The smoke sauna is a fundamentally Finnish institution

Walls are made out of aspen; juniper and various other wood types burn in the stove

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By Timo Rautava
     
      When a Finn seeks to connect with the lifestyle of his ancestors, he pays a visit to a smoke sauna.
      In a smoke sauna babies have come into the world, meat has been cured, home-brew has been manufactured, people have slept, and within its timbered walls even the deceased have spent their final moments on earth before being consigned to the grave.
      “The smoke sauna is something so fundamentally, so essentially Finnish that it insists on being cherished and preserved. It belongs here with us”, states chairman Pentti Tuohimaa of the International Smoke Sauna Club.
     
The club’s purpose is to raise people’s awareness of the bliss of a genuine smoke sauna, both in Finland - where there are few who have tried it and still need converting - and abroad.
      The International Smoke Sauna Club also researches the smoke sauna tradition.
      The club’s journeys of exploration have extended to the White Sea Karelia region, the Mariy El Republic, and the city of Tver in Russia, and to the Baltic States.
      The vigilant inspectors of the club have tested in excess of 200 smoke saunas in Finland. They have compiled a list of their best attributes, and provide information to builders.
      In Tuohimaa’s opinion, however, there is not just one “correct” smoke sauna model.
      Recently he even bathed in a smoke sauna carved into a rock. “It was absolutely brilliant”, he says.
     
Tuohimaa’s own sauna, classically located on an island in Lake Saimaa, follows closely the model of a traditional Karelian region smoke sauna, but it has also been fitted out with features from the Western Finland smoke sauna types.
      Eastern influences are displayed in the roof planking, where the ends of the planks rise above the ridge of a roof alternately from both sides.
      “In the old days no nails were used. Crisscrossing the ends of planks gives rigidity to the roof structure”, Tuohimaa explains.
      The door hinges originate from the Vienan Karjala (White Sea Karelia) region just across the border with Russia.
      The window frames have been painted light blue according to the Karelian model.
      The sauna itself, however, has more headroom than the eastern models, which in Tuohimaa’s opinion are usually too low.
      In the eastern saunas the sauna stoves are also often too low, which causes problems with the quality of the heat.
      In a correctly constructed smoke sauna, however, the heat and steam carry the heady aroma of mead, tar, or juniper.
     
Aspen logs are perfect for building a smoke sauna as they turn grey quickly.
      “We built this sauna out of wet timber on purpose. While drying, aspen becomes crooked and we were left with a couple of leakage gaps in the wall”, Tuohimaa says while pointing at dark streaks in the wall.
      With time, however, the logs have settled. “The sauna has to be tight, especially above the door”, Tuohimaa points out.
     
While sealing up the cracks , Tuohimaa has made an effort to use natural materials such as white moss. If moss is not available, flax caulk will do the job nicely.
      The doorsill has to be high. This will keep cold air from entering the sauna through the bottom part of the doorway even when the door is open. The sauna will also remain draught-free. The bed of warm air remains in the upper parts of the sauna without difficulty.
      The lowest log can be slightly off the ground, though. This will guarantee the supply of fresh air into the sauna.
     
Tuohimaa’s sauna also has a peculiarity: its place for washing is outdoors.
      Tuohimaa has noticed that a wash space inside the sauna can cause the heat to become overly humid and stifling.
      The well-proportioned building also has an additional wing that serves as a dressing room or a cool-off area after the heat of the sauna.
      This extra space may well be where the popular Finnish last name Liikanen (liika = excess) originates from.
     
While inside the liikanen, Tuohimaa sheds light on the etymology of a selection of other Finnish sauna-related words as well, such as pillunpäre.
      This word is best described by stating that its somewhat vulgar first part refers to the female genitalia, while the end of the word means shingle, not as in "shingle beach", but as a thin tile or board made of wood, and used as a bum-protector.
      According to Tuohimaa, in the old days the level of hygiene was insufficient.
      “Once the men had messed up the sauna benches, the womenfolk used thin shingles under their behinds”, Tuohimaa explains, pointing at a traditional seat cover. The shingles, which were primarily used as roofing material and were made out of spruce, were wafer-thin sheets of wood around 50 centimetes in length.
     
When heating the sauna, Tuohimaa uses metre-long, slender sticks of firewood.
      “They heat the sauna stove quickly. The idea is that the building itself is not heated, but the temperature inside is controlled by throwing water on the stove.”
      It is good to use different types of firewood when heating the sauna.
      “If one uses, say, only alder, the heat will remain somewhat dull. It is highly recommended that one uses mixed firewood and wood with some resin in it. The final lot of firewood could also contain juniper. This will add aroma to the heat. It gives a nice bouquet.“
     
“And three firebox-fulls of wood is all that is needed”, Tuohimaa insists.
      “The middle load could contain even some heavier logs, and after the third load has burned, it makes sense to remove the embers as they give out smell and carbon monoxide.”
      Tuohimaa estimates that his smoke sauna actually uses less wood and is thus environmentally friendlier than a continuous-combustion type of sauna stove.
     
Another false notion is that one has to heat a smoke sauna for several hours.
      And indeed, Tuohimaa’s sauna only takes two hours to become ready for bathing, despite the raw wind blowing from Saimaa, the largest of Finland’s lakes.
      And so off to the sauna benches.
      Tuohimaa throws a large ladleful of water on the stove, from where a soft cloud of mist arises and starts to caress the bathers.
      Now that's the breath of the god Mursu, all part of the joys of the smoke sauna. Sauna doesn't get much better than this, and any comparisons with a standard electrically-heated apartment sauna, well... there are no comparisons.
      If you have never tried, you should.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 26.4.2009


See also:
  A sauna with all the new flavours (21.6.2005)

Links:
  The Finnish Sauna Society (they have three smoke saunas of differing temperatures in Helsinki´s Lauttasaari)
  The International Smoke Sauna Club
  The Finnish smoke sauna in brief
  Sauna - A Finnish national institution (Virtual Finland)

TIMO RAUTAVA / Helsingin Sanomat