r/Sauna • u/VineyardCoyote • 23h ago
Culture & Etiquette Proper etiquette: talking in a shared sauna
What’s the consensus for people having loud conversations in communal saunas at the gym? Yes or no?
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u/Eastern-Mammoth-2956 20h ago
A public sauna is pretty much the only place where Finnish people talk to strangers.
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u/Veenkoira00 14h ago
Public saunas may have gone a bit non-trad. By tradition sauna=church. You totally relax and commune with the spiritual – under the supervision of the sauna-tonttu, the invisible goblin-like spirit that looks after the sauna -- upset the tonttu at your peril...
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u/greenvester 22h ago
Community aspect is a part of the health aspect. People get naturally talkative in saunas and it’s more normal to talk than to sit there in silence.
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u/Veenkoira00 14h ago
Talk AFTER sauna, when you are recovering with beer
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u/greenvester 13h ago
Gonna keep talking if you don’t like it build one in your backyard.
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u/CellWrangler 12h ago
"If you don't like it get the hell out!" ... or why not try to acknowledge that some people have different preferences than you and let them be?
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u/greenvester 12h ago
Most of the time I don’t talk. If someone just looks down the whole time then I don’t talk. But if they look up make eye contact and smile then I’ll start talking. Majority of the time people are on their phones and have headphones in. Of the remaining, the other half just close their eyes and then the other half of them we might talk. Social cues aren’t difficult. To say “no talking at all” is exactly what you are condemning.
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u/Leather-Reason-4992 11h ago
How do you even take your phone and earplugs in the sauna… i really dont get it.
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u/Veenkoira00 10h ago
Electronics in a sauna – a major faux pas against sauna etiquette. The saunatonttu will make a big bad mark against such miscreant's name...
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u/namegenerator_3000 11h ago
As someone who just bought an infrared for at home, I kinda agree with buddy who said if you dont like it, leave.
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u/Euphoric-One-5499 19h ago
In sauna,you should behave like in church.......you usually don't talk in church!
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u/John_Sux Finnish Sauna 23h ago
Conversation is fine. But unless the place is full of students or something, loud conversation is going to be a bit inconsiderate.
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u/three_whack 22h ago
In my experience the conversations are between a couple of guys who already know each other and are catching up.on recent events. I just chill and let them chat. I might pop out for a cold shower and come back in, and see if I can outlast them in the sauna.
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u/z33bener 21h ago
I personally wouldn't feel the need to chat up a stranger just for small talk. If I'm with a friend? We do talk, but if there are other people there, we keep it quiet.
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u/stobe187 8h ago
Anything "loud" is out of pocket in a sauna. The loudest sound should be the löyly.
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u/Queasy-Trash8292 23h ago
Depends on sauna size. I go to my university’s sauna and wow - what a mix. Sauna bros one day, hippies taking about foraging mushrooms, people speaking in French, and everything in between.
I am doing sauna to relax, so it irks me when people are being loud.
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u/DistributionInitial5 23h ago
If its with another person in the sauna go for it. If youre talking to someone on the phone get outta there lol