Tips for Taking a Sauna in Winter

In the article “Tips for taking a sauna in winter”, I will share my favourite winter sauna ideas. Your kids will love these tips!

If you live in a country where it gets cold in winter, you should embrace the snow and make it a part of your sauna routine. In this article, I will share some really fun tips for a winter sauna. Can you guess what they are? Do you use them? Or do you have other tips you would like to share? Let me know in the comments.

Snowball sauna

No, I do not mean you have to build a sauna made of snowballs! My idea is to bring the snowballs into the sauna. Prepare the snowballs and add one drop of sauna scent or essential oil to each snowball. Place the snowballs one at a time on the sauna stones.

The snowball slowly melts away and spreads a wonderful scent into the sauna.

If you feel the snowball doesn’t want to melt away (fast enough), you can pour some extra water on it.

Warning: Sometimes a snowball melts a bit too quickly and a huge amount of steam gets released at once. If that happens, you might want to cover your ears as it gets pretty hot. This has unfortunately happened to me before and I almost burnt my ears!

You can also dip the snowball in water and then put it on the sauna stove. I think the snowball sauna is a wonderful idea and one we have done for many winters. My son loves it; it’s hard to get him out of the sauna!

Always remember to supervise and help your child. The snowball doesn’t start producing hot steam right away, so it’s safe to try with children.

You can also use the snowballs for other purposes. Personally, I like to rub the snow on my hot skin. It cools me down and lets me enjoy the sauna a little longer.

Watch this video: Snowball sauna

There is no danger to you or the sauna heater from putting cold snow or ice on the stove. Sure, the stove will have to use a little more energy to melt the ice/snow, but stove stones will not crack or get damaged in any way.

Snow sauna

There are saunas made of snow in Finland, but I’m not talking about them here. Although, if you have a lot of snow, why not build a snow sauna?

What I mean here is bringing the snow into the sauna. You can make snowballs out of the snow or throw the snow on the stove as it is. It also feels lovely to rub your face, hands, and feet in fresh snow whilst sitting in a hot sauna. You can even put your feet in the snow for a “foot bath” and enjoy snow’s cooling effects.

Children like to stay in a sauna longer when they can play with the snow. We often have cups and mugs with us in the sauna so the kids can “cook” us all kinds of things using snow. With kids and snow, only the sky’s the limit!

Snow Angel

I think every Finn should make a “snow angel” at least once in their life. (Making a snow angel means lying in the snow and waving your legs and arms so that an “angel” is created on the surface of the snow). Doing it naked is as liberating as going ice swimming. If you visit Finland, you have to give this a try.

Just check that there is enough snow, so you don’t hurt yourself.

Snow alone can cause minor “injuries” to the skin, especially if it is not quite fresh. A snow angel is best made in fresh, powdery snow.

Running around the house naked

OK, I know this might sound strange to my non-Finnish readers. Running around the house naked in the winter falls into the category “you have to do this once in your life”. And most Finns have done it at least once. It might feel a bit extreme if nudity is taboo in your country. In that case, you should try it when you are in Finland!

But, if your neighbours love people watching, this is your chance to give them something to talk about. 😉

Running around the house is done without shoes and clothes. However, be careful not to slip and fall into the icy snow. That can really hurt and leave nasty marks on the skin.

I have some fun memories of these “runs”. It is much more fun to run in a group than alone. My brother, for example, used to do this with his friends. First, they warmed up in the sauna and then cooled down by running and screaming outside.

I think shouting and screaming is an important part of the experience; it is oddly liberating!

Winter swimming

This is something you should do in Finland. It might be more challenging to find safe winter swimming places in other countries. However, if you cannot find an ice swimming location near you, you can try the cold baths in your local spa.

At least in German sauna worlds, there is always one small pool that is really cold, around +7 degrees.

There are some things you should keep in mind when going winter swimming. If you have cardiovascular disease, you should be especially careful. The cold-hot combination can be hard on a heart that is not completely healthy. Never jump into the freezing cold water directly from the hot sauna.

Many winter swimmers wear hats, special gloves on their hands and special slippers on their feet.

You do not necessarily need them, but they can help make the experience more enjoyable. I went winter swimming once when it was -16 Celsius and I would have loved to have some slippers with me. My feet got cold before I even went into the water. I have only been winter swimming this one time, but I do like the cold pools in our spa. I love the feeling that I get. I feel a lot less sweaty afterwards and my hair feels soft and amazing too!

Ice water

If winter swimming is not possible or your thing, this next tip might be a good substitute. Bring a bucket of icy cold water (you can add actual ice cubes to make sure the water stays very cold) with you to the sauna. At the end of the sauna, take a wash glove and wash your skin with ice-cold water. It is refreshing but not as shocking to your body as ice swimming. Repeat several times and your skin will feel soft and smooth.

Ice cube sauna

If there is no snow in your country, you can use ice. You can for example try my first tip and replace the snowballs with ice. Put big ice cubes on the stove and enjoy the steam. The steam will be much slower and gentler than normally because ice melts slowly. You can also rub a piece of ice against your hot skin.

Last winter, I tried this, and it was a great success. I used old yoghurt jars for ice-making so the cubes were big enough to place on the sauna stones. When the biggest piece of ice melted there was so much steam that I had to leave the sauna for a moment. So you do not have to go crazy with the ice cube size.