Bath or sauna?
Sauna is an exclusively Finnish name. This is a bath in which steam is generated from the contact of water and hot stones, or a dry heat bath.
Interesting to know! Saunas play an important role in the celebration of some Finnish holidays. It is part of the holiday traditions during midsummer and Christmas celebrations. And only after the Christmas bath do the festivities begin!
The oldest Finnish saunas were designed as holes in the ground several thousand years ago. There are several so-called “stone saunas” that were used back in the Stone Age. The first decent “ground” saunas consisted of four walls, an entrance, a roof made of turf or animal skins and stones heated by fire.
Since then, the Finnish sauna has naturally improved and turned into a modern sauna. Wood stoves became the norm and the quality of construction improved.
As in the Russian tradition, the bathhouse occupied an important place in the daily life of the Finns. In addition to its direct purpose, it was also used as a place for births, deaths and care for the sick.
In the 18th century, wood-burning saunas with chimneys began to gradually gain popularity around the world. This was due to the great migration to the USA. Then the Finnish bathhouse was a square, squat log house, which stood almost half in the ground, with a wide door and a “blind” window.
After World War II, a revolutionary invention was released: the electric sauna. Such rooms quickly warmed up without the need to burn a bundle of wood.
Expert opinion
Lovkachev Boris Petrovich
Bath master who knows everything about steaming
Nowadays, smoke saunas are the oldest types of Finnish saunas and are generally the most respected among Finns. Among foreigners, on the contrary, electric and wood-burning ones are more revered, followed by smoke ones.
Bathhouse with swimming pool
Designing Russian baths that include a swimming pool is quite difficult to implement. There are many aspects to consider here.
Firstly, the location of the pool is external (outside) or internal (inside the bathhouse). This factor alone dictates subsequent actions regarding the type of pool and its shape, the type of foundation to be laid, equipment, waterproofing of walls and ceilings, etc. An outdoor pool may require heating.
Secondly, the purpose of the pool. Sometimes just a small font is enough, which is nice to plunge into after the bathhouse. But the pool can also be a full-fledged place for active swimming.
Thirdly, the presence of sewerage and its type. After all, there is a lot of water in the pool that needs to be drained periodically. Sewage can be centralized or in the form of an equipped cesspool. In the second case, you will also have to create a separate drainage system for the bathhouse.
Fourthly, the type of construction is above-ground, recessed or semi-recessed. The choice will depend on the strength of the soil and the characteristics of the occurrence of water. Fifthly, installation of various additional systems - lighting, waterfalls, hydromassage, etc.
Features of Finnish baths
To understand the features of the Finnish bath, it is necessary to consider the differences in all popular types.
Wooden
This is a traditional Finnish sauna. The air is heated to 80-110°C by burning wood in the stove. It usually takes about 45 minutes to warm up a small room and continue to burn wood while vaping. There is a special pipe for the smoke to escape.
Steam is created by applying water to stones (lyoyls), which are located and heated on the top of the sauna stove.
Interesting to know! The Finns believe that after a certain number of saunas, the visitor will learn to recognize the correct hissing sound that water makes when it hits the stones.
The heat in wooden saunas depends greatly on the size and shape of the sauna, but therefore the rooms are usually kept small. The warmth combined with the burning wood is very relaxing.
Electric
Electric saunas have been available to everyone since the 1950s and are very common in apartments and houses. It’s easy to heat up such saunas - just flip the switch, and the sauna will be ready in about 40-45 minutes. It is very easy to use, safe and generates so-called dry heat.
These can be found in almost all Finnish apartments, even small ones. By the way, they also place lays in the same way as in a wooden sauna. The heat produced by an electric sauna can sometimes be described as harsh due to the small area of the room and the dry air. It feels much hotter on the skin than wet.
Advice! If too dry air is causing discomfort, a good way to remedy this is to water the seats and walls of the sauna with a shower head (all saunas usually have a shower attached).
