Wearing clothes in a SAUNA

[GreenTeek]

Not a bikini

Not a swimsuit

But full on gym clothes and shoes

This is weird no?

I’ve joined a brand new gym. Sex segregated saunas. Women seem to have established a new norm whereby one woman wore full gym gear in the sauna....and then everyone followed suit.

Now I feel if I wore a bikini or a towel I would be the weird one

That’s disgustingly unhygienic.

Well, saunas are really aren't they - 'I know, lets all sit in a steamy room and see who can sweat the most

And they must be so hot

Isn't that kind of the point of a sauna ?

I reckon it's the whole 'sweat to lose weight' myth at work. Even knowing that I'd find it hard to keep a straight face if I saw that!

Not only gross and dirty but also risking burns from any metal on the material.

Surely it's dangerous? They might faint?

Loudly ask why they're all wearing clothes

There’s no attendants. It’s a super cheap 24hr gym with what appears to be a very small amount of staff, mostly 18 year olds!

I think you could ask at the main desk about policy and say that you’re concerned about the hygiene issue of people wearing clothes and shoes (shoes!!!!) in the sauna. And ask for a clear notice to be put at the entrance to the sauna that:

• sets must shower before entering the sauna

• Steeet clothes and/or workout clothes may not be worn

• no shoes to be worn

Some people are just ignorant of sauna etiquette and need a bit of information and education.

I still find it weird in the UK to have to wear a swimsuit in a mixed sauna. I’m used to German and Swedish saunas where one only “wears” a towel- that’s the correct sauna etiquette.

Users, not sets.

But to enter a sauna without showering. That is gross.

That is weird. I’d have no truck with that kind of nonsense.

I’d swan in wearing my suit suit/a towel and raise an eyebrow at them all looking silly.

I reckon it would take about a week for them all to follow your lead.

Just why??

Can you ask what the purpose or benefit is and hope to reducate?

Slight update. I emailed the gym. They have said they will ask people to take their shoes off in future. No mention of clothes?!

I can see why some women would wear clothes - maybe leggings and a top - to be fully covered for religious/modesty reasons
But I don’t get why someone would wear shoes?

I bet someone had no clue what to wear in a sauna, went in fully dressed and then the others just copied the first person. Show them how to sauna properly, OP! See it as a public service.

I can see why some women would wear clothes - maybe leggings and a top - to be fully covered for religious/modesty reasons

As long as they're prepared to shower in those clothes before they enter the sauna. Otherwise it's gross.

Maybe I don’t understand about saunas?
The only place I’ve been in a sauna is in a hotel where there is pool sauna, steam room , jacuzzi all in same place, so people go from pool to sauna and back etc wearing whatever they are wearing to swim in swimming costumes, men in shorts/trunks or if you like to be covered all in one swimwear ie ‘burkinis’ or leggings and top. And yes people would use the poolside showers whilst wearing the above.

I go to a Turkish Bath with single and mixed sex sessions in which it is acceptable to go nude. I have never seen anyone go in to the sauna clothed, they would roast! People are usually in swimsuits or towels or nude but sat on a towel. People often wear robes in the hot dry rooms but never in the sauna. I've seen one brave man hop into the plunge pool nude though. I suspect he bought a new meaning to "blue balls".

Also would the clothed person not whiff a bit?

I’ve seen people dressed as I’ve mentioned in my limited sauna experience or at my local pool where there is a sauna/steam room Maybe it depends on where you live?

The correct way to do sauna (according to my experience in Sweden, Finland & Germany) is naked. You have a towel to sit on, and outside the sauna, you have a towelling robe. There are hooks to hang these on just outside the sauna.

You shower thoroughly first, roughly dry off, and enter the sauna. Stay about 15 minutes, then leave and have a cold shower. Repeat as often as you feel like, or is medically safe for you.

I never do the cold shower bit

Really, OP, everyone wears clothes to the sauna except you?

Very strange.

I've never been to a sauna, so I would have no clue what to wear. The first and only time I went for a full body massage in Thailand, my friend had to tell me what to do. And I was really embarrassed actually. Come to think of it, I don't think Vietnamese women take off their clothes during a massage. Many of my friends who are masseuses will ask me if I want a muscles, but I'm just too shy. And I certainly don't want to take off my bra!

Just curious, but is it really weird to wear a swimsuit in the sauna, everyone on here keeps going on about being naked, but I really don't want to be naked. What if you absolutely don't want to go naked?

It's not the custom in the UK or the US (in my experience) to go naked. But it very much is in the rest of Europe. After you're used to being naked in the sauna, wearing a swimsuit feels weird.

Green, some people, like me, I really do not want to go in places with limited clothing. When I'm in Asia, a lot of people go swimming in their clothes. When I go to the beach, I wear a shorts and a T-shirt. I'm very very very shy.