Do as the Germans do, I say. Or the rational Scandinavians, where saunas originate. In both places, even in mixed gender rooms, saunas are done naked.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s enthusiasm for saunas is still rising. In the five years to June 2026, Australian Google searches for \u201csauna\u201d increased from about 120,000 a month to over 500,000.<\/p>\n
Several sauna chains have aggressive expansion plans, but so far swimsuits are mostly mandatory. Australia could at the very least split it down the middle. Some spots could follow in the prudish direction of countries where swimwear is required, such as the US or France. Others could open up to the many benefits of textile-free saunas. Both options would then become normal.<\/p>\n
The sauna illuminati ought to act soon though, before the etiquette is entrenched and it becomes like trying to eat out on a Monday night. Or get a coffee after 3pm. That is, full of untapped demand, the denial of which no one can explain in words other than \u201cit\u2019s just how it is\u201d.<\/p>\n
The benefits of perspiring naked are many. They range from the fibres of synthetic swimwear potentially disintegrating in the heat (and getting smeared on benches or left in ice baths) to the chance of your wet pants trapping and breeding bacteria. The mandatory rinse after a serious sweat (and before hopping into the shared cold bath) doesn\u2019t feel as effective as showering naked.<\/p>\n
Swimsuits also stop your body from sweating uniformly. And it\u2019s women who must cover up the most.<\/p>\n
Blue Mountains Sauna. Photograph: Declan Blackall\/Blue Mountains Sauna<\/p>\n
Outlier Blue Mountains Sauna<\/a> runs nude sessions to address Australia\u2019s \u201cdesperate need of a new sauna culture\u201d, but few \u2013 bar saunas for gay men \u2013 have followed suit.<\/p>\n My contrast therapy (switching between cold and hot temperatures) club in Sydney\u2019s inner west, Xtra, has three other locations with a whopping 13 more slated from Wollongong to Wetherill Park. Its founders are open-minded and experimenting with social, guided and Aufguss sessions, where essential oils are diffused on the hot rocks and air is puffed around with a towel. But textile-free time slots? \u201cSomething tells me that our broad customer base is not ready for it,\u201d the founder, Anthony Simonetta, says.<\/p>\n What is that \u201csomething\u201d? Australians cannot be that squeamish about flesh, surely? We\u2019re slathered across beaches wearing Speedos and string bikinis. We\u2019ve seen a thing or two. What\u2019s a thing or two more?<\/p>\n Demi Durrand, the manager of Bondi\u2019s 38 Degrees: The Bathhouse, says, \u201cWe\u2019ve chosen to make swimwear compulsory to keep things simple, comfortable and accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n But as long as you use a towel (sitting on one is mandatory in swimsuit-free saunas) being naked is pretty simple. En masse, bodies are not as sexy as newbies might think, and blokes afraid of boners can study Reddit threads dedicated to deflating them.<\/p>\n The interior of Berlin bathhouse Vabali, where taking off your swimsuit is not optional. Photograph: David Burghardt<\/p>\n If I could, I\u2019d fund an Australian delegation of sauna thought-leaders to Berlin to spend time at Vabali. They\u2019d come back changed, as I did.<\/p>\n This high-end sauna and bathhouse is a labyrinthine complex of 10 saunas, steam rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, gardens, sun decks, massage rooms, fireplace dens and a restaurant. You\u2019ll find reflexology, hot stone massage, smudging ceremonies, Brazilian lymphatic drainage, singing bowl sessions, infrared sauna and pebble walking.<\/p>\n You won\u2019t find swimwear because nakedness is compulsory (robes are worn while walking around or eating). \u201cIt\u2019s less about nudity and more about equality and letting go of external roles,\u201d says a Vabali spokesperson. \u201cIf it were optional, this dynamic would change significantly. Consistency is essential for the concept to work.\u201d<\/p>\n It surprises people to know that nude sauna culture is common in Germany, \u201cbut Germans do not necessarily think of a sauna as a \u2018naked place\u2019,\u201d says the director of market management at Visit Berlin, Ralf Ostendorf. \u201cNudity is often viewed as a practical consequence, not the main feature.\u201d<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t mean free and loose, either. \u201cA lot of Germans care intensely about sauna etiquette such as sitting on a towel, silence in certain rooms, showering first and following the cooling-off cycle afterwards,\u201d says Ostendorf.<\/p>\n At Vabali no part of your body should touch the wood. You can lie down, or sit across multiple benches, as long as you\u2019re on your towel. It feels much more hygienic than when swimsuited guests leave behind bum-shaped pools of sweat.<\/p>\n People will glare or verbally correct you at Vabali if your towel use slips. Here, break the rules at your own peril. A fellow Vabali devotee recalls a man placing an ice ball on the heated elements, a no-no unless permission is sought, due to the extra steam it emits. Both the Aufguss leader, then the entire room, chastised him until he left.<\/p>\n Be bolder, I say. Build it and they will come. Sydney Dance Company took the risk in 2017 with its naked dance performance <\/a>at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. When one of the slow-selling shows was re-pitched as a nude-only night for the audience, tickets sold out in a day. Two more were added and snapped up faster than the clothed shows.<\/p>\n