A guide to löyly

What is the hot steam in a sauna called?

The Finnish word ´löyly´ is the name given to the evaporating hot steam that rises from the stones.

To create löyly steam, a bucket of water (often containing fragrant essential oils) is carried into the sauna and ladled over the hot stones on the sauna heater. This fills the sauna with a cloud of fragrant löyly steam.

As the level of humidity in the sauna rises sharply, you suddenly feel intense heat. This sensation is further enhanced by swirling the humid air around the room with a towel.

Pouring water over the stones provides an additional heat stimulus which gets your sweat glands working overtime. During the procedure, the door of the sauna should not be opened.

How to pronounce löyly?

We are not Finnish, but we are reliably told that to say löyly, you have to pronounce it similar to “Lurler”.

At Dröm UK, we design and build all kinds of sauna but they all have one thing in common.  The löyly!