Smoke
The oldest type of bathhouse, which is similar to the Russian black bathhouse. This sauna heats up in a few hours and does not have a chimney. When wood is burned inside the sauna, smoke fills the room, covering the walls with black soot and a woody aroma. When the sauna warms up (about 4-6 hours), the fire is extinguished.
By that time, the smoke comes out through a specially designed hole in the roof, and the sauna is open for work.
In such a sauna it is customary to place “Kiua” - stones that heat up, usually more than the walls of a wooden sauna, and give off soft heat during the steaming process. Despite the fact that smoke saunas are quite dangerous and, according to statistics, they burn down approximately every 10 years, they are still valued most by Finns.
Another feature
If visitors are lucky enough to visit a real sauna in Finland, they should know a few nuances:
- Finns usually go to the sauna completely naked; for them there is nothing awkward or unnatural about this.
- Although in public mixed saunas, for example, in the black bath, swimsuits are required.
- In public saunas, which are separated by gender, everyone bathes naked. In mixed saunas, where you go with family and friends, swimsuits are also not provided.
As you can see, these are rather subtle features, so true connoisseurs of Finnish baths simply advise following the example of Finns you know.
Is it possible to build a sauna with your own hands?
Theoretically, everything is possible and if you really want to, you can build anything. But if you have such a desire, be sure to think about whether you really have enough time, money and effort for such a complex construction.
At first glance, it may seem that building a bathhouse is not difficult. And all because of associations with domestic steam rooms. In a Finnish sauna project, every little detail is of great importance and if something is not taken into account, nothing will come of it.
If you have any doubts, consider purchasing a ready-made harvia Finnish sauna. If you're feeling confident, check out this list of things to consider.
Materials
- For the foundation, the choice is completely free. The building does not have much weight and does not require a particularly heavy-duty foundation.
- Interior wall decoration is made ONLY from wood. Without wood, this building can no longer be called Finnish. The type is chosen at your discretion.
- The walls can be made of brick, stone or lumber.
Frame
First of all, be sure to clearly mark the future location of the stove (a sauna stove should preferably be Finnish). A building is being erected around it.
Protect your building from wet air currents from the street side with overlapping siding. One of the main tasks is a very strong frame; for it to work properly, it must withstand the temperature conditions in the steam room without any problems.
The timber is fastened in a vertical position in increments of fifty centimeters and fastened together with self-tapping screws. Thermal insulation material (preferably wool or mineral board) is placed in the empty areas.
Ceiling and floor
The ideal option would be to use beams with an internal cross-section of 0.6 - 0.8 cm and cover them with linden boards. With the correct structure of the frame, the beams should pass through the strapping of the entire frame, the step between them is from sixty to one hundred centimeters.
At the initial stages, pay due attention to the installation of thermal insulation materials; in any case, the structure should remain airtight despite the built-in ventilation.
Bitumen felt is good for the floor, but its material itself is a controversial topic. On the one hand, you need to follow traditions and make it from wood. But it tends to accumulate moisture on its surface over time, which creates a feeling of dampness and a slippery surface.
But you don’t have to endure such inconveniences; nothing bad will happen if you use ceramic tiles as a facing material and a concrete screed as a subfloor.
Shelves
Considering that in the future people will lie/sit on them, the fact of their impact on the human body should be taken seriously. Aspen/birch is recommended.
To ensure that no one in the steam room gets burned on the hot metal, hide the caps about 6 centimeters deep into the wood.
Doors and windows
Excess air should not pass into the steam room, so it is wiser to choose a wooden door. Glass does not provide such protection and cannot completely enclose the room.
Every opening, even a small one, must be closed with felt. All fittings must also be made of wood; other materials simply cannot be used at such high temperatures.
How to use it correctly?
So, after the sauna has warmed up, the fun part comes.
The vaping process occurs according to the following scheme:
- To begin with, you should take a quick and hot shower before entering the room itself.
- Inside, it is better to sit down for a moment to adjust to the temperature in the room and pour water on the lyoyla stones, which will create steam and release heat.
- Then you just need to get comfortable and relax.
