For centuries, sauna has been an inseparable part of Finnish culture, and using a sauna-whisk, or vihta¹, an integral element of the sauna tradition. The Finnish vihta is a bouquet of small birch branches used to gently hit oneself while bathing in sauna. In summer, vihtas are often made and used the same day, but during seasons when fresh material is unavailable, dried, frozen, and even artificial vihtas are used instead of fresh ones. In the past, each family made their own vihtas, but nowadays ready-made ones are widely sold.

But what exactly is a vihta, and how is it made? What were the uses of vihta in the past, and how is it being used today, particularly by young Finnish adults? Are the younger generations keeping alive the vihta-making tradition, and what are their views on the non-fresh options, i.e., the dried, frozen, and artificial vihtas? What about Finns in general: do people still use vihtas, and if so, do they make them themselves, as opposed to buying them? Is sauna-bathing and whisking still a part of Finnish culture and lifestyle?

Finnish Sauna-bathing Culture: Where the West Meets the East

As a result of its geographical position between Sweden and Russia, Finland has always been a mixture of western and eastern flavors. Two different bathing cultures have left their marks in Finland; the medieval European sauna culture in the south and west, and the Russian banya culture in the east (Vuorenjuuri 220). According to some sources, sauna has been a part of Finnish tradition for over 2,000 years, with roots in Ancient Roman baths and the Russian banya (Arstila 12), while others claim that the exact origins of the Finnish sauna culture remain unknown (Aaland).

This historical duality is also evident in the Finnish language and its distinctly eastern and western dialects (Savolainen). When it comes to naming the leafy bundle of small branches used when bathing in a sauna, Finnish offers two choices that essentially describe the same entity: the word vihta is used in the western dialects, whereas vasta is its eastern counterpart. However, the word vihta has traditionally been seen as a Russian loan, even though the word is primarily used among the speakers of western dialects, which is uncharacteristic of Russian loanwords in Finnish (Häkkinen 1487). Vasta is more likely to be an actual Russian loan, especially because of its typical Russian loanword stem (Itkonen 211–212).

While a vihta and a vasta are essentially one and the same, there is, or at least used to be, one main difference in their appearance. This difference is the number of leafless branches used to tie the leafy ones together, since traditionally, the vasta had two, but the vihta only one tying branch or binding. Nowadays, however, the binding style is less dependent on geography and more on the individual’s preferences (Pekanoja).

The Ins and Outs of Making and Using a Vihta

Birch Catkins. Image Source: Hainault Forest Website

Sauna-whisks are not exclusive to Finland. North American Indians, for example, used similar leafy bundles when bathing in their sweat lodges, as did some of the Central American peoples. Also in medieval Europe, where saunas were common, sauna-whisks of oak and birch were widely used (Vuorenjuuri 114, 94, 173–174). In Finland, silver birch (Betula pendula) is often favored as vihta material, but several other species of trees and bushes may also be used. These might include oak, rowan and maple, or even juniper. It is also possible to blend different leaves to form a unique vihta. When making a birch vihta, it is important to check that the branches are free of catkins² to avoid any allergic reactions.

The best time to make vihtas in Finland is in June, when the tree leaves are still young, but large enough. This is also the time when the leaves are strong enough to withstand the heat of a sauna and the pleasant drumming against the bathers’ bodies, but have not yet hardened. Opinions are divided on when exactly vihtas should be made: some bathers prefer the late June leaves for their fragrance, while others like to wait until early July for the leaves to grow larger. In any case, vihtas for the upcoming winter should be made no later than during the harvest period in late July (Pälsi 41), although, according to folk superstition, the best period to make winter vihtas is during the weeks when the moon is waxing in June. This usually coincides with the Finnish Midsummer festivities³ (Pekanoja).

To make a vihta, enough small branches are needed to form a bouquet with a handle that fits comfortably into the palm of the user’s hand. These branches are then arranged so that the reverse side, i.e., the paler, slightly coarser side of the leaves, is exposed (Passi). In other words, once a vihta is ready, one half of the branches should be facing the other half. To achieve an even shape, one side should be finished before beginning work on the other. A vihta is often built in a flat, fan-like shape, but in reality they come in all shapes and sizes – some bathers prefer a long, whip-lik vihta, others a plump, thick one. The handle of a vihta should be free of leaves and its diameter approximately three centimeters (1.2 inches) to allow a firm grip. A vihta should be ca. 50 centimeters (19.5 inches) in length, but children might find a smaller one easier to use.

