"Kein Schweiß aufs Holz." It is a coaster under a glass, except the glass is you. So a German brings a towel long enough for the whole body, and the feet go on it too. Hamburg's public baths put it in the house rules: wooden benches only with a lying-towel that is big enough, because the wood must not be soiled by sweat.

The Finns sit on something the size of a placemat. Its name is pefletti, a blend of the Finnish words for bum (peffa) and placemat (tabletti). In the early 1990s the Finnish Sauna Society had heard enough of that word, and a public contest picked a politer one: lauteinen, from laude, a sauna bench. Helsingin Sanomat reported it on 2 April 1992. It never caught on. Shops still sell pefletti.

So who is right? Heikki Junkkari, a physician on the Sauna Society's board, says what the mat is for: first of all to protect the benches from sweat, moisture and the grease that comes off skin. Which is exactly what the German sign says.

Two countries, one rule. They only disagree about the feet.

Towel, bum-mat, or bare bench: what do you sit on?

Sources: Bäderland Hamburg, Saunaordnung § 2 (5); dpa in Volksstimme, 11.11.2015; Kielitoimiston sanakirja (pefletti); Finnish Wikipedia "Istuinalunen", citing "Saunaseura kehottaa istumaan lauteiselle", Helsingin Sanomat 2.4.1992; Yhteishyvä, 20.6.2025 (Heikki Junkkari).
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