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 !
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 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 :)
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.
Fair enough. I live here and always surprised my family whenever I refuse dried fish with beer - I’m more of a smoked cheese braid or chips kinda person.
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”.
The restaurant in my local Therme is in the Sauna area. Of course it’s not a naked restaurant, but a “wear a bathrobe or get something to wear” restaurant. But let me tell you: it’s really weird that there are people with clothes on around you in that restaurant. Not uncomfortable, but weird. And the sauna is a place to relax, so I really think it’s better that everyone has to be naked so that nobody can feel uncomfortable. For most people it might not matter, but for some people it does matter.
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 !
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?
It is. That’s why you should sit on a towel, instead of directly on the bench, with your nekkid sweaty butt.
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 :)
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.
Sometimes there are also men-only days. Tho they kinda suck.
Woman only day:
Man only day:
I wish man only days where also a bit more “care” focused instead :(
Not fish necessarily, but any beer snack, yeah.
True! But dried fish is very common as a beer snack in Russia, so it’s a bit of a default.
Fair enough. I live here and always surprised my family whenever I refuse dried fish with beer - I’m more of a smoked cheese braid or chips kinda person.
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”.
The restaurant in my local Therme is in the Sauna area. Of course it’s not a naked restaurant, but a “wear a bathrobe or get something to wear” restaurant. But let me tell you: it’s really weird that there are people with clothes on around you in that restaurant. Not uncomfortable, but weird. And the sauna is a place to relax, so I really think it’s better that everyone has to be naked so that nobody can feel uncomfortable. For most people it might not matter, but for some people it does matter.