1990 2000 2010 2014 2015 2016 2017

Origins of the sauna

The sauna in Finland is an old phenomenon and its roots are difficult to trace, but its earliest versions are
believed to be from 7000 BC. Bath houses were recorded in Europe during the same time period, but Finnish
bathing habits were poorly documented for most of history. One of the first written mentions of what is
believed to be the sauna customs of the forefathers of the Finns was written by the Nestor the Chronicler in
1112. He told of "hot wooden saunas in which naked bathers beat themselves with branches and finally pour
cold water over themselves".

During the Reformation in Scandinavia the

popularity of saunas expanded to other
countries because the European bath houses
were being destroyed. By the time of the
Reformation, when in the rest of Europe
bathing was something ordinary people did
rarely (annually) or not at all, Finns were
cleaning themselves in saunas at least once a
week.

One reason the sauna culture has always flourished in Finland has been because of the versatility of the
sauna. When people were moving, the first thing they did was to build a sauna. Finns would use the sauna to
live in, eat, address matters of hygiene, and, most importantly, give birth in an almost sterile environment.
Unlike many other, more densely populated places in Europe, the availability of wood needed to build and
warm the sauna has never been an issue. Another reason for its popularity is that in such a cold climate, the

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sauna allows people warmth for at least a short period of time. However, it is just as popular in the summer
as in the winter.

Finnish sauna customs

Saunas are an integral part of the way of life in Finland. They are found on the shores of Finland's numerous
lakes, in private apartments, corporate headquarters, at the Parliament House and even at the depth of 1,400
metres (4,600 ft) in Pyhäsalmi Mine. The sauna is an important part of the national identity and those who
have the opportunity usually take a sauna at least once a week. The traditional sauna day is Saturday.

How often finnish go to sauna (%)

Never 2

Less than monthly 15

Once a month 5

Few times a month 11

Approximately weekly 33

Many days a week 29

Almost daily 3

Daily 2

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

The sauna tradition is so strong that whenever Finns go abroad, they relish the chance to have a good sauna:
even the Finnish Church in Rotherhithe, London, has its own sauna. Finnish soldiers on peacekeeping missions
are famous for their saunas; even on the UNMEE mission in Eritrea, a sauna was one of the first buildings to
be erected. A Second World War-era Finnish military field manual states that a break of eight hours is all that
is required for a battalion to build saunas, warm them and bathe in them. Saunas, even in the military, are
strictly egalitarian places: no titles or hierarchies are used in the sauna.

Taking a sauna begins with having a wash (usually a shower), followed by a sit in the sauna room, the room
being typically warmed to 80–110 °C (176–230 °F). Water is thrown on the hot stones topping the kiuas, a
special stove used to warm up the sauna. This produces great amounts of wet steam, known as löyly,
increasing the moisture and the apparent temperature within the sauna. Only the word löyly is used for this
particular type of steam (the Finnish word höyry ('steam, vapour') is never used for it except in a scientific
sense. Equivalents for löyly can be found in the Finnic languages such as the Karelian löyly, the Estonian leil,
the Votic leülü, the Veps l'öl' and the Livonian löul. Its original sense signified 'spirit, breath, soul' and this is
still seen in the Uralic languages--for example, the Udmurt lul, the Komi lol, the Mansi läl ('life'), the Khanty
lil and the Hungarian lélek.

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Occasionally one uses a bunch of leafy, fragrant silver birch

called a vihta (vasta in Eastern Finland) to gently beat oneself.
This has a relaxing effect on the muscles and also helps to
soothe the irritation from mosquito bites. When the heat
begins to feel uncomfortable it is customary to jump into a
lake, sea, or a swimming pool, or to have a shower. In the
winter, rolling in the snow or even swimming in a hole cut in
lake ice, an avanto, is sometimes used as a substitute. Often
after the sauna it is a custom to sit down in the dressing room
or on the porch of the sauna to enjoy a sausage, along with
beer or soft drinks.

After cooling down from the first bath, one goes back into the hot room
and begins the cycle again. The number and duration of hot room-
cooling down cycles varies from person to person based on personal
preference. Usually one takes at least two or three cycles, lasting
between 30 minutes to two hours. In Finland's numerous summer
cottages bathing might go on well into the night. This is especially true
in the summer when there's virtually no darkness at night. The sauna
session itself is finished off with a thorough wash.

