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What to Wear in a Sauna at a Spa

By The Hana Spa team · October 28, 2026 · 2,077 words

The first time you use a sauna at a spa, the clothing question is the one that keeps people from going in. Swimsuit or towel? Shoes or bare feet? What about a watch, a necklace, contact lenses, makeup? The answer is simpler than it feels, and it is mostly about heat, sweat and cleanliness rather than fashion.

The short answer: wear a clean towel wrapped around you, or a loose swimsuit in a natural or quick drying fabric, with nothing metal and nothing on your face. Sit on a second towel. Go in clean and come out to a shower. That is the whole rule, and it works in a steam sauna like the one at Hana Spa as well as in a dry room. The rest of this guide, from the team behind the spa services at Hana Spa in Palisades Park, covers the why, the fabrics, the things to leave out, and what to wear for the cool down and the massage after.

The short answer: a towel or a loose swimsuit

In a spa sauna, wear a towel or a swimsuit, whichever you are comfortable in, and sit on a clean towel either way. At Hana Spa, fresh linens are part of every visit, and the front desk will tell you how the steam sauna is used alongside a massage on the day you come in.

The towel is the traditional answer and the most practical one. It covers you, it absorbs sweat, it comes off easily for the cool shower, and it does not hold heat against your skin the way fitted fabric does. A swimsuit is the common answer in American spas and gyms, and it is fine as long as the fabric and the fit suit the heat, which the next sections explain.

Hana Spa is a Korean style spa with private treatment rooms, and every massage session is one on one with a licensed therapist. That changes the sauna question less than people expect: whatever you wear in the steam, the massage that follows is draped on the table in the usual way, and you undress only to your comfort. The comparison of moist and dry heat in sauna vs steam room explains why steam makes fabric choices matter a little more.

Why what you wear in a sauna matters

Clothing in a sauna affects three things: how well your body can cool itself, whether your skin is irritated, and whether the room stays clean for the next person. Get those three right and the rest is preference.

Cooling

Your body manages heat by sweating and letting the sweat evaporate. In a steam room evaporation barely happens anyway, so tight or heavy fabric that traps sweat against the skin makes you hotter faster and shortens the time you can stay comfortably. Less fabric and looser fabric means a longer, more pleasant session.

Skin

Hot, wet skin is more sensitive than usual. Dyes, chlorine residue in a swimsuit, metal fasteners and perfume all sit against it and can irritate. Clean, simple fabric or a plain towel avoids the problem.

Hygiene

Sweat, lotion and deodorant end up on the bench. A towel under you keeps the wood or tile clean, and a rinse before going in means what you leave behind is only water. This is etiquette in every sauna culture, and in a Korean spa it is simply expected.

The best things to wear, compared

Here is how the common options stack up in a steam sauna. All of them work; the table helps you choose for comfort.

The second towel is not optional. One to wear or sit on, one to dry off with after the cool shower. If you only have one, sit on it and let the room do the covering; steam is forgiving that way.

Hair is worth a thought. Wet heat is kinder to hair than dry heat, but color treated hair can still fade with repeated sessions. A loose tie or a towel wrapped over the hair is enough.

What not to wear in a sauna

Leave off anything metal, anything synthetic and tight, anything on your face, and anything with a strong scent. Each one causes a specific problem in the heat.

• Jewelry and watches. Metal heats up fast and can burn the skin under it. Rings, bracelets, necklaces and watches come off before you go in. Steam is also hard on watch seals.
• Tight synthetic fabric. Polyester and nylon hold heat and sweat against the skin and can leave a rash after a long session. If a swimsuit is all you have, a loose one in a quick drying blend is better than a compression fit.
• Makeup. Sweat and steam loosen it within minutes, it runs, and it sits in open pores. Go in with a clean face.
• Perfume, cologne and scented lotion. Heat amplifies scent, and in a small enclosed room it becomes everyone's problem. It can also irritate hot skin.
• Shoes. Outdoor shoes carry dirt onto a surface people sit on barefoot. Leave them at the door or in the changing area. Clean flip flops or spa slippers are fine to walk to the door in.
• Glasses and contact lenses. Glasses fog and metal frames get hot. Contacts can dry out in dry heat; steam is gentler, but taking them out is more comfortable either way.
• Phones. Heat and humidity damage them, and a sauna is one of the few places left where nobody expects you to answer.

A simple test: if it would bother you in a hot bath, leave it out of the sauna.

Hygiene before, during and after

Shower before you go in, sit on a towel while you are inside, and shower again when you come out. Those three steps cover almost all of sauna hygiene, and they make the session better for you as much as for the next person.

