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Sweat Map — Korea's sauna & jjimjilbang guide· Basics

Sauna & jjimjilbang2026.10.10

Your first Korean sauna: how a jjimjilbang works

Step by step: etiquette, tattoos, scrubs, overnight stays and women-only rooms.

Your first Korean sauna: how a jjimjilbang worksYour first Korean sauna: how a jjimjilbang works — photo 2Your first Korean sauna: how a jjimjilbang works — photo 3Your first Korean sauna: how a jjimjilbang works — photo 4

Mood photos: a jjimjilbang in Wonju and stock images, not places in this series. photo 1: Choikwangmo9 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons · photo 2: Choikwangmo9 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons · photo 3: gliuoo · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A mogyoktang is a bathhouse split by gender. A jjimjilbang adds a shared floor of heated rooms and places to rest, where everyone wears the same cotton clothes.

Issue 1 covers Seoul, Issue 2 Busan. We did not visit; sources are listed below, checked October 10, 2026.

  1. 01Shoes off, pay, get a keyLock your shoes in a shoe locker. At the counter you pay and get a locker key, towels and jjimjil clothes (T-shirt and shorts). Wear the key on your wrist or ankle; at many places snacks and massage chairs go on it, and you settle up when you leave (VisitKorea).
  2. 02Wash first, then the tubsThe bath is split by gender and you go in nude; that is normal. Wash your body and hair before any tub. No underwear in the tub, no scrubbing in the tub, no laundry (City of Incheon). Expect hot, warm and cold tubs next to dry and steam saunas. Drink water as you go.
  3. 03Upstairs: start with the cooler roomsIn the jjimjil clothes, the shared floor has clay, salt, charcoal and ice rooms, a snack bar and heated floors to lie on. VisitKorea advises starting at 30–40°C and staying about 20 minutes at most above 60°C. Keep valuables in your locker.
  4. 04Sikhye and baked eggsThe classic order: a towel folded into “sheep’s horns”, a cup of sikhye (a sweet rice drink, usually cold) and baked eggs you peel yourself (VisitKorea, Korea Herald). Pay with your key or at the bar.
  5. 05Tattoos: a house rule, not a lawEach place decides. Reported cases: a Gangnam spa turning guests away, hotel saunas asking for a cover or a patch over tattoos longer than 15 cm, golf-club saunas refusing entry (Korea Herald 2022, JoongAng Daily 2023). With visible tattoos, ask at the counter before you pay.
  6. 06Body scrub (seshin): how to orderTell the scrub attendant how many people and which areas (full body or back only; prices differ), then soak until your locker number is called. Pay up front, often in cash. A walk-in scrub is about ₩20,000–40,000, with waits of hours at busy places (Korea.net, JoongAng Daily 2025). Prefer a private room? See our private scrub guide.
  7. 07Towels and toiletries: not always freeTowels and jjimjil clothes usually come with admission (Korea Times). Soap and shampoo vary, so bring a small kit. Some places charge for towels; in August 2026 Korea’s human rights commission ruled that charging only women for them was discrimination.
  8. 08Staying overnight: 24-hour places onlyYou sleep on mats or in a sleeping room on the shared floor; no beds, no private rooms. Expect a night rate or a time limit; check the price board. Under-19s are restricted late at night without a guardian, and some places refused teens even with consent forms (Korea Herald, 2019). Check opening hours first.
  9. 09Women-only rooms and childrenAfter harassment reports, many jjimjilbang keep a separate women’s sleeping room (Korea Herald, 2022); Issue 1 covers a women-only spa. Since June 22, 2022, children 4 and over may not enter the opposite sex’s bath or locker room (YTN). Bathhouses fell from 10,098 (2001) to 5,668 (2025), so check a place is still open.

Sources

Written by millio from the reporting linked below. Follow the links for the originals.

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