What to bring to the sauna: the checklist

The list of things you truly need is short and cheap. The rest are extras you buy later or never, and some of what comes in “premium sets” costs money and changes nothing.

Essential

A large towel to sit on, not to dry off with. Not sitting directly on the wood is a matter of hygiene, especially when several people use the sauna, and of comfort, because a heated bench is hot.

A second towel to dry off with after cooling down.

Water to drink. Not in a plastic bottle left standing in the heat. Put it in the changing room or outside.

Flip-flops. The ground by the sauna is often wet and slippery in winter.

Very useful

A sauna hat. It looks unusual, but it protects the head from overheating and noticeably extends a comfortable session by a few minutes. It costs little and is the best-value small item on the list.

A clock or sand timer. In the heat your sense of time deceives you both ways: without a clock some people leave after five minutes, others stay twenty.

A thermometer, if one does not come with the sauna.

An aspen headrest, if you like to lie down.

Nice but optional

Essential oils: sparingly and diluted in the water for the steam, never directly on the stones.

A birch whisk (vihta). A ritual, not a necessity, but for many it is exactly what sets a sauna apart from a hot room.

A salt scrub before your session.

A dressing gown for the breaks, more useful in winter than you would think.

What not to bring

Your phone. Heat and humidity do it no good, and the sauna is the one place in the week where you do not have to be reachable. For many people that is the most valuable part of the ritual.

Metal jewellery. It heats up and burns: a ring becomes uncomfortable after a few minutes at 90 °C.

Creams and lotions before your session. They hinder sweating, and some react to heat.

Food and alcohol.

What belongs in the changing room or next to the sauna

A bucket and ladle for the steam.

A supply of dry wood if you have a wood-fired stove.

A shovel and hand brush for the ashes.

Water for everyone, not one bottle between two.

What people forget

A place for your clothes where they will not get wet or pick up a smell of smoke. Without a changing room that is a real problem, especially in winter.

Something to sit on outside during the breaks. Standing for a quarter of an hour in the cold is not the same as sitting.