Saunas are amazing. They relax your mind, ease soreness in your muscles, and just improve your overall body. Since saunas have impacted our lives in such a major way we would often ask ourselves, “Who invented the sauna?”
The answer to this pivotal question is not clear since saunas have existed for thousands of years. In this article we’ll analyze this question, explain the history of saunas, and tell you who possibly invented them.
Sauna History
Saunas have been used for thousand of years by many different societies. Their mental, physical, and social benefits made them very popular as their use spread globally. Tracking down their growth to their origin has been very difficult. This is simply because they were created such a long time ago and used by so many different societies.
With that being said, most historians come to the same conclusion of to where these saunas have been created. In their opinion the Finnish people are the most likely candidates to have created the sauna. Reason for is because sauna bathing is such an important aspect to the Finnish society. This can be specifically be show by analyzing the common Finnish term, “saunassa ollaan kuin kirkossa,” – one should behave in the sauna as in church.
As you can see the sauna bathing is not some simple activity to the Finnish. Instead it’s is a spiritual experience that you must treat with love and respect. To strengthen this theory even more, some of the oldest saunas ever recorded have come from Finland. These saunas were made from pits that were dug into the ground. During the winter they were used excessively because of the hot temperatures they created.
Other places where saunas have been used include China, Japan, Sweden, Mexico, and Guatemala. Most all of these places had their own specific version of a sauna. Even though they differed a little they were all built with the same common goal, to make you sweat.
So who invented the sauna?
Even though it’s not official, it’s believed that the Finnish created the sauna. There’s a lot of evidence pointing to this conclusion. Such as the old saunas that were discovered in Finland and the respect the Finnish have for the sauna. Since this is so, many historians and sauna enthusiasts come to the same conclusion that the Finnish created the sauna. While we’ll never know completely who did it, but we have a good idea with strong evidence supporting it.
The Evolution Of Saunas
As time passed sauna technology evolved. Today there’s now a wide variety of sauna option available. These saunas are now powered by wood, gas, electricity, and other unconventional resources. From these different heat sources comes dry saunas, wet saunas, steam saunas, smoke saunas, and infrared saunas. All of these sauna types have their own positives and negatives.
Smoke Saunas
Smoke saunas are one of the oldest sauna forms. This sauna type is simply a room containing a pile of rocks, but with no chimney. The sauna works by lighting a fire directly under the rocks until they’re heated properly. Once the stones are hot the fire is extinguished. The heat that is retained in the rocks then heats the sauna room and makes the sauna hot. Once the process is completed the temperature within the sauna usually reaches around 140 degrees F. (which is low compared to modern saunas).
Since this type of sauna uses fire and wood, there is a lot of clean up. A layer of soot is deposited on every surface of the sauna. This of course needs to be cleaned in order to keep the sauna sanitary. Because of this smoke saunas are not very popular. We have since found better ways of heating a sauna that doesn’t need so much effort.
Wood Stove Saunas
Wood stove saunas are basically an upgraded version from smoke saunas. These saunas are one of the most popular saunas outside of cities that have electricity. This type of sauna works by heating a metal stove/stones by a heated fire. Most often birch wood is the resource when burning the fire. This is because of its good quality, long-lasting burn, and great smell. Of course you can use almost any wood you like. Sauna enthusiasts just think this is the best one available.
This type of sauna is very popular, but is now becoming an ancient technology. Electric saunas have now taken its place as the best sauna.
Electric Saunas
Electric saunas are the most common type of saunas available today. Reason for is because they are so practical and simple to use. This type of sauna uses electricity to heat up the sauna. Out of electric saunas there are two major different saunas. Traditional saunas use a heating element that warm sauna rocks to heat the whole sauna by convection. This is the type of sauna that most have seen before as they’re used is most gyms or spas.
The other type of electric sauna is an Infrared Sauna. Infrared Saunas use carbon-fiber heating panels that send infrared light into the sauna. This infrared then travels deep into the skin to make a given person sweat profusely. Since this avenue of heating is different the sauna usually heats up to a lower temperature of around 150 degrees F. A great thing about infrared saunas is that they usually come packed with features like cd players, radios, speakers, lights, and etc.
Overall electric saunas are the most popular saunas in the world and are great option for anyone who wants to purchase their own sauna.
Portable Saunas
Portable Saunas are the most recent sauna technology available. Technically these are electric saunas because they use electricity to power the sauna, but we thought they deserved their own section. These types of saunas use carbon-fiber heating panels to heat the sauna like Infrared saunas. But, the main difference between these and regular infrared saunas is that they are extremely portable. In fact you can take them pretty much anywhere you like.
This important aspect makes them ideal to many sauna enthusiasts who are always on the go. This type of sauna is also a lot cheaper than all other sauna models and have little no maintenance or clean up. So in our opinion they are a great solution to beginner sauna bathers or sauna enthusiast who are always traveling.
Conclusion
In conclusion we’ll never truly know who invented the sauna. There’s good evidence supporting that the Finnish created it because it’s so important to their daily lifestyle and culture. But, this alone doesn’t make them the inventors of the sauna. All we can do now is just thank who ever made the sauna, thank the people who’ve refined the sauna, and enjoy the modern saunas that we have today.
If you’re looking into purchasing your own sauna or just want to learn more about saunas then visit our HOME page. Here we have all the sauna information you could possibly need.
Other Resources:
Books:
* The Holistic Handbook of Sauna Therapy
* Sauna Therapy for Detoxification and Healing
* The Sauna: A Complete Guide to the Construction, Use, and Benefits of the Finnish Bath