For someone brought up in Finland, the rules are instinctive but

they are difficult to put into words. Depending on the size,
composition, relationships, and the age structure of the group
three basic patterns can emerge: Everyone can go to the sauna
at the same time, men and women may take a sauna separately,
or each family can go to sauna separately. Mixed saunas with
non-family members are most common with younger adults,
and are quite rare for older people or on more formal occasions.
It is common for teenagers to stop going to sauna with their
parents at some point.

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With whom finnish go to sauna

With friends

With friend (mixed sauna)

With family

Spouse/companion

Alone

0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %

Frequently Sometimes Seldom Never

In the sauna it is a faux pas to wear clothing in the hot room, although it is acceptable to sit on a small towel
or pefletti, a disposable tissue designed to endure heat and humidity (it can be mandatory in a public sauna,
such as at a public swimming pool). While cooling off it is common to wrap a towel around the body. Although
mixed saunas are quite common, for a typical Finn the sauna is, with few exceptions, a strictly non-sexual
place. In Finland a "sauna" means only a sauna, not a brothel, sex club, or such. In public saunas, swimsuits
are banned from the hot room for health reasons: in many indoor swimming pools, chlorine is added to the
water for hygiene reasons; if swimwear used in such water is brought to the hot room, the chlorine will
vaporize and cause breathing problems for people with asthma or allergies.

In private homes or summer residences, the sauna is usually warmed to honor the guest and refusal may be
more difficult. However, Finns will not typically be very offended if their guest declines. This is particularly
common if going to sauna would require a lot of effort from the guest (such as re-applying complex make-up
afterwards), socially inconvenient (feeling uncomfortable about nudity and/or a mixed-sex sauna), or
otherwise inconvenient (should the guest not have a change of clothes or if the sauna's going to take place
late at night, et cetera)

Types of sauna
Many different types of sauna can be found in Finland. They can be classified either by the sauna building
itself or by what kind of stove it uses.

The main division of saunas is between once warmed and continuously warmed stoves. All smoke saunas are
once warmed, but there are also other type of ovens that are once warmed.

Once warmed stoves have larger amount of stones that are warmed up before the bathing. This can be done
by burning wood, with or without chimney, oil or natural gas. Continuously warmed stoves have lower
amount of stones that are heated during the bathing. The warming can be done burning wood, oil or natural
gas, or electrically.

The temperature in Finnish saunas is 60 to 100 °C (140 to 212 °F), usually 70–80 °C (158–176 °F), and is kept
clearly above the dewpoint despite the vaporization of löyly water, so that visible condensation of steam
does not occur as in a Turkish sauna

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Smoke sauna
The savusauna (smoke sauna) is a special type of sauna without
a chimney. Wood is burned in a particularly large stove and the
smoke fills the room. When the sauna is hot enough, the fire is
allowed to die and the smoke is ventilated out. The residual heat
of the stove is enough for the duration of the sauna. This
represents the ancestral type of sauna, since chimneys are a
later addition. Smoke saunas have experienced great revival in
recent years since they are considered superior by the
connoisseurs. They are not, however, likely to replace all or even
most of the regular saunas because more skill, effort, and time
(usually most of the day) are needed for the heating process.

Smoke saunas are still extant not only in Finland but also in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. They are considered
to be cheap, simple to build, and durable (if measures of fire prevention are taken while building the sauna).
The longevity is warranted by disinfectant features of smoke.

Wood stove sauna

The wood stove sauna is the most common type of sauna
outside of the city areas, where the electric sauna is more
common. The metal stove with stones on top (kiuas) is
heated with birch wood fire, and this heats the sauna room
to the required temperature. If birch wood is not available
any other wood will do, but well dried birch wood is
preferred because of its good quality and smell, and long
lasting burn. The important thing is to have a good löyly,
which is when the stones are hot enough to evaporate the
water thrown on them into steam that rises to the bathers.
The bather in every type of sauna sits on a high bench near
the ceiling where the hot steam reaches them quickly.

Electric sauna
In city apartments, and in most public saunas, an electric sauna stove (kiuas) is used,
as it does not require wood to burn. They are very simple to prepare, only a press
of a button will do. They usually have stones to retain heat, like their smoke sauna
and wood stove counterparts, but sometimes even a large slab of stone is used to
give the same effect as you throw water on it. Most apartment buildings in Finland
include at least this type of sauna, or there is one for use by the occupants of a
building, with dedicated hours for use for communal men's and women's sauna,
and special hours for those who have requested apartment specific hours. Most
Finns prefer a wood stove sauna to an electric sauna.