SAUNA WISEACRE
Sauna
Finnish style sweat bath / “building” for Finnish sweat bathing. The correct pronunciation is sow-na, as it is in a word “cow”, not saw-na.
Saunoa is action of bathing in sauna, and saunoja is a person bathing in sauna.
Savusauna is Finnish name for smoke sauna.
Avantouinti
Swimming in a hole in the ice covering the lake or the sea (literally – “ice hole swimming”). Sauna bathers often cut a large hole through the ice and plunge quickly or swim for a few minutes, for refreshment after, or in between sweat baths. It makes them feel refreshed and most of them appreciate the hot sauna after the cool swimming in the icy water. It is recommended to go to the Avanto (hole in the ice) not directly from the sauna heat, but after the short time in the changing room, where there is a relative coolness unlike the sauna.
Kauha (kippo)
Ladle for throwing water on the stones in the stove
Kiuas
Sauna stove, heater of the sauna. It is heated with wood or electricity, and has stones on the top for increased heating capacity and producing löyly. Originally, kiuas was just a pile of stones around a fire, making heating process very slow. In smoke saunas, stoves did not have the chimney, thus the smoke was cleared from room usually through the doors or lakeinen, just before bathing. Today, most heaters are designed in a steel casing. A wood heated kiuas is thought to give more pleasant warmth and löyly.
Kiuaskivet
Stones in the sauna stove. The more there are stones; the better is the heat the stove produces.
Kiulu
Small bucket usually made of wood, for keeping the löyly water.
Kisu, kitku (tiku)
Unpleasant smoke which arise in smoke sauna, right after the heating. It disappears after one or two hours. Just afterwards the sauna is ready.
Lakeinen
Opening in the roof of a smoke sauna where smoke escapes during the bathing.
Lauteet
Elevated wooden platforms in the sauna for people to sit on (high benches). As the hot air rises on the lauteet bather can enjoy the hotter air close to the ceiling.
Löyly
Steam (vapor) created by throwing water on the hot stones. It is hot and rises up the temperature in the sauna temporarily. As water carries heat more efficiently then the air, the change is felt instantly. The word löyly is sometimes used for the heat, humidity and temperature in the sauna in general.
Löylyhuone is the hot room.
Pesuhone
The washing room
Pukuhone
The dressing room
Räppänä
Duct or vent on a sauna wall close to the ceiling.
Saunatonttu
Literally translated it would mean a sauna elf. It is a little gnome that was believed to live in the sauna.
Vihta, vasta
Whisk made of birch twigs, used for gentle beating of the body in sauna, in order to stimulate the feeling of löyly and improve the blood circulation. In countries where the birch is hard to find, people use similar trees rich in leafs (cedar, poplar…).
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