The Portable Sauna Kit

 

The Skier by Carl Larsson, Sweden, 1909. Public domain.

The coziest kind of wintry ski trip includes renting a cabin with a sauna. However, we sometimes find that the type of sauna offered is not the quality of experience we like. On occasion, we have found windowless, closet-sized rooms with aging electric stoves, the rocks offering more fizzle than sizzle when splashed with water (checking, replacing and restacking rocks annually helps). However, I have found that I can improvise a happy sauna bath almost anywhere with a small kit and a spirit for sauna adventure. Here is what can be found in my portable sauna kit.

A wash basin

This can serve as a carry-all for your kit. I love enamelware wash basins. I use one in the sauna to mix hot and cold water for washing and to soak my vihta. A simple, sturdy enamel basin reminds me of my grandma’s laundry room which still had items like this before plastic took over. This particular basin is a nice one-gallon size and comes with history from Ironwood, Michigan where the Oliver Iron Mining Company (O.I.M.Co.) operated a mine and built a hospital in the early 1900’s. Old enamelware may have some lead in the finish so this one is purely decorative. New enamelware can be inexpensive and easy to find online. Most commonly, people use plastic basins for saunas. Of note, the Finnish company Rento makes sauna wash basins in a wood and polymer composite described as eco-friendly. 

Towels

If you like bringing your own towels, the Turkish custom of using three towels in the hammam covers all bases for a similar experience in the sauna. 

–The pestemal (or peshtemal) is a towel that wraps around the body; it is something you wear into the sauna. Alternatively, if you sauna nude, at least bring a towel to sit on. I often have both a small pefletti (a Finnish sit-upon) and a towel wrap. This sweet pefletti by Finnish linen company Jokipiin Pellava has the word sauna subtly woven into the fabric.
–The peskir is a hand towel-sized item that can go over the shoulder or cover your hair, turban style. I often go with a heat resistant wool hat, like one knit by my sister. It helps protect my hair from heat damage and keeps my ears from feeling too hot.
–Finally, the towel that you use to dry off will also serve as a cozy wrap after a cold plunge. I love the size (40 X 70 inches) and quality of Pendleton spa towels.

Scent and skin care

Of course, bring along a scented soap. The sauna experience must appeal to all of the senses. I am partial to artisanal soaps made from simple ingredients, or something unique like tjärtvål,Finnish tar soap. Although I have never been in a smoke sauna, a Finnish-American lady told me that the scent of the soap reminds her of an old fashioned smoke sauna. 

Another way to add scent is with “sauna tea.” I recently gave Nystad’s Sauna Scent Sachet a try. This version had a paper sachet holding about an ounce of dried birch tree leaves. The instructions are to steep it in hot water, just like tea, at about 140F/60 C for 20 minutes, allowing it to fill the air of the sauna. It can then be ladled onto the kiua stones for a puff of scented löyly. I tried this and did not detect much scent. 

I usually add scent to a bucket of water with a drop of essential oil. My favorite is a cedar-based scent from Forester John. It comes in a small glass bottle with a no spill dropper. It is especially travel-worthy because the bottle comes in its own aluminum container. (If you put 3 drops of essential oil in a bucket of water, 10 ML of oil should provide about 100 scented sessions. While prices vary, it is still pretty reasonable compared to that of an imported sauna scent sachet.)

After the sauna, when your skin is clean and moist, a good skin cream will help preserve that softness. This winter, I am sampling Top-Tier tallow cream. Tallow is not new in skin care but you might think it is based on current social media. Tallow, basically rendered beef fat, has been an ingredient in soap for hundreds of years. According to one of my go-to’s for skincare, Dr. Andrea Suarez, MD, PhD (known as Dr. Dray on Youtube), “Tallow based cream is basically an effective emollient but “bold claims” about it are not supported by research. She says that it’s “not so different from other emollients like coconut oil.” I applied it to clean and warm skin after the sauna and it did a good job of soothing my wind-chapped face after a day on the ski slopes. 

The spirit of adventure

Definitely, bring a spirit of adventure. If there is no hole in the lake ice for a cold plunge, try a roll in the snow. Wear socks and wrap yourself in an old sheet. It makes the experience much less abrasive on your skin.

It is also nice to bring a non-judgemental friend who may just look puzzled and worried when you run out of the house to frolic in the snow but will be delighted when you return inside.

Last but not least, make sure that your kit includes something for refreshment and rehydration after your sauna adventure. I recently sampled a bottle of Sima, “a sparkling non-alcoholic Finnish folk drink made from maple sap, honey and lemon,” produced and bottled by White Winter Winery in Iron River, Wisconsin. It tastes like a fresh, dry, less sweet version of cream soda. Very good for post sauna sips by the fire.