Once all the leafy branches have been arranged into a bouquet of a desired shape, one end of a flexible, roughly 50 cm long leafless branch of birch or willow is inserted into the handle near the leaves and pulled into a few tight loops around it. The other end is then pushed under these loops and tied firmly. Another binding can now be made approximately 10 cm away from the first one by using the rest of the binding branch. Finally the stub is pushed deep inside the handle (Passi). In addition to birch and willow branches, young shoots of these trees are also suitable for binding a vihta, but to save time and effort, rubber bands or a piece of cord will do just as well (Pekanoja). Summer vihtas are usually used the same day, but vihtas for the wintertime are either hanged in pairs, with the handle up, and then left to dry in a well ventilated, cool storage space; or else frozen.

A Birch Vihta. Image Source: Kotiliesi

There is no need to provide each sauna bather with his or her own vihta. If a vihta is well constructed and firmly bound, it will withstand several users, even for multiple days, although the latter is usually unnecessary, especially during the summer months when fresh material is abundant. A newly made vihta is dipped into cool water before and between uses to keep it fresh, while dried and frozen ones are put into warm water to allow them to soften (Pekanoja). Some people like to lay their vihta on the hot stones of a sauna stove for a few seconds to release aromas from the leaves, while others consider this to be a heresy, as it tends to dry the vihta. Thus, as with the shape and size of a vihta, the way in which the vihta is used is also very much a matter of taste.

There is no one rule stipulating how a vihta should or should not be used. In other words, it is fairly safe to say there are as many ways to use them as there are bathers. One way would be to start the whisking with your legs, calmly moving up towards your arms and back and finally reaching the area of the lungs and heart (Karjanoja and Peltonen 66). However, this order could just as easily be reversed, while some people only prefer to use a vihta on particular areas of their body. Equally, the amount of strength used varies between bathers from short, sharp shocks to gentle strokes. The one thing that bathers can agree on is that bathing in a sauna and using a vihta is meant to be a relaxing experience, both for one’s body and spirit, regardless of the specifics of how this is achieved.

What Is the Vihta Good for?

Up until the 20th century, doctors were scarce in Finland, particularly outside larger towns. Instead, the nation relied on nature healers, who often conducted their work in saunas (Forsell 41). Blood-letting was a common remedy for ailments, as were various incantations performed in the soft light of a sauna. Even the vihta had its own specific medicinal value (Forsell 43). It was often used together with mystical spells to drive out the evil spirits which were causing the illnesses (Hakamies 276). The sauna was one of the cornerstones of traditional Finnish healthcare, “the poor man’s pharmacy,” as it was called, and a vihta was an approved instrument of healing.

A vihta could be used in a number of ways to provide a patient with pain relief or even a permanent cure. Alder was often used instead of birch when making a special healing vihta; to increase its powers, the branches were gathered from three different areas and from nine different trees (Hakamies 277). On the other hand, birch leaves were used to apply pressure to sores, which helped to ease pain (Hakamies 276), while a vihta bound of nettles was especially effective in healing articular diseases (Karjanoja and Peltonen 66).

But not all vihtas were trusted to bring health. In fact, different illnesses were thought to be lurking in an ordinary vihta, and this was a real concern especially in an unfamiliar sauna. Therefore, to rid the vihta of possible diseases, it had to be hit against the sauna benches three times, have salt sprinkled on it or even be urinated on. These were, perhaps oddly from the modern perspective, thought to cleanse the vihta of any impurities (Hakamies 277).

Although superstitions were rife in the old days of medical care, vihtas do contain agents with potential healing powers, and can be beneficial to one’s health. The tanning agents and phenylic acids in birch leaves help keep wounds and scratches clean and disinfected, while the sugar (xylitol) softens the skin (Karjanoja and Peltonen 67). Further, sauna-whisking helps remove dirt and impurities from the skin. It also stimulates the skin’s blood circulation and relaxes the muscles. And, as mentioned above, part of the health benefit comes simply from the emotional side of bathing in a sauna– it not only relaxes the body, but also soothes the mind.

Is the Vihta Still a Part of Finnish Sauna Culture?

For centuries, vihtas were essential to Finns. They were valued as instruments of cleansing and healing the body; when fresh vihtas could not be had during the long winter months, enough winter vihtas were made and dried in the summer to last until a new season of growth. This meant that knowing how to bind vihtas was an important skill. Nowadays, this skill might not be seen as important as it once was, as vihtas can now be easily bought in stores or at open-air markets, but Finns still remain avid vihta users.

