I did it

I’ve been agonizing about the switch for a long time. As you may have noted.

For tradition’s sake, I made my own whisks and had to search for birch, but ash and oak were in the yard. The ash twigs were the whippiest, the oak the sturdiest. They took about 10 minutes, but that’s because I’m a newbie. My dad could have done it blindfolded, probably. I’d practiced making a birch whisk a week earlier — and was it ever crispy! (But now I know how to resuscitate it.)

Others tried my leafy whisks as I needed to leave before the leaves were used (sorry about the bad pun!).

Ash received 0 votes — it wasn’t durable and disintegrated after a couple of uses. Birch won the

“wonderful scent” award and tied with oak for its usability and durability. Oak earned the “astringent” prize. 

And now you know. 

Nikki

Technology improves the whisk-er

What could be better than a nice soft birch switch?

About 15 years ago, I talked to Tom, then a young student at Vermillion Community College in Ely, Minnesota, discovered the Ely Steam Bath*, a public sauna with its own long heritage. He’d thought the experience might be similar to “sannas” he’d taken in motels. Boy was he surprised to find instead a rich social tradition with older Finns, Scandanavians and Yugoslavians.

An old-timer who’d been a logger taught him about using a vihta/vasta, explaining that it increased circulation. Others there no longer used whisks, though they had at one time. The logger had used alder leaves, and even showed Tom how to make one. But, the logger said, they only last a month or so.

Then he showed off his upgraded whisk — which Tom described as “a plastic pompom thing on a stick.”

Sometime later, I purchased one of my own, intending to try it out. It’s been decorating the sauna for quite a few years, but now I’ll change its status to “working.”

I’ll compare my pompom to the leafy whisk I made out of ash branches and report back — inquiring minds need to know.

Nikki

* For the rest of the story on the Ely Steam Bath, see chapter 27 of Some Like It Hot: The Sauna, Its Lore and Stories. It’s been in (almost) business continuously since 1915, though it changed hands when the original family owner died a few years back. They don’t have a website but can be found on Facebook.

How to whisk?

What exactly is the procedure?

I have read that it’s not supposed to hurt, but it should make your skin tingle. Splash, whisk, flick — as lightly or heartily as feels right.

Each bather gets their own vihta/vasta. This whisk can assist in washing up — add a bit of soap to warm water in a basin, whip it up to a foam, whisk the soapy water on your legs, arms, torso and back.

A good one will last several saunas, depending on how vigorously or how often it is used.

I’m stalling...

Nikki

Useful tidbits about whisk-ers

The Finnish Sauna Society, which maintains six saunas, allows the use of  sauna whisk-ers in three of them. They ask sauna-goers to collect any leaves that have fallen from the whisk and put them in the waste bin, not to leave the used whisk in the pail on the sauna bench when they have finished bathing and to replace the pail in its right place and take the whisk to the hatch in the washroom reserved for this purpose (the whisker can be used later as tinder for lighting the sauna stove the next time). 

 

Many years ago, the owners of the Kangas Sauna, a lovely public sauna in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, provided leafy whisks for their guests, but picking up afterwards became a chore. At that time, their cleaners needed too much time to sweep away the broken-off leaf bits, so the service was discontinued. 

My take-away — they’re messy. 

A vihta/vasta made of plant materials should be taken out of the sauna when people go out for their cooling dip.

To save vihtas or vastas  for other seasons, they can be frozen or dried (!?). If frozen or dried, they should either be thawed or or softened in warm water beforehand. Or it can be placed on hot stones for a moment so the leafy smell permeates the sauna.

Pretty soon I’ll get my nerve up.

Nikki

Make your own whisk-er

Traditionally a vihta/vasta is made of birch twigs. But any broad leaf tree branches with a fresh delicate aroma (and some softness?) could be used. That might include alder, aspen, eucalyptus, hazel, maple, mountain ash and oak.

