Toss after wearing

No swimsuit? Disposable problem

May 29, 2026

Bathing attire and etiquette can be riddled with anxiety. Therme’s Grace Pandola, a seasoned bather and author of G That’s Nice, tussles with our worst nightmare. Illustrated by Edith Young at Powers of Observation. And we report from The Saunaverse where UK bathing culture is defining new ways of sweating, connecting and letting go.

By Grace Pandola

People often ask me what “that” entails when I tell them I work in bathing. My answer changes, but one thing is constant: always pack a swimsuit. A spy always has a burner phone, a variety of foreign currency, and a few passports. A bather always has a swimsuit.

On a recent work trip to Austin for SXSW, I packed my suit every day. Until the day I didn’t.

I distinctly remember removing my suit from my tote, thinking, “def not today.”

Wrongo.

We’re going to Sauna House Austin.

While driving to Sauna House Austin, I thought, “I’ll just buy a suit there.”

Wrongo.

No suits. Instead, disposable shorts.

What are disposable shorts? I’m so glad you asked.

Disposable Sauna Shorts are made out of the same material as hospital scrub hair nets. Shorts made out of the same material as the shoe covers you sometimes wear in white cube art galleries. Shorts made out of the same material as a “modesty underwear” you may wear during a bikini wax or a massage or during a spray tan.

As the semi-sheer black disposable shorts were passed to me, I realized my bottom half was “covered.” But the top half was not….

“As the shorts slip on, my soul slips out of my body.”

Grace Pandola

The manager tells me that a lot of women just wear their sports bras. Alas, this is a nude Natori underwire bra day.

Which leads me to the t-shirts…

A bestselling white crop top is recommended. I have minimal STEM skills, but I am proficient in girl math. And one of the earliest formulas of girl math is: white tee + water = wet t-shirt contest.

So it’s a large black t-shirt for me.

As the shorts slip on, my soul slips out of my body.

It can’t get worse.

Wrongo.

I have to take a sanitary shower fully clothed as a courtesy to my fellow bathers. WHICH I SUPPORT. I DID THE THING. But I did wonder, “How wet do I need to get to sauna virtue signal to everyone else that I am clean?”

I do the same quick rinse everyone in a swimsuit did.

I enter the sauna. I sit on a towel. I’m very committed to hygiene and sauna virtue signalling.

It’s not so bad to start. Then I begin to perspire. And the fabric does not wick my sweat.

The dampness sets in.

This is Dickensian dampness that would most certainly concern my acupuncturist.

To distract myself from the dampness, I start rattling off the toxins that are fumigating my nether regions:

There are PFAs, BPAs, BPS, phthalates, formaldehyde, heavy metals, and, of course microplastics. It’s basically Industrial Revolution pollution in my pores.

Are all of these things in typical swimwear? Bet your swass they are.

BUT AT LEAST I’M SACRIFICING MY HORMONAL HEALTH FOR COMFORT.

The silver lining of doing anything to your own detriment is that at least you enjoyed it! That it felt good at the time!

I exit the sauna. I look at the cold plunges and then look away. God as my witness, these disposable sauna briefs aren’t getting any wetter. While the shorts aren’t getting wetter, I’m not feeling much better. Cold damp is more soul-sucking than hot damp. There is a reason Éponine dies in the cold rain.

Back into the sauna I go.

I’m greeted by a man. A man in his underwear. A man, who is quick to clarify, he’s wearing clean underwear. Sauna bro sauna virtue signalling. If the phrase, “male privilege” comes to the forefront of your mind, I see you. And you see me.

“I find vengeance as the disposable sauna shorts are chucked in the trash.”

Grace Pandola

I talk to Underwear Man and he’s nice. He’s a regular here. I talk to a couple and one of them is wearing a Casio beta test sauna watch. They are also regulars here. I enjoy a social sauna experience.

I choose peace when I realize I won’t get to take a proper shower because the only shower is outdoors so I’ll be doing a wipe me down remix in the bathroom with paper towels and a sink.

I rediscover my humanity as I change back into natural fiber underwear.

I find vengeance as the disposable sauna shorts are chucked in the trash.

Grace Pandola is Director of Brand and Marketing at Therme US and author at G That's Nice

Illustrations by Edith Young, Powers of Observation

Here comes The Saunaverse

In the middle of a record-breaking May heatwave, a sauna festival wasn’t the first thing on my mind. But after the first steam, sliding into the cold plunge at The Saunaverse was blissful. Taking over Community Sauna Baths in East London’s Hackney Wick, Saunaverse took place across 12 saunas. According to Founder Tom de Wilton, “This year the festival was all about rituals – we hosted 28. This is where UK sauna culture is both leading international practice and forging its own path.” How about Laughguss, Sauna Disco or Sauna Astrology?

Foxey Hardman took us on a cosmic journey through the star signs, and, in an hour-long ritual with UK sauna master of the year 2025 Nick Tettersell, we ululated Finnish chants, inhaled the rich scent of birch and juniper whisks, and covered ourselves in a lickable coffee-cocoa-honey scrub.

“This year, the festival was all about rituals. This is where UK sauna culture is leading international practice.”

Tom de Wilton, The Saunaverse

During the second steam, I went through what Nick described as “a mini-death” after getting unbearably yet beautifully hot, found rebirth in the cold plunge before floating through the rest of the ritual. Sauna disco spilled out onto the dance floor with a conga complete with disco ball. Bridging wellness and mellow party energy, Saunaverse showed how UK bathing culture fosters experimentation and cross-pollination.

By Ria Hawthorn
Follow @thesaunaverse for info on the next edition

News, happenings and openings

Aufguss took Brooklyn by storm last week as the US Aufguss Nationals came to Bathhouse with Joli & Alex Irvine taking the Show Aufguss team title, and Tovi Wayne the Show solo crown and Travis Talmadge winning Modern Classic. Here’s Liz Plosser’s recap
Secret NYC reports that after 54 years, the huge 1932 Art Deco bathhouse at “The People’s Beach” is reopening this summer as The Rockaway Ocean Club
The Guardian’s “Is it true?” muses on the widespread question of sauna reducing sperm count
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The UK has launched this year’s 13 new official wild bathing sites at rivers, lakes and beaches, but the BBC finds that water at 12 of the 14 sites launched in 2025 is unsafe for swimming
Forbes recommend their best home saunas of 2026 for US readers