For most mixed-gender public saunas in Finland though, bathing clothes are mandatory and nudity is prohibited. Also, nobody cares that much what you are wearing and you can wear your swimsuit to a single gender sauna, too, if it makes you feel comfortable.
This is quite opposite to Germany, where regular sauna goers might very well tell you that clothes are prohibited and that they “pose a hygiene problem”. I even heard people saying stuff like “This is a Finnish sauna, you don’t wear clothes here!” in a German mixed gender sauna. Well, the opposite is true for a mixed gender sauna in Finland 🤷🏼.
Edit: My experience is limited, so I guess I was wrong about wearing bathsuits to single-gender saunas. Thanks for pointing that out @kadotux@lemmings.world !
A swimsuit is quite common in Norway. Basically you ask yourself the question “am I going to make anyone uncomfortable”. If it’s single gender and people are not extremely shy, you generally go with only a towel, but nobody is really going to care. If you’re a gender mixed group of friends that don’t know each other that well, you might prefer putting on a swimsuit in order to make sure people feel comfortable and included.
From my experience the Swedes are the same.
This is based on private saunas with friends. In public mixed gender saunas I don’t think I’ve seen anyone go naked, but I’m sure certain Finnish tourists would and nobody would mind.
Can confirm re: Germany. It’s often explicitly framed as a hygiene issue. That said, there are saunas where you may wear stuff, it’s usually designated. Plus you have “women only days” in a good number of public saunas.
In Russia it’s also common to eat dried fish and drink beer/sometimes vodka in the room next to the sauna.
In Germany it’s often framed as a hygiene issue, because that’s easier to sell to randos. The real issue it that it’s uncomfortable to be nude when there are clothed people all around you. And the sauna itself is more comfortable when nude.
It’s kina like a prisoners delemma, where the pareto solution is when everyone else is nude, and the nash-equlibrium is when everyone is clothed. Because of this, some people will want to defect (i.e. wear clothes), so we need to apply outside pressure to enforce the pareto-efficient solution (i.e. by asking people to remove their clothes).
Hmmm, in my experience the discomfort goes away quickly and you stop caring about your own or other people’s genitalia, or lack thereof, in plain view. But I appreciate the game theory approach 😺 Given the nonrationality of many social things, I’d wager that it’s just a convention whose true meaning matters less than the fact that “it is the way it is”.
Sometimes there are also men-only days. Tho they kinda suck.
Woman only day:
- Start with a sparkling wine
- Get a few skincare things for the sauna
- Nice smelling infusion
- A bit of after-care program in the water
Man only day:
- We put FUCKING BEER on the hot stone and add some BBQ scent. FUCK YEAH, MANLY.
I wish man only days where also a bit more “care” focused instead :(
True! But dried fish is very common as a beer snack in Russia, so it’s a bit of a default.
Jaa mitähän ihmettä? I’ve been to many public saunas in Finland and almost all of them, if not all, prohibit the use of swimsuit/-pants. At least the ones that are in public pools/swimming halls. And the reasoning being as you said, hygiene.
Edit: whoops my bad, you were talking about mixed gender Saunas. You might be correct after all
And Great Britain should be orange. Everywhere here would be 100% fine with you wearing a bikini or swimming shorts in a sauna as long as you aren’t completely nude.
Can confirm the german part: In my gym there recently was an outrage because a Muslim member went to the Sauna with bathing clothes multiple times, which in the end resulted in his contract being terminated. Being naked in the sauna is almost the law here (but in the end nobody cares if you wear your towel or put it below you. Just remember: No sweat on wood!)
I’ve never been in a sauna. What do you mean by no sweat on wood? Isn’t the entire experience sweaty?
I don’t know how it’s outside of Germany, but at least in Germany in every public sauna there are signs saying “No sweat on wood!” (or in German: “Kein Schweiß aufs Holz!”)
What this should mean is that too keep the wood from getting too much salt exposure, you should always sit or lay on a big towel which prevents your body from touching the wood.
Of course the experience is extremely sweaty, thats the reason to go there, so you’re correct on that part :)
