Sauna and steam-room etiquette

[LB69]

I joined a gym and it is the first time that I have used the sauna and steam room. Not sure about what is the right thing to do on covering up and laying down. The Steam room is so wet that I sit on a towel but it gets soaked. I like the feel of nothing covering me up but I do when someone enters. After 10-15 minutes I go to the showers and cool down and then go to the Sauna. What is the proper thing to do? Should i dry off or go in wet from the showers? I kind of hate attempting to dry off with the wet steam towel. The I go in the Sauna with the towel wrapped around. When there is nobody there I like to lay down on my towel and if someone comes in I cover up my junk. Sometimes I sit up and cover up. I really like the feel of nothing but do not know if it is inappropriate to show my junk. I am not looking for any action, just want to relax. The other thing is how much greeting and talking is suggested in either the steam room or Sauna. It seems most people are completely silent. Is it ok to stay laying down if there is plenty or room. Do you ask if it is ok to the guy coming in? I take a second towel with me to shower afterwards and dry off because i have no ideal the amount of germs picked up on the sauna and steam room towel. What do guys do with the towels, do you wash them each time lay them flat in your trunk of the car and let them dry. Do you put them in your gym bag and contaminate your clothes? Just looking for suggestions how what to do so I don't look like I am cruising for sex and staying germ free. I am a grower so I don't have a massive cock to strut, but when I'm hard I am 7.5 X 6.75 so I don't really give a fuck what the other people that seem me naked think. Seems like most guys wear shorts or bathing suits in the sauna or steam room. I tried it and feel better with nothing on and don't mine seeing good looking bodies and well hung guys. I think the human body of men and women are beautiful and should be admired. I'm sure with my body and my 4" flaccid dick I don't turn any guy on but if they want to look I don't mine and am flattered if they like it. Please send me a message to let me know what the proper protocol is for straight guys.

 

[jumbo747jet]

What goes seems to vary from country to country. We have had members from the U.S. say they've even seen signs in locker rooms saying that nudity isn't allowed. If the sauna you're visiting is in a place like that, I would suggest staying covered up at all times but if you're in a more "reasonable" location, which allows people to change clothes in a changing room and to shower without clothing, see what others at this sauna are doing and follow suit.
In Denmark, where I am from, swimwear isn't allowed inside a sauna but a towel to either just sit on or wrapped around the waist is the rule. Showers, as a rule, are open and there are signs saying that all must shower, using soap and without swimwear, before entering the swimming pool or saunas.

 

[LB69]

Thanks, It is a mixed bag, it seems the older guys walk around naked and the younger ones are always seem scared and covered up. Many wear their bathing suits in the sauna and steam.

 

[lapdog2001]

I'm in the US and have only been in a steam room once, long, long ago. I think I had a towel wrapped around my waist.
In saunas, I've always used a towel, as it was required to at least be sitting on your own towel for sanitary reasons. Some guys kept it wrapped around their waist, some didn't. None of the saunas I've been in were big enough to have more that 1 or 2 people lie down, so sitting was the normal thing.

Absolutely nothing sexual or sensual has ever gone on in any locker room I've ever been in. Any talking was just normal conversations, nothing even remotely sexual, no staring at dicks or any other nonsense like that.

 

[14600801]

I would ask the admins of that specific sauna.
In Germany saunas are mandatory naked and mixed, so there what you cannot do is to wear a swimsuit

 

[steamyman]

Every place is different....and often depends on the day/crowd/country. If it's the first time I've been to a steam/sauna and it's men only, then I will take my cue from what other guys are doing. If most are nude, I'll do that - if most are in trunks or towels, I'll do that.

Personally I'd like to see all steam/saunas ban swimming trunks/speedos - you should be fully nude in them all the time - both single sex and mixed....but not everyone is that open about their bodies and social nudity.

 

[RareD]

First, there is no right or wrong. Depends on the place. You're in the US and specifically Alabama so you'll likely find a mix of old school southern hospitality with puritanical overtones.

"After 10-15 minutes I go to the showers and cool down and then go to the Sauna. What is the proper thing to do? Should i dry off or go in wet from the showers?"

No protocal. You can do either.

As long as you are within the rules, you can cover or not. Generally if everyone else covers, you can follow lead. if you're first in the room, you can proceed as you please. I do think it is best to sit up when people enter just out of curtesy, whether you cover or not.

Some people talk more than others. Like anywhere else, you have to read the rooom. If you start some small talk, you should be able to discern if it is welcome or not.

My gym provides shower. If they didn't, I would wash my towel after each use. It will stink up your trunk quick in the summer. "Do you put them in your gym bag and contaminate your clothes?" My gym bag has a wet pocket just for this reason. Look on Amazon.

