What to Bring to the Sauna

The four things that matter

Two towels. One to sit on, one to dry off with. Linen beats terry in a sauna because it dries faster and doesn't go sour between sessions, and because a thick terry towel on a hot bench holds the heat against you in a way you won't enjoy.

Water. Before and after. You do not need an electrolyte product for a twenty minute sauna. You are not depleted, you are thirsty.

Something for your feet. Sandals in any public facility, for reasons that should not require elaboration.

A hat, if you sit high or stay long. We make one, so weigh that accordingly, but the honest version is in the hat piece: if you are on the top bench for fifteen or twenty minute rounds, your head is the thing that ends the session. If you do ten minutes on a low bench, you can probably skip it.

That is the list. Everything below is optional.

Nice to have

A ladle and a bucket, if it is your own sauna. The ones that come with most kits are fine. Wood looks better and gets hotter to hold.

A whisk, if you are curious about it. Fresh birch in summer, or a dried one soaked in warm water the rest of the year.

A timer you don't mind cooking. A cheap analog kitchen timer works. Your phone does not belong in there and the heat is genuinely bad for it.

What to do with it all afterwards

The part of the list nobody writes about is what happens in the twenty minutes after you get out, and it is the difference between gear that lasts and gear that smells.

Rinse the hat in cool water, squeeze it without wringing it, reshape it with your hands and let it air dry somewhere with moving air. Not on a radiator, not in a dryer, and not left in the gym bag, which is how a perfectly good wool hat becomes a bad one.

Hang the towels rather than folding them while damp. Linen will be dry in a couple of hours. Terry will not.
And leave the sauna door open a crack when you are the last one out, if it is your own room. The wood needs to dry.

What to leave out

Anything scented that isn't made for a sauna stove. Essential oils poured neat onto hot stones is a bad idea: they are flammable, the concentration at face level is much higher than you expect, and the stones will hold the smell for weeks. If you want scent, use a sauna-specific product diluted in the water bucket, and use less than you think.

Plastic water bottles. Partly because a soft plastic bottle in a 190°F room is a question nobody has answered well, and partly because the whole point of the room is that it is wood and stone and water. Stainless or nothing.

Jewelry. Metal gets hot faster than skin does. Rings, chains and earrings all reach a temperature your skin would prefer they didn't.

Makeup and heavy skincare. You are about to sweat for twenty minutes. Whatever is on your face is going into your pores and then onto your towel.