- Be sure to take enough breaks during the sauna. During the break, you can go outside to cool down, or go for a swim if this is possible and there is a pool or something similar in the adjacent premises.
- Sweating always increases in a Finnish sauna, so you need to drink enough water.
- After the break, you need to go back inside and repeat the procedure with the leilas again. The cycle can be repeated as many times as your health allows. It's important to listen to your body.
- In addition, in the Finnish sauna it is customary to use bunches of fresh birch or juniper branches, called vihta or vasta. They are used in the same way as usual Russian bath brooms.
- When the time comes to leave the sauna, you need to take a shower, wash your face with cool water, and it is advisable not to strain yourself that day, devoting it to relaxation.
Sauna on wheels
An excellent option for seasonal summer holidays in tents. To make a mobile sauna, you can use a trailer for a car, a truck body, or a ready-made log house mounted on a platform.
Such baths can have either an electric stove or a wood stove. For safety, convenience and space saving, the firebox of a wood-burning stove is mounted outside.
More bathhouse projects are presented in the photo below.
Tell us about your favorite places for cleansing and relaxation.
Tips for visiting
Finns especially like to visit the sauna in winter and combine it with ice bathing. Immersion in ice water improves mood and energy balance, cold tolerance, lowers blood pressure and relieves stress. The contrast between cold and heat also helps maintain skin elasticity, slowing down the cellular aging process.
And if there are snowdrifts with snow, then they do not install containers with ice water, preferring to dive straight into the snowdrift.
Although the Finnish community recommends using a sauna with a temperature range of 80 to 100 degrees, it can be unbearable the first time. Therefore, you can start with a more gentle temperature. Many people feel comfortable in a room with a temperature of 70 degrees.
It is recommended to mix a little tar, pine or birch aromatic oil with water in the sauna to create a soft and relaxing scent when applied to the lays.
But other scents are not recommended. It is customary that a Finnish sauna should smell exclusively of tar and wood.
Be sure to take a small towel to the sauna to place on the bench. This is necessary not so much for hygienic reasons, but because the bench can be quite hot. Competing to see who can withstand the most heat and cycles is stupid and unhealthy. For an excellent effect, two occurrences are enough.
A few more tips:
- Washing with soap or shampoo is usually part of the sauna, but usually only towards the end of the entire procedure.
- You should get dressed only after your body temperature returns to normal and sweating stops.
- Large meals and alcohol should be avoided before the sauna. But afterward you should drink refreshing drinks to quench your thirst and restore water balance in the body.
On a note! Finns usually drink low strength beer - amber and cold.
Loyly
Photo: area-arch.it
The name of this sauna is a Finnish word that refers to the sound with which water hitting a hot stone turns into steam. The building, opened in 2016, is an example of a synthesis of modern and traditional architecture with a stylish design. Its builders were guided by the principle that the main thing for a sauna is large wood-burning stoves and a lot of fresh air. Owned by Finnish TV star Jasper Pakkonen and MP Antero Vartia, it's a fashionable evening hangout. You can easily meet Finnish celebrities in a restaurant, bar or on the terrace. Another plus is the opportunity to swim in the sea at any time of the year. The ticket price includes: towel, mat and shampoo. Bringing alcoholic drinks and snacks is prohibited.
- Address: Hernesaarentranta, 4.
- Ticket price: 19 euros for 2 hours, for each additional hour – 10 euros.
What's the benefit?
The sauna, like any bathhouse, is good for everyone, from young to old. Most sauna complications occur due to heart problems. Therefore, if you have such problems, you should visit the bathhouse only after your doctor’s permission. Especially during exacerbations.
Also, people with high blood pressure should not get carried away by sudden alternations of temperatures and plunge into ice water after serious warming up.
The advantages of a sauna include the following:
- Sweating cleanses the skin and body of toxins.
- Heat relieves muscle pain and improves sleep quality.
- The sauna helps you relax and relieve stress.
- Blood circulation improves and metabolic processes accelerate.
- Skin condition improves.
- Immunity is strengthened.