1. Shower first. Warm water, no need for a full wash. This rinses off deodorant, lotion and the day, so your skin can sweat freely and nothing is left on the bench.
2. Dry off a little. Dripping wet into a steam room is fine; into a dry sauna, a quick towel first makes the first minutes more comfortable.
3. Sit on your towel. Every time, including when you change position.
4. Do not shave inside or right before. Freshly shaved skin stings in the heat. Shave the night before or after the session.
5. Cool shower after. It rinses sweat, brings your temperature down, and closes the session properly. Start lukewarm if cold water is a shock.
6. Hang the towels. Leave the bench as you found it.

Swimwear needs its own note. Chlorine from a pool reacts with heat and sweat and can irritate skin; rinse a swimsuit before wearing it into the sauna. And do not reuse a damp swimsuit from an earlier day without washing it; bacteria like warm, wet fabric as much as anything.

Sauna etiquette at a spa

Sauna etiquette comes down to quiet, cleanliness and respect for other people's time in the heat. The rules are the same in a Finnish sauna, a Korean jjimjilbang and a Bergen County spa.

• Keep your voice low. A sauna is a place people go to stop thinking. Quiet conversation is fine; phone calls and loud talk are not.
• Do not stretch out across the bench when others are waiting for a seat.
• Ask before pouring water on the rocks in a dry sauna, and never pour anything other than water. In a steam room, leave the controls alone.
• Open the door quickly and close it behind you. Every open door drops the temperature for everyone.
• Leave scents outside. Perfume, cologne and essential oils in a shared room are not a kindness.
• Do not exercise inside. Push ups and stretching routines belong elsewhere; the heat is the exercise.
• Step out if you feel unwell rather than toughing it out. Nobody minds, and fainting is worse for everyone. If you arrive with a cold, our guide on using a sauna when sick says when to stay home.

Korean spa tradition adds a few customs: showering thoroughly before any hot room, sitting on a small towel, and a rhythm of heat and cool that treats the session as a ritual rather than a sweat. Hana Spa has been in Palisades Park for over a decade, and the staff are glad to explain the custom to first timers in English or Korean.

What to wear for the cool down and the massage after

After the sauna you will want something loose and dry to sit in while you cool down, and then nothing in particular for the massage, because draping on the table replaces clothing. Plan for the walk in and the walk out, not the room itself.

For the cool down

A dry towel or a robe, then loose cotton once you have stopped sweating. Sit for 5 to 10 minutes, drink water, and let your heart rate settle before you do anything else. Pulling tight clothes onto damp skin is the quickest way to feel sticky and warm again.

For the massage

Oil based massages at Hana Spa, including Swedish, deep tissue, hot stone and aromatherapy, are done under a drape, and you undress to whatever level you are comfortable with. Shiatsu and Thai massage are done clothed and without oil, so loose, stretchy clothing is the right choice for those. A fuller guide is in what to wear to a massage.

For the trip home

Wear something you do not mind getting a little oil on, and bring a layer. After heat and a massage you cool down more than you expect, and a Bergen County evening in the parking lot feels colder than it did on the way in.

A packing list for a sauna and massage visit

You need less than you think. Hana Spa supplies fresh linens for the treatment room, and the steam sauna needs a towel and a clean body. Here is the full list for a visit that includes both.

1. A swimsuit, if you prefer one to a towel, rinsed of chlorine
2. A hair tie or a small towel for your hair
3. Clean flip flops or slippers for walking to the sauna door
4. A water bottle, filled
5. Loose, dry clothes for after, in a fabric you do not mind oil on
6. A light layer for the walk to the car
7. A small bag for your damp swimsuit and towel
8. Nothing on your face, no perfume, no jewelry

Leave at home: valuables you would worry about, your watch, and your phone if you can bear it. Eat a light meal an hour or two before you arrive, not right before, and drink water through the day. If you have a medical condition, or you are pregnant, ask your doctor before using any sauna, and tell the therapist at the start of your session.

The steam sauna and massage at Hana Spa

Hana Spa has a wood lined steam sauna alongside 14 services, including Swedish, deep tissue, shiatsu, hot stone, aromatherapy, Thai and sports massage, foot reflexology and cupping. Every massage takes place in a private treatment room on a padded table with fresh linens, with licensed therapists trained in several modalities. Whatever you wear into the steam, the session that follows is draped and private. The full list is on the services page, and pricing is by phone.

Hana Spa is at 520 Bergen Blvd in Palisades Park, NJ, six minutes from Fort Lee and the George Washington Bridge, and open every day from 9 AM to 11 PM. Walk ins are welcome, or call 201-242-0444 to hold a time. There is free parking on site, NJ Transit route 154 stops along Bergen Boulevard and route 166 along Broad Avenue, and Korean and English are spoken at the desk.

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