 

[deleted213967]

At mainstream, chain gyms (I belong to multiple gyms and locations), it is not unusual for men's locker room saunas to house members in full regalia, shoes and all. For that thriving sub-species of health club creatures, I imagine that the temporary water weight loss due to sweating amounts to a permanent fat loss...and who cares about the stink...

In proper spa settings, as our Dane friend suggested above, showering before entering and sitting on a towel to protect yourself and others from unmentionables is probably a minimum. Many guys prefer silence, but I usually try to at least acknowledge new entrants with a nod or a smile or mild-to-moderate "hi!".

 

[ericbear]

At mainstream, chain gyms (I belong to multiple gyms and locations), it is not unusual for men's locker room saunas to house members in full regalia, shoes and all....

One gym location I frequent has a steamroom instead of a dry sauna. Yesterday, I saw the management had added a big sign to the door: No Shoes In Sauna! I'm not quite sure what event brought that on, but as someone took the time to color it in with pink highlighter, it must have been significant.

 

[opinionman]

One gym location I frequent has a steamroom instead of a dry sauna. Yesterday, I saw the management had added a big sign to the door: No Shoes In Sauna! I'm not quite sure what event brought that on, but as someone took the time to color it in with pink highlighter, it must have been significant.

Or maybe it was just for guys who wear pink shoes...

 

[Sailingbear]

I go to the gym every day. The reward for doing the workout is the Steam room and sauna. I use a towel in both. The people seem to be split on this. Some wear underwear, most seem to use a towel, a few are nude. I do 15 yo 20 mins in steam then cool shower followed by 10 to 20 in sauna. We talk a lot. Subjects range from Workouts to political. This month it been the war and possibly a WWIII. I take my towels home and drop them in the washing machine with my workout clothes. They are ready to go back to gym the next morning.

 

[LordCWB]

(US, Texas)
I sit naked until someone else comes in and then I cover my lap with a folded towl, unless they're also nude.

 

[opinionman]

Not me. I sit naked and don't care if they come in. Ironically, I guess, I sometimes cover my head with a towel while I sit back tot he wall, knees up, cock and balls on display because the water condenses on the ceiling and drips on my head.... so I cover my "identity" at the same time I show off my cock and balls

(US, Texas)
I sit naked until someone else comes in and then I cover my lap with a folded towl, unless they're also nude.

 

[justahornyguy174]

I would ask the admins of that specific sauna.
In Germany saunas are mandatory naked and mixed, so there what you cannot do is to wear a swimsuit

I need to go to Germany, mixed showers and saunas are my dream!
What are people's experiences in the UK? I'm thinking it won't be nude in most places, certainly not if it is mixed.

 

[opinionman]

I need to go to Germany, mixed showers and saunas are my dream!
What are people's experiences in the UK? I'm thinking it won't be nude in most places, certainly not if it is mixed.

I was in a private mixed sauna in Finland in 1982: just our host couple and a few others, men and women. It wasn't very sexual, as other people have noted. Funny, I have no interesting gawking at naked women, sauna or otherwise.

 

[ay26q9587]

What goes seems to vary from country to country. We have had members from the U.S. say they've even seen signs in locker rooms saying that nudity isn't allowed. If the sauna you're visiting is in a place like that, I would suggest staying covered up at all times but if you're in a more "reasonable" location, which allows people to change clothes in a changing room and to shower without clothing, see what others at this sauna are doing and follow suit.
In Denmark, where I am from, swimwear isn't allowed inside a sauna but a towel to either just sit on or wrapped around the waist is the rule. Showers, as a rule, are open and there are signs saying that all must shower, using soap and without swimwear, before entering the swimming pool or saunas.

It even varies gym to gym in the US. My gym has signs saying that clothing isn’t allowed in the showers/sauna/steamroom areas. You do have to sit on a towel in the sauna and steamroom, of course. So strange to me that some gyms would prohibit nudity in places that are literally designed for it! No way I’d be a member at those places.

 

[RareD]

Not me. I sit naked and don't care if they come in. Ironically, I guess, I sometimes cover my head with a towel while I sit back tot he wall, knees up, cock and balls on display because the water condenses on the ceiling and drips on my head.... so I cover my "identity" at the same time I show off my cock and bal

Well, isn't that special.

 

[14600801]

I need to go to Germany, mixed showers and saunas are my dream!
What are people's experiences in the UK? I'm thinking it won't be nude in most places, certainly not if it is mixed.

Don't expect anything remotely sexual

 

[kev2001]

I sit naked on a towel. I don't cover up, even if people come in. I've never gotten hard - I just like being naked. Most other guys are naked or loosely covered. I've also never seen anything sexual happen. It's just chilling in the heat - naked and not caring (this is in the States fyi)

 

[opinionman]

Well, isn't that special.

What's REALLY special is, if you read my previous post, apparently I'm not a full man, having only a "cock and bal"! hahaha