Step 10: Feeder and Photography
After seeing my sauna, my old friend James suggested adding a bird feeder to it so he could photograph them for an internet project. I agreed and started posting photos on social networks, and in return received a ton of complimentary comments.
Questions and answers
What is special about the Finnish barrel sauna?
This is an ordinary wooden bathhouse, simply made in the shape of a large barrel, making it very easy to transport.
Some sources contain information that you cannot use brooms in a Finnish bathhouse, is this true?
No, as mentioned above, Finns enjoy using brooms. Another thing is that you should not whip yourself with them too much, since in a dry room this can lead to injury. It is also not customary to use rough oak brooms.
Do I need to wear a cap in a Finnish sauna?
Yes, a hat is a must due to the increased air temperature.
Will a Finnish sauna worsen varicose veins?
For any problems with the heart and blood vessels, a preliminary consultation with a doctor is necessary.
Is it true that refusing an invitation to a Finnish sauna is considered bad manners?
By refusing to visit the bathhouse, you can offend a Finn, since for them it is a national treasure.
Hammam
Turkish public bath. It got its name from the Arabic word “ham”, which translated meant “hot”. To heat them, a large vat of water is used. The water is brought to a boil.
The steam formed when water was heated through special channels located inside the walls of the room moved into the steam room, thereby heating it.
Such baths have always been distinguished by their rich decoration. A visit to the hammam was a whole ritual for a Turkish person.
These baths with hammam and Russian steam room are similar. Even in ancient times, the Prophet Muhammad said: “Cleanliness is half of faith.”
Therefore, visiting the bathhouse was at least once a week. Different hammams were built for men and women.
These were two separate buildings that shared the same communications systems. If the developer had limited space and did not have enough finances to build two steam rooms at once, then one room was built. In this version, special visiting days were allocated for the male and female population. Every Turkish man was required to let his woman go to the bathhouse once a week. After all, for them such events were part of social life.
Information. Before visiting, the women held a whole ceremony. They dressed up in their finest attire. They often took with them various confectionery products. While drinking coffee drinks with the sweets they brought, the women talked about life and gossiped. Such gatherings could last all day.
What is the main difference between the hammam and other baths? The air temperature in such a room reached 30 – 55 degrees Celsius. For those who could not stand the heat at all, this was a great place for recovery. To visit the hammam correctly, you had to do the following step by step:
- First, the body was warmed up in a special room, it was called “warm”, until the first sweat appeared;
- Next, using special massage mittens made of wool and aromatic oils, the whole body was kneaded for complete relaxation;
- To cleanse the skin, a special multi-component soap was used;
- After the procedures, we took a shower and swam in a pool with cool water to consolidate the effect.
The hammam itself consists of three rooms. The first one is called jamekan. There is a locker room in it. If a tribute to tradition was taken into account during the construction of the room, then you can see a fountain located in the center. The next room is Sogukluk. In a Russian bath this is what is called a washing room. There is a bathroom and shower here. The last room is the hararet.
This is the steam room itself. The seating here is made of marble.
The temperature maintained in the room is easy to tolerate.
In the middle there is a “belly stone”, the so-called firebox, which heats the room.
Additionally, in the same room there may be a swimming pool, which is called a kurna.
Benefits of visiting a sauna
The Finnish sauna is a unique procedure for healing all body systems - from respiratory to cardiovascular. Thanks to staying in the steam room, blood flow accelerates, blood vessels dilate, and the condition of the skin improves. The bath can help with such common problems as psoriasis, eczema and urticaria.
Steam room with shelves Source brd24.com
The low humidity and high temperature of the Finnish steam room are very beneficial for the condition of the human body. The respiratory tract and lungs are effectively cleansed, and the mucous membranes are treated. Exposure to heat causes intense sweating and accelerates metabolic processes in the body, resulting in slight weight loss.
Bucket made of wood Source subscribe.ru
The Finnish steam room is also useful for the nervous system, since hot steam promotes relaxation, calmness and relief from anxiety.
High temperatures quickly kill any bacteria and germs, so visiting a Finnish sauna is an excellent prevention of flu and other infectious diseases.
