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The 8 tips for an atmospheric Christmas sauna article focuses on how you can create a wonderful Christmas atmosphere quickly and with little effort!

Christmas is a beautiful time of the year, and for us Finns, the Christmas sauna is a big part of celebrating Christmas. In Finland, it is possible to get into a Christmas sauna even if you do not own a sauna.

8 Tipps fuer eine stimmungsvolle Weihnachtssauna — 8 tips for an atmospheric Christmas sauna

You can go to your parents’ or friends’ house to have a sauna, the communal saunas of housing associations are always open on Christmas Eve, and the saunas in gyms are also open on Christmas.

I know that, unfortunately, many people outside of Finland cannot enjoy a Christmas sauna unless you or your friend have your sauna or live in a country with saunas or spas.

In this article, I listed eight tips for an atmospheric Christmas. If you have a sauna or enjoy the sauna of a friend or family member, you can create an atmospheric Christmas sauna with these methods.

Read more: Christmas Sauna in Finland

8 tips for an atmospheric Christmas sauna

Eight tips for an atmospheric Christmas sauna

Candles and lanterns

Place candles and lanterns in the washrooms and sauna, as well as in the sauna’s chill-out area. You cannot have too many candles and lanterns at Christmas time!

Candles also create an atmosphere in the electric sauna.

Lanterns are a good option, especially when small children are in the family. Lanterns are safer than candles.

8 vinkkiä tunnelmalliseen joulusaunaan — 8 tips for an atmospheric Christmas sauna

Christmas scent

You can make a conifer Christmas scent yourself by collecting spruce or pine branches and putting them in the sauna water.

Another option is to save birch leaves from the summer and dry them. What is more fantastic than smelling the scents of summer and birch in a Christmas sauna?

Of course, the best thing would be a dried birch sauna whisk; you can make them yourself or buy them ready-made.

havuinen löylytuoksu — 8 tips for an atmospheric Christmas sauna

Christmas trees in the sauna

You get a Christmas atmosphere when you put a juniper, cypress, or coniferous tree in a pot. You can decorate it with lights or Christmas baubles if you want.

A branch and a string of lights

Decorate the branch with an LED light chain, and you get an excellent decoration for the sauna. Put a branch with a string of lights on the border of the ceiling, bringing a safe and inviting atmosphere to your sauna.

I decorated the cartwheel in our sauna facilities with lamps. There is no need to turn on the regular light; this will give you get a softer atmosphere.

Sheep hide

You can put sheepskin or the hide of another animal (e.g. reindeer) either on the floor or on top of lounge chairs or benches.

The sheepskin gives a beautiful atmosphere to the cooling down area. It reminds me a bit of a mountain lodge atmosphere. Or what do you think?

Christmas star

The Christmas star in the window brings warm atmosphere and a little light to the sauna facilities.

Alternatively, do as I did in the image below. Decorate the wooden star with an LED light chain. Our Sauna Elf is watching next door.

In front of the sauna

Decorate the route to the sauna or in front of the sauna with lanterns, snow lanterns or ice lanterns. In this way, you already get a special Christmas atmosphere when you walk towards the sauna.

Take with you to the Christmas sauna:

Mulled wine and gingerbread. Remember to leave gingerbread cookies for the sauna elf too!
Christmas music can be played quietly in the background.
Merry Christmas spirit!

Between sauna visits

If possible, make a snow angel or run around the house naked. Of course, if there is a chance to go ice swimming, take a dip there.

Stay in the sauna as long as you want, and take the sauna as often as you want. There is no rush in the Christmas sauna. Let us enjoy the peace of the Christmas sauna!

Happy Christmas waiting!

I hope you got some new ideas for your Christmas sauna from this article’s 8 tips for an atmospheric Christmas sauna. If you have any other tips, please leave a comment!

With love,

Sauna-Kati

In the “How to change the stove stones” article, I explain how to change the stove stones step by step. What should everyone know about replacing stove stones? Does it matter what order the stones are placed in? Is there a difference between changing the stones of an electric stove and a wood stove?

You will find the answers to these questions in this article.

How to change the stove stones

Changing the stove stones is quite a quick procedure. Usually, getting started is what takes the most time. When you decide the day when to wash the sauna, you can change the sauna stones at the same time.

Before changing the stove stones, remember to check that you have the required number of replacement stove stones. Depending on the stove, you may need 20-100 kg or more of stove stones.

Especially for us ex-pat Finns, the availability of stove stones in our own country is not a given, so prepare for a long time frame.

Miten kiuaskivet vaihdetaan — How to change the stove stones

Here’s how to start changing stones:

Remember to disconnect the heater from the circuit at the beginning so that nothing happens.
I recommend wearing gloves, the stones can be sharp, and there can be tin plates inside the stove that are sharp.

Empty the stove of stones:

Empty the stove of stones. Put the stones in the buckets. You can think about when is the best time to check the stove stones’ condition.
You can visually check the stove’s condition or by knocking two stones against each other.
After checking the condition, you can sort the stones into good and bad. The ones in poor condition should be put away.

Is calcareous water a problem?

This is how you can soak stove stones:

We have soaked stones that are otherwise in good condition in either acetic or citric acid water. Sometimes you must soak those stones for quite a long time, and sometimes, brush a little more with a root brush.
However, remember to rinse the stones carefully after soaking so that no vinegar or citric acid remains on them.
At this stage, sort the stones into large and small and maybe a third size while the stones are drying.

This is how you clean the stove:

Empty the stones and stone dust from the bottom of the stove. You can use a vacuum cleaner if there is a lot of stone dust; otherwise, brushing is enough.
You can wipe the stove inside and outside with a wet rag if necessary. And especially if calcareous water is a problem, clean any traces of lime. You can use acetic or citric acid water.
However, remember to rinse well; soaking the rag in clean water is sufficient.
At the same time, check the condition of the resistors of the electric stove and that there are no holes in the stove.

This is how you put the stones in the stove:

The stones don’t have to be completely dry when you start putting them back on the stove. But I wouldn’t put them in soaking wet.
Remember to rinse the new stones when you need more new ones. Stones get dusty quickly, so rinsing them immediately is better.
Start stacking with the biggest stones and move up layer by layer. You should use stones of the same size for one layer.
You should leave a suitable air gap between the resistors of the electric stove and the stones. For better air circulation: Better saunas.
The long stones should be placed vertically, so the air circulates better and the sauna heats up faster.
Go layer by layer, and the size of the stones should decrease the higher you go. However, do not overfill the stove because the upper stones may not heat up.

Finally:

When you have placed the stones and washed the sauna, you can turn on the sauna. Especially when you use new stones, the stones may create smoke at first.
So for the sake of your health and the health of other sauna users, it is worth throwing a few buckets without anyone in the sauna to remove all possible unhealthy substances from the air.
Now that you have a clean sauna and freshly replaced stones in the stove, it’s time to enjoy.

I wish you a good sauna! I hope that this article on how to change stove stones was helpful to you and that you now know how to change stove stones yourself. If you still have questions, you can leave a message or comment.

Best regards, Sauna-Kati