Want To Visit a Bathhouse? Here's All You Need to Know.

SOAK IT UPWant to Visit a Bathhouse? Here's All You Need to KnowHumans have been bathing together since the dawn of civilization. Only recently have things trended toward the (private) tub. But a revived bathhouse culture is emerging worldwide. Maybe it's time to take the plunge.

By Brennan Kilbane

March 22, 2022

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Jonathan Blair

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By the 1st century B.C. bathhouses were operating in Rome. They were community centers of
hygiene, exercise, relaxation, and other activities that exist today under the greater wellness umbrella — and some rather less G-rated ones that do not. Admission was superlatively cheap. Wealthy patrons looking to purchase public favor (or perhaps out of the kindness of their solid-gold hearts!) would often pay to waive entry fees, effectively washing the masses.

Centuries later, the public bath is less popular than it has ever been, even in societies where communal bathing is still culturally significant. Tokyo has seen a trickling decline in the use of sentos (community bathhouses) and attempts to revive the industry with flashier amenities —
in-bath movie screenings, beer taps, a dozen cats (in one bathhouse's lobby, not the actual bath) — may not be enough. During the pandemic, Tokyo's bathhouses were allowed to remain open, but revenues in some places fell by half. Historic hammams throughout North Africa — some of which had held on for centuries — closed in March 2020, some permanently. In Korea, about 3,000 public baths have shuttered in the past three decades.

A decisive victory against the modern bathhouse was won in the 19th century, when a man named John Michael Kohler invented the modern house bath — a cast-iron tub first made from a pig trough of all things — granting generations of Americans the opportunity to submerge themselves in warm water without leaving their homes. His name is thus porcelain-etched into basically every bathroom in America, like a guardian deity.

The bath is no longer a place for community, for symposium, for ablution. Even bathing at home is falling out of favor, at least according to a 2021 New York Times report. Apparently, climate
enlightenment and worldwide social distancing have inspired people to bathe less overall.

There are two kinds of people on this Earth: those who view the bathhouse as a place to charge their human battery and those who would rather have a root canal than bathe among strangers. But it is difficult, if not biologically impossible, to retain stress while you soak. The impulse to seek out a hot bath, where you can momentarily forget it all and maybe experience a sense of community, endures. If you are feeling that millennia-old itch, this story is for you.

A bathhouse in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the ’70s.

Jonathan Blair5 Bathhouse Guidelines to Keep in Mind

So, you want to visit a bathhouse? Here's what you need to know:

Keep Quietish

The earliest bathhouses were social centers, so light conversation is welcome in the hammams, onsens, and Russian banyas of today. But be respectful of those who are there to relax.

BYOB(ath Products)

Shampoo and body wash may be provided; they may not be better than the stuff you have at home. (You'll shower before your soak.) Towels — one bath-size, one washcloth to take into the water, where permitted — are usually available on site, but they're just as easily mixed up with other patrons', so perhaps bring your own.

Bare Where?

Nudity rules vary across nations. Many Japanese onsen forbid swimwear of any kind. It keeps the water a few stitches purer. By contrast, at a hammam (including baths in Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa) you may wear a bathing suit or your underwear. Coed bathhouses often have
swimwear-optional gendered baths and swimwear-mandatory shared pools.

Ink OK?

Bringing a tattoo or four into the baths is acceptable in nearly every bathing culture — except, somewhat famously, in Japan, where they have associations with yakuza gangster culture. This stigma is eroding by the day, but the front desk at ryokan baths are typically stocked with stickers for obscuring body art.

Stay Cool

As a reference, doctors caution that your home bath should not exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit. At the natural springs in Germany's Baden-Baden, water comes out of the ground at 132.8 or hotter. Using a small bucket (or a cupped palm), introduce the water to your skin in doses to acclimate.

A version of this story originally appeared in the April 2022 issue of Allure. Learn how to subscribe here.

More about health and wellness:

• Spas and Retreats are Now Taking Wellness More Than Just Skin Deep
• What Spiritual Baths Mean for Black Wellness
• My Hair Loss Took the Most Unexpected Toll on My Body Image

Now, watch Winnie Harlow give a tour of her own elegant bathroom:

Brennan Kilbane is a former senior writer for Allure. Previously, he served as an assistant editor at Glossier. His writing has been published in The New York Times, the Verge, and GQ. If he could trade makeup bags with anyone in the world, he would choose Amy Sedaris.Former Senior Writer

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