Indoor sauna Source sanforos.com
Despite the large number of advantages, the Finnish bath also has some contraindications for use:
- Chronic diseases of internal organs of an inflammatory nature;
- Oncological diseases and recovery after surgery;
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding;
- Acute period of diseases of the skin, respiratory and cardiovascular systems;
- Fever and elevated temperature;
- High blood pressure, epilepsy, tuberculosis;
- Elderly age over 60 years;
- Small children under 4 years old.
Sauna with lighting Source youtube.com
To get the maximum health benefits from bath procedures, you need to be attentive to your own body and constantly monitor its well-being. If the slightest signs of discomfort appear, you should immediately stop exposure and cool the body with water. In order for the Finnish sauna to bring only positive emotions, it is necessary to consult with your doctor before visiting it. He will take into account possible contraindications and give recommendations on the time spent in the steam room.
Sauna with heater and bucket Source vsykosmetika.ru
Family sauna Kotiharjun - “Sauna Kotiharjun”
Another popular and oldest washhouse in Helsinki was built in 1928. Over the decades, the basic structure and overall design remained unchanged: a men's steam room on the first floor and a steam room on the second floor. The upper steam room can accommodate 20 to 30 people.
Staying between visits to the steam room on an ordinary street is a common practice that does not bother anyone
Kotiharjun was extensively renovated in accordance with the requirements of architectural and historical traditions in 1999. The restoration was carried out under the direct control and support of the Helsinki Cultural Foundation. It is due to the careful and caring attitude that Kotiharjun has maintained its original architecture over the decades.
The modest Finnish sauna “Kotiharjun” has a modest dressing room without frills
In the main furnace, about 1500 kg of stones and about 800 kg of iron are placed in the main furnace to generate and maintain good heat and steam. On the men's side, stones are replaced several times a year! The atmosphere itself does not pretend to be sophisticated, but creates a feeling of home comfort and tranquility.
Interior of "Kotiharjun"
The work schedule is almost standard. Day off is Monday. On other days the sauna is open from 14.00 to 21.30. However, it is worth paying attention to certain non-working days, such as Father's Day, Independence Day, Mother's Day and others. The cost of a regular visit is €9.
There is a whole range of additional services. Massage - €35 for 30 minutes and €45 for an hour, manicure and pedicure from €45. It is possible to rent a steam room with an electric stove for small groups and families.
How a Finnish sauna works
The main feature of the room is the influence of dry heat, the temperature of which can reach 100 degrees. Hot air and low humidity are much easier to tolerate by the body, overheating does not occur, and sweat evaporates almost instantly.
A very important element is wood, which, when heated, releases beneficial resins, increasing the healing effect of the sauna.
The main difference between a Finnish steam room and a Russian bath is that under the influence of dry hot air, sweat almost immediately evaporates from the skin, due to which the body does not overheat and the heat is tolerated much more easily.
Sauna on the cable car
Another “heavenly” sauna is located in Ylläs, in Finnish Lapland. Ylläs is a popular ski resort, especially crowded with tourists in winter. When there are people who want to take a steam bath at altitude, one of the regular cable car cabins is changed to a sauna cabin after the ski slopes are closed.
The rental costs 1,350 euros, the price includes three laps in the gondola steam room on the cable car (one lap - twenty minutes), a visit to the relaxation room, jacuzzi and sauna at Café Gondol 718. If you're lucky, you'll see the northern lights from the highest sauna in Finland.
Sauna at Burger King
A well-known fast food chain has opened a sauna in the center of Helsinki, right in one of its restaurants. Everything here is unconventional: a steam room, Whoppers and French fries instead of grilled sausages, video games in the recreation room instead of a view of a quiet lake.
The philosophy of fast food is completely opposite to the philosophy of the sauna, which implies slowness, silence and contemplation. So the Finns perceive the Burger King experiment as a marketing campaign and a funny curiosity. Renting this sauna costs 280 euros for three hours. They say that the main visitors are foreign journalists and bloggers.
