The United States doesn't have a single sauna culture; it has three or four overlapping ones. Russian banya traditions live in older immigrant cities, Korean jjimjilbang culture has scaled across the spa belt from Queens to Houston, urban bathhouse-brand sites have rebuilt the format for a contemporary audience, and the new outdoor wood-fired wave is filling in the gaps from the Twin Cities down through the Carolinas to the Bay Area.
Each has its own etiquette. The rules that work at Russian & Turkish Baths on East 10th Street are not the rules at Bathhouse Williamsburg, and neither matches the conventions of a Korean spa in Queens or a wood-fired barrel in Asheville. This guide takes them one at a time, then flags the through-lines.
Three traditions under one roof
Russian banya runs hot and steamy with a heavy emphasis on the venik (oak or birch whisking) and the parenie service — an attendant moves the heat around your body with the leaves while you lie on a bench. The cycle is hot, cold plunge, warm rest, repeat.
Korean spa (jjimjilbang) is built around a sequence of heat rooms at different temperatures and materials — jade, salt, charcoal, oak — separated by neutral rest spaces. You move at your own pace, sometimes for hours, and the sauna is just one room in the program. Body scrubs and food on premises are part of the experience.
Urban bathhouse — the Bathhouse-brand sites, Knot Springs in Portland, Eastend in Chicago — is the contemporary, sleek format. Finnish or steam heat, cold plunge, often a pool or hot tub, sometimes a restaurant. Sessions are bookable, swimwear is standard, and the rules read closer to a modern spa than to either Russian or Korean tradition.
The new outdoor wood-fired wave — Cedar & Stone in Duluth, Drip Nordic in Asheville, Moki in Boston, Good Hot in Richmond, Fjord in Sausalito, the Sauna House outposts — borrows directly from Finnish tradition and the UK/Irish coastal scenes. Small operators, wood-fired barrels, cold plunge or open water, bookable sessions.
Swimwear, nudity, and the gender split
At urban bathhouses (Bathhouse-brand sites, Knot Springs, ROK Spas, Eastend, the Carolinas Sauna House outposts) swimwear is the default and sessions are mixed. Nudity isn't on the table.
At Russian & Turkish Baths in New York, weekday hours are co-ed swimsuited; some weekend morning sessions historically run single-sex. Other Russian banyas (Banya 5, Archimedes) lean co-ed swimsuited, with occasional single-sex hours — check the schedule.
Korean spas split the bathing areas by gender — that's where nudity is the norm, and where the scrub services happen. The jjimjilbang heat rooms themselves are co-ed and require the venue's loaner uniform (shorts and a t-shirt). Don't bring your own.
Outdoor wood-fired barrels run mixed swimsuited sessions, identical to UK convention. Private bookings can do whatever the group agrees to.
The banya cycle — venik, hat, plotza
Russian banya etiquette has a specific cycle. Wear a felt or wool hat in the parilka (steam room) to protect your scalp and ears from the heat at head height — the temperature differential is real. Hats are typically for sale at the door if you don't bring one.
The venik — a tied bundle of oak or birch branches, soaked in hot water — is used for parenie, a service where an attendant moves the heat over you with the leaves. Don't try to do this for yourself if you don't know what you're doing; book the service. Tip the parenie attendant generously ($20–40 is reasonable for a full session) — it's a skilled physical job.
Cold plunge or pool between rounds; warm rest in the lounge with hot tea or kvass; food on premises is part of the visit. A full banya session runs 2–4 hours.
Korean spa rhythm
Check in, get the wristband (locker key and tab for any food or services), change into the loaner uniform. Wet area (saunas, scrubs, baths) is gender-segregated and nude; jjimjilbang (the heat-room floor and lounge) is co-ed and uniformed.
Body scrubs — Korean-style "sesshin" or similar — are an institution. You lie on a vinyl-covered table, an attendant scrubs you down with abrasive mitts and warm water, and a remarkable amount of dead skin comes off. Book in advance; tip $10–20.
Heat rooms are progressive — pick the lower-temperature ones first, work up, drink water between each. Most Korean spas have nap rooms and a 24-hour option; the visit is closer to a Japanese onsen ryokan than to a Western spa day.
Food: there's usually a casual Korean restaurant inside. Pay with the wristband, settle on the way out.
Urban bathhouse — book the slot, mind the cycle
Bathhouse-brand sites, Knot Springs, Eastend, the Sauna House outposts, ROK Spas — these are run on booked slots of 90 minutes to a few hours. Arrive on time; the previous slot is rolling out as yours rolls in.
Swimwear, flip-flops, towel from the venue. Phones are usually banned on the wet-side floor — locker policies vary, but assume yes. Cold plunge is standard; aufguss schedules at some venues (Bathhouse, Banya 5, Archimedes) run alongside the open-bench program.
Conversation is fine at low volume. Performing for the room — loud groups, phone calls in the lounge — gets you flagged. The aesthetic is design-led, the etiquette is closer to a Scandinavian bathhouse than to a gym.
Outdoor barrel sauna scene
The new outdoor wave — Cedar & Stone, Takka Saunas, Drip Nordic, Moki, Good Hot, Fjord, Alchemy Springs, Sauna House outposts — runs almost identically to the UK/Irish coastal scene. Small operator on site, wood-fired barrel, booked 60–90 minute session, cold plunge or open water.
Bring two towels, a robe for between rounds, water, and warm layers for the walk back to the car. Drying-off discipline matters more on a wood-fired barrel — sodden benches mark you as a tourist.
Tipping: not expected in the way it is at banya or Korean spa, but a multi-session pass or a follow-up booking does more for the operator than a one-off tip.
Tipping
The US is the only sauna scene in this set with an active tipping convention. Cash tips are standard for: parenie attendants ($20–40 per session), Korean spa scrub attendants ($10–20), massage therapists working out of a bathhouse (15–20% of the service price). Front-desk staff and locker attendants are usually not tipped unless they go out of their way.
Outdoor barrel operators don't expect tips. Urban bathhouses don't either, but every venue handles staff gratuity differently — if there's a tipping line on the receipt, that's where it goes.
Drink water, mind the heat
US sauna sessions tend to run longer than UK barrel sessions — banya at 2–4 hours, Korean spa at 3–6, urban bathhouse at 90 minutes to half a day. Plan accordingly: 2–3 litres of water across a full session is reasonable, food on the way in or in the middle (especially at Korean spas), and no alcohol on the bench.
Sauna with cardiovascular conditions, pregnancy, or after-recent-surgery is a conversation to have with a doctor first. The heat is real and the cycles are longer than most first-timers expect.
The through-line across all four formats: figure out which one the venue you booked is, learn its conventions before you arrive, and let the regulars set the tempo for the bench. American sauna isn't one tradition with regional variation — it's four distinct ones sharing a calendar.