In the modern-day world, less superstition is associated with vihtas, and therefore some of the old Finnish sauna-related traditions have not survived through the ages. Obviously the dramatic changes in social structure and the modern healthcare system have also caused a change in how present-day Finns use the sauna and vihtas. However, it should be noted that using a vihta is still common, and that saunas in modern Finland are as ubiquitous as they were in the past. They can be found in many private homes, summer houses, and hotels; even the Parliament House has a sauna, as do many corporate buildings. This goes to show that present-day Finns truly value their saunas.

In general, sauna-bathing in Finland remains common, but might be less frequent among some socio-economic groups nowadays than it was with previous generations. In order to find out how often the younger generations of Finns use saunas, and what their relationship with the vihta is today, a small study was conducted in spring 2007 among students of English Translation of the University of Tampere who had begun their studies in 2005, and members of Viisukuppila, a chat forum for Finnish Eurovision Song Contest fans. The following section deals with findings from this study, offering some insight to the sauna-whisking habits of young Finnish adults of the early 21st century.

Study: How Do Young 21st Century Finns Use the Vihta?

The history of sauna-bathing and the historical uses of vihtas were discussed earlier in this paper, but to discover the nature of the relationship that present-day young Finnish adults have with vihtas, a small study comprising 64 people (aged 19–28, with the average age being ca. 23 years) was conducted in March 2007 in the form of a web-based questionnaire⁴.

Two different forums were used to gather responses. The first invitation to fill out the questionnaire was delivered to the ETRAN-2005 mailing list, which is a list for English Translation students of the University of Tampere who began their studies in the year 2005. Since this list only had 30 subscribers, a second invitation was sent to Viisukuppila, a chat forum for Finnish Eurovision Song Contest fans, to gain a larger number of responses. The Viisukuppila forum has a special thread dedicated to sauna-related topics, and this second invitation was posted there.

Both invitations had a link to the same questionnaire, which was online for seven days, from March 31 to April 6, 2007. At the time of conducting this survey, Viisukuppila had roughly 2200 members, but out of these only a few hundred were active, and fewer still follow the sauna thread. Roughly 40 responses came from the users of this forum and the rest from ETRAN-2005. The response percentage for ETRAN-2005 was relatively high at approximately 80%, whereas the percentage for Viisukuppila was lower, at around 10 to 15% of its active members. Nonetheless, an adequate number of responses was received to complete this study.

While the Viisukuppila response percentage might seem low, it should be noted that not all of the Viisukuppila members met the age and/or nationality requirements and were therefore unable to partake in this study. Moreover, as this invitation was sent in the spring of 2007, Viisukuppila members were likely to be occupied with other work, i.e., organizing the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, which was being hosted that spring in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. However, the total number of responses was adequate for this study, so the lower Viisukuppila response percentage was insignficant.

All the participants in this study were volunteers, and the answers they gave were handled anonymously. The only personal information requested was each respondent’s gender, age, and the region in which heor she had grown up. Age was asked to ensure all the participants were within a certain age limit, which was set between 18 and 29, as the focus of the study was on the habits of younger generations. Gender did not play any notable part in these study results, as no gender-specific findings were made. Also the region of origin had no significance in how the participants used vihtas, or what their skills were in making them.

The participants were asked how often they bathed in sauna and used a vihta. They were also asked about their parents’ and grandparents’ bathing habits and the parents’ vihta-binding skills to see what continuity there had been from one generation to the next. The final section of the questionnaire focused on dried, frozen, and artificial vihtas to find out if these were considered differently from fresh ones. The participants were asked about their attitudes toward these three options, if they had ever bought or used them, and if so, if they thought the quality of dried, frozen, or artificial vihtas was as good as that of fresh ones.

How Often Do Young Finnish Adults Bathe in Sauna and Use a Vihta?

Fifty-two respondents (81%) said they use a sauna at least once a month; 14 (22%) of them at least once a week. Out of the total of 64 people only two said they never use a sauna. Other statistics show that in 1997, 90% of Finns bathed in sauna once a week (Karjanoja and Peltonen 30), but the sauna bathing frequency among the participants in this study was notably lower. This could mean that sauna usage is less common with younger generations in Finland, or that the overall Finnish sauna habits are gradually changing. However, a more likely explanation would probably be that since many of the respondents were students, their living conditions might make it difficult for them to bathe in sauna as often as they might wish to.

