# In many gyms, the sauna has a sign: Do not pour water on the rocks.

- Series: [Saunantakaa](https://miu.fm/saunantakaa.md)
- Published: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://miu.fm/saunantakaa/in-many-gyms-the-sauna-has-a-sign-do-not-pour-water-on-the

## Story

In many gyms, the sauna has a sign: Do not pour water on the rocks.

For a Finn, that is like a piano with a sign: Do not touch the keys. Online there is a new argument: dry sauna or wet sauna?

So what does the water do? At 80 degrees in dry air you sweat, the sweat dries, and you feel fine. Then one ladle. The thermometer barely moves, but the water in the air jumps about fourfold, and the steam looks for the coolest thing in the room. That is you, at about 40 degrees. It lands on your skin, turns back into water and hands you its heat.

Scientists tested this with marked water. After löyly, up to half of what dripped off the bathers (30 to 54 percent in two experiments) was not sweat. It was the steam.

So why the sign? Heater makers say one ladle is fine. A bucket is not. And infrared cabins have no stones and no löyly, so by the sauna world's own definition they are not saunas.

Dry sauna is not wrong. It is just quiet. A sauna without löyly is a piano nobody plays.

Ladle or no ladle: how do you take your sauna?

Sources: Zech et al., Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies (2015); U. Hakkarainen, Saunologia (2019); Laatikainen-Raussi et al. (2026); Finnleo sauna FAQ; International Sauna Association, Aachen sauna definition (1999).
Sounds: Freesound (CC0): Developer_Jake, frenkfurth, C_Sander, BeroundSound, TRP.

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