05/05/2026
Hot take 🔥
Is cedar mandatory for a sauna?
Short answer: No.
Long answer:
Cedar is popular for a reason — it smells great, resists rot, and handles moisture well. But it’s not the gold standard everywhere.
In traditional Finnish saunas, you’ll often see:
• Spruce
• Pine
• Aspen
Why?
Because a good sauna is about design, heat, and airflow — not just the wood species.
In fact:
* Some people don’t like cedar’s strong smell
* It’s more expensive
* Other woods perform just as well when built correctly
What actually matters:
✔ Proper ventilation
✔ Heater sizing & placement
✔ Bench design (get up into the löyly)
✔ Solid construction
Cedar is great.
But it’s a preference — not a requirement.
Build it right, and almost any quality softwood can give you a killer sauna.