The majority of the respondents (92%) stated that they use vihtas either seldom or never. Roughly half of them had used a vihta at least once during the previous year (2006); only six respondents said they used a vihta on a relatively regular basis. These six people could all bind vihtas and they were also the most likely to make their own vihtas instead of buying ready-made ones. However, not all of the respondents who were able to bind vihtas preferred to do so. The reasons for this are discussed later in this paper.

The respondents were asked how often their parents and grandparents used vihtas while bathing in sauna, and if the parents knew how to make them. One third of the respondents said their grandparents used vihtas either usually or always when sauna-bathing, while another third reported that their grandparents used them at least occasionally. The answers showed that the more often a respondent’s grandparents use<vihtas, the more likely their children, the respondent’s parents, were to use them also. However, an interesting finding was that nearly all of the parents used vihtas slightly less often than the grandparents had.

Generally, the respondents reported using vihtas less frequently than their parents and grandparents had. There also seemed to emerge a pattern of parental influence in the skill of making vihtas, i.e., those respondents with parents who knew how to bind vihtas were more likely to have learned this skill themselves. However, there was no clear indication that these respondents had learned vihta binding from their parents; six people reported that they used self-taught methods when making vihtas.

The Main Reasons Mentioned for Using or Not Using Vihtas

Most respondents associated the vihta with summer, with the Midsummer’s Night and Day in particular. The Christmas season was also mentioned as a typical time for using vihtas. It would therefore seem that young adults do not use vihtas around the year; instead, the practice is mainly limited to specific seasons or holidays. Most people also mentioned that thinking of a vihta provoked images of summer and lakeside cottages, and many felt that bathing in these rural saunas simply "requires" a vihta. These types of images are easily explained by the fact that there are roughly five hundred thousand summer cottages and villas in Finland, stereotypically by a lakeside (From), and most of them have saunas. Such stereotypical images might offer a clue on why vihtas are not always used year round among the younger generations.

One fourth of the respondents said they never use a vihta when bathing. The reasons given for this included allergic reactions to birch, and pain experienced from the hits while using a vihta. In a few cases, the vihta had never been part of the family’s sauna traditions, and was therefore not seen as an essential element of bathing in sauna. Other reasons mentioned were the difficulty of finding vihtas year round, and the trouble of cleaning leaves off the sauna benches and floor after use. As mentioned in the previous section, some of the respondents were students, and their current living situation might make it difficult for them to adhere to old traditions – although many apartment buildings in Finland have saunas, they often do not allow the use of a vihta.

However, among all the participants, regardless of the frequency that vihtas were used, the most important factor seemed to be the living environment. Several respondents stated that their city surroundings make it impossible for them to acquire material for vihtas. Therefore, they are unable to make their own vihtas even if they know how to bind them. Also, many of those respondents who said they did not know how to make vihtas pointed out that in larger towns and cities vihtas can be hard to come by. Thus, the conclusion is that urban living greatly affects the sauna-whisking habits of young adults. Current surroundings seem to have a more significant effect on sauna-whisking habits than does the region of origin, which had no influence at all.

One interesting finding was that several participants seem to enjoy using a vihta, but not making one themselves, even though they might know how. In many cases respondents also said they do not normally buy ready-made vihtas, but if a vihta is provided for them, the majority of the respondents will gladly use it. The answers clearly showed that in many families it is the grandparents who make all the vihtas their family uses, even though other family members might be just as capable of binding them. In other words, the less trouble there is in getting a vihta and cleaning up after its use, the more often they are used.

Views From the Study on Dried, Frozen, and Artificial Vihtas

The final few questions in the study questionnaire dealt with images and experiences concerning dried, frozen, and artificial vihtas. As expected, dried and frozen vihtas were more familiar to the respondents than artificial ones.

It was evident that the respondents who used vihtas more often tended to have more experience with the dried and frozen variants, as well. The majority of them had used both of these natural vihtas at least once, and of those respondents with less frequent sauna-whisking habits, as many as one half had tried at least one of the two, and in some cases both. The answers further showed that those respondents who did not know how to make vihtas themselves were also the ones with the least experience with other than fresh vihtas. This might mean that these people are simply not keen on sauna-whisking and do not think of it as part of a complete sauna bathing experience.

It was not surprising that so many of the respondents had experience with dry and frozen vihtas, as many of the bigger stores in Finland sell them, and dried ones are also quite readily available at outdoor markets selling handicraft items. This explains the high percentage of use among the participants of this study, although it does not explain why the respondents did not buy them more often themselves. Perhaps here too, the key is the trouble of searching for ready-made vihtas, even though many of the respondents would be happy to use them if someone else provided them.