My dad used cedar branches to make his vihta/vasta because they were handy and lasted longer.They were available in spring and fall as well. 

Select young tender branches with many leaves to make the slapping softer. Gather your choice of branches during the early summer to ensure that these whisks have supple leaves firmly attached to flexible stems.

You’ll need to cut at least 10 or so leafy branches about 20 inches long. Crisscross the branches placing the shiny side of the leaves out. Tie your bundle with string or twine.

Oh good, a project I can do.

Nikki

Nestor’s Chronicle — on sauna whisk-ers

In an earlier post (on War and Peace and the sauna), I mentioned Nestor’s Chronicle, written by a Russian monk describing the years 850 to 1100 or so.

Nestor recounts the process of whisking during the sauna. While it was a part of ordinary life, he doesn’t sound convinced: “In the country of Slavs I saw wooden spas, very much warmed up, where people took their clothes off, poured leaven on themselves, took some brooms or some sticks, and were whipping themselves” (from the K.J. Erben translation, 1867).

A different translation says “naked people lashed themselves with twigs from a tree, only to douse themselves with cold water at the end. Voluntarily they torment themselves, acquiring pain instead of cleanliness.”

This does not encourage me. I vacillate.

Nikki

Can the sauna be improved?

A sauna is a pleasure — and there are a few things which can intensify the experience. One, apparently, is the use of a birch switch.

Ouch. A switch made of twigs brings punishment to mind. But this whisk-er is not bare whippy twigs — it’s made of soft leaves.

In English, it’s also called a whisk or whisker (which sounds less harsh to me!). Finns in western Finland say vihta while in eastern Finland, it’s a vasta.

 

Those who use a vihta/vasta say it stimulates the blood circulating near the skin. Some find it speeds up perspiration, others say it helps the dirt come out of the open pores, cleaning the skin like nothing else. It is said to feel akin to scrubbing or massaging. Another plus — its birchy aroma.

When I first researched for my book, the Finnish Sauna Society said that a sauna bath without a birch whisk is like food without salt. Since then, they’ve eased up — now they say:

Some people like it very much to increase the pleasure of sauna session by beating themselves with birch whisks and some don’t. Just to respect others privacy and opinion, in some of the saunas birch whisks are not allowed. Generally speaking the whisk is an essential part of the Finnish sauna tradition. The birch whisks’ smell and effect on one’s skin and body are well accepted in saunas all over the country.

Once a person’s skin is thoroughly softened from a round of löyly (which, you may have forgotten, is the Finnish word for “sauna steam”), true sauna fans — or is that fanatics? — use a whisk to swat themselves, either gently or briskly, from head to foot.

Sigh. Did I say for sure I would do this?

Of course more research will be needed. Stay tuned...

Nikki

Whisk-ers* — the first sauna accessory

The right tools make work easier. Apps give us so many options. Seasonings sharpen the taste of foods. Earrings and other jewelry sparkle up a person’s image. Flowers add much to the landscaping around a home.

It’s true for saunas too — accessories can improve the experience. I wrote about sauna scents in an April post, my first comment in an occasional series.

But the real first accessory is the time-honored birch-leaf whisk-er, known in Finland as a vihta or vasta (depending on which part of Finland you lived in). While that tradition never got passed on in my family, it’s important, for some people anyway. 

So, I’ll be exploring the use of whisks in the next several posts — from mentions in historical documents to tips for use and how to make one (with a possible video!). I plan to try it out as well, though I’m apprehensive (to say the least). 

* By now you know whisk-ers are not chin stubble. Nor do I mean whisk-ey or other alcoholic beverages.

Nikki

Buy a copy of Some Like It Hot: The Sauna, Its Lore and Stories from the publisher North Star Press of St. Cloud, Minnesota, or from local booksellers. 

For a personally inscribed copy, send $20 (which includes tax and shipping costs) to: Nikki Rajala, P.O. Box 372, Rockville, Minnesota 56369.