The Naked Truth About Finnish Sauna Etiquette
- Alexander Popkov
- May 5
- 4 min read
“The sauna was absolutely packed with guys singing songs and drinking beer. I had read about Finnish saunas as places of serenity and relaxation. I didn’t expect that.”
— a French visitor
Ok, I am not pretending to be a sauna expert, but I’ve lived in Finland since 2011 and have been going to saunas since childhood. I’ve got a few things to say. Mainstream guides tend to portray the Finnish sauna as a quiet, presentable ritual. Reality is different. Just like UN happiness ratings differ from what strangers radiate on Helsinki streets. Let’s dig into nuance.
A few facts about Finnish saunas
Saunas in Finland are not limited to wellness centers or gyms. They are part of the infrastructure. Just as you expect running water, in Finland, you can often expect access to a sauna. Many apartments have built-in saunas, and larger apartment blocks usually have a shared one you can book.
Saunas are electric-heated or wood-heated. When there is a choice, wood-heated is usually preferred: a nicer smell and a more organic feel. Electric saunas are common in apartments, gyms, and urban facilities. Wood-heated saunas are common at summerhouses, nature rentals, and older public saunas with a cult following.
A party may move to a sauna
In my first month in Finland, I was at a home party. Some music, some movies, some drinks, and snacks. Suddenly, everyone started undressing and taking towels out of their bags. That is probably the first recommendation to remember: if you go to a Finnish party, carry a towel. There is a real chance you will need it.
When I came into the sauna with my towel wrapped around my waist, someone very drunk told me it was time to show my…
Naked?
Yes and no. It depends on the place and context. Going naked is common among friends, families, and informal groups. In public saunas, people are often separated by gender, or swimwear is expected if the sauna is mixed. But it does not apply everywhere. At festivals, student events, big celebrations, or community saunas, people may wear whatever they feel like, or nothing at all. There, people also communicate with each other as if there are no social barriers.
A place to talk?
This is tricky. Like the French guy at the start, you may expect peace and quiet. Then you enter, and people are talking, joking, complaining about work, comparing injuries, or sharing oddly personal things that would never see the light of day. We’ve had heated discussions on how to build a sauna on Mars during colonization, and what would happen if aliens landed in Finland and no one talked to them. Sauna somehow gives permission in a country where talking to strangers usually needs a practical reason.
If you want to explore this deeper, there is a good Finnish documentary called Miesten vuoro / Steam of Life.
Or a place for calm rest?
Sometimes you enter another kind of sauna and feel that making a sound would be like dropping a barbell in a library.
There are conflicting opinions among Finns. The old saying goes: saunassa ollaan kuin kirkossa, meaning “one should behave in a sauna as in church.” When I asked Finnish students about it, they said it sounded old-fashioned.
So if there is practical advice, it is this: don’t overthink it. It is usually easy to read the room and see what is expected.
Unlike löyly, which is easy to get wrong.
Professional sauna sociopaths and löyly
Löyly is the steam that rises when you throw water on the hot stones. The hottest place is often not next to the stove, but where the steam gathers. Too much water, and it becomes overwhelming.
Everyone who goes to the sauna regularly meets this guy: a seasoned veteran who has built heat tolerance for years and treats the whole room as a proving ground. He does not ask or care if anyone wants more löyly. He just keeps throwing.
He is not completely wrong, though. Strong heat followed by sudden cold intensifies the ‘sauna effect’. I personally do not care about extra löyly if sauna is the last thing for the day, or if it is some feral festival where normal logic is already dead. But if it is 8 AM at a gym, you may end up going to the office looking like you survived a boiler-room explosion.
So what is the sauna effect?
After strong heat, your skin is hot, sweat is running, breathing changes, and you feel heavy, cooked, softened, maybe slightly stupid in a pleasant way. Then you step into cold air, snow, sea, or lake water. Your nervous system snaps into alert mode. Adrenaline rises. Breathing jumps. The first moment is sharp.
Then the body starts to settle. The heat pressure drops. Breathing calms down. The nervous system downshifts. That relaxed feeling comes from contrast: heat loads the body, cold shocks it, and then release follows. The bigger the temperature difference, the stronger the effect.
There is some evidence that sauna bathing and cold-water immersion may help reduce stress, improve sleep, reduce inflammation, boost immunity, and generally enhance well-being.
Lakecore
Get to a summerhouse at a lake: sauna, swim, rest, repeat. This can last for hours. That is a structural part of Finnish culture.
It was the dark middle of the night. Someone threw more löyly. First, there were flames, then dense white smoke rose from the stones. Someone shouted: “Abandon ship!” Apparently, we had brought candles into the sauna, and one had fallen into the water bucket. Nobody noticed. Onto the stones it went.
It depends a lot on the group, so choose carefully. A sauna by a lake can mean quietly watching a sunset, or a party that lasts until morning, with stories people remember for years.