The questions about the quality of these three alternatives provided some interesting results. Namely, those people who had used dry vihtas found them to be equally good or only slightly less in quality compared to fresh ones. However, over two thirds of the respondents thought that dried vihtas were notably inferior to fresh ones, even though just 15 percent of them had actually used them. The same applied to the frozen vihtas. This might have been due to the fact that so many respondents reacted to the theme of this study with romanticized images of summertime and lakeside idylls, which could hardly include any other type of vihtas except fresh ones.

Comparisons of This Study With a 2007 Helsingin Sanomat Study

How then would the results of this study compare with other surveys made on Finnish sauna-whisking habits? For comparison, a 2007 study by a Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was consulted. In that study, three women and three men tested different types of vihtas and found the fresh and frozen ones to be equally good. Both of these were soft and gave off a nice fragrance, whereas the dried ones were rough and lost a lot of leaves when they were used (Passi). In the study for this paper, the results among the respondents who had tried non-fresh vihtas were quite similar to those of Helsingin Sanomat. But since the number of participants in the survey conducted by Helsingin Sanomat was so small, and especially because the participants’ ages were not defined, a comparison between these two groups would give no definite answers on generational differences. Still, it is interesting to see that there were similarities in the results from these two groups.

The artificial option was less well known to all respondents of this paper’s study, and the vast majority (98%) could therefore not say what they thought of the quality of this type of vihta. There was only one person among the 64 who reported having used an artificial vihta, with the opinion that it was notably inferior to fresh ones. This was also the opinion of the Helsingin Sanomat test group, who did not find any pleasure in this artificial option either (Passi).

All in all, it seems that the young Finnish adults value fresh vihtas more than they do the other options. Those respondents who had not tried dried or frozen vihtas thought less of them than those people who had. One explanation could be that they, to some extent, idealize the old Finnish sauna tradition, and are therefore hesitant in accepting new elements into it. On the other hand, those respondents who had the most firsthand knowledge of vihtas, i.e., who used them the most, had tried the most varieties, and/or could bind vihtas themselves, thought less negatively about these three non-fresh options.

Sauna-bathing and Whisking Remains an Essential Part of Finnish Culture

During the past century, major changes in Finnish society have affected many of the old sauna traditions. Sauna is no longer the only place of healing, although it does still provide an effective remedy for sore muscles and small bruises. Similarly, a vihta, whether fresh, dried, or frozen, is nowadays used more for pleasure than any practical reason. However, this has not made it redundant. Vihtas continue to be used, although they might no longer be seen as vital elements of sauna-bathing.

In the past, dried vihtas were as common as fresh ones, since vihtas were needed year round. Today’s bathers, however, have a wider choice in vihtas, as new innovations find their way into the markets. Yet, not all of them are welcomed with open arms, as the Helsingin Sanomat survey also showed, and artificial vihtas might never become a great hit in a country with such a long history of sauna-bathing that is so intertwined with the use of natural vihtas.

It would seem that younger generations of the 21st century do not bathe in sauna as often as their parents did, even though technically, saunas are available to everyone. A chance to bathe in a sauna might in fact be seen as a special treat connected to particular seasons. It is therefore not surprising that these young people are not as skilled in making vihtas as their parents were, since like saunas, vihtas too are used less often than before. Nonetheless, Finnish sauna-bathing culture is still very much alive, even if it has not remained constant through the ages. After all, traditions are not fixed, but evolve with time, and Finnish sauna-bathing is not an exception. Young Finnish adults might not bathe the way their parents and grandparents did, but neither have they forsaken sauna-bathing, or vihtas. Therefore, it can be said that sauna-bathing and whisking still hold their places as essential parts of Finnish culture and lifestyle.

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Notes

1. Vihta is the Finnish word for a sauna-whisk, and is used in this paper to emphasize the cultural context. The dialectal variant vihta is part of the author’s own dialect, i.e., that of the Helsinki region in southern Finland, and is therefore favored over the other option, vasta.

2. Catkins are long soft flower clusters that hang from tree branches (Bullon 233).

3. The Finnish Midsummer, juhannus, is celebrated close to the summer solstice. In the past, the Midsummer’s Eve was always on June 24, but nowadays the date varies. These days, juhannus is celebrated on the Saturday between the dates of June 20 and June 26.

4. See the Finnish original (PDF) of the Questionnaire, and an English translation (PDF) by the author of this paper.

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