Building the sauna experience – from the heater to the ritual
KIUASSUOLA™ and Finnish specialist retail network Takkahuone are building a partnership that connects technical sauna expertise with the rituals, materials and smaller details that shape how a sauna ultimately feels.
A good sauna begins with the right foundations.
The heater needs to suit the space. Ventilation must work properly. Materials need to withstand heat and humidity. The proportions of the room, the placement of the heater and the character of the löyly all influence the final experience.
For Takkahuone customers, these are familiar questions.
Takkahuone is a nationwide Finnish network of specialist retailers focused on fireplaces, chimneys, sauna heaters and complete sauna solutions. Its strength comes from combining national reach with local expertise: individual stores know their customers, their region and the practical realities behind each project.
The network also represents Tulikivi sauna heaters and fireplaces, giving its retailers strong expertise in heat, stone materials and long-lasting technical solutions.
For KIUASSUOLA™, this creates a particularly natural partnership.
Because a sauna experience does not end when the heater has been chosen.
In many ways, that is where it begins.
Specialist knowledge matters
Sauna heaters and fireplaces are long-term investments. They are not products most consumers purchase frequently, and technical development continues even when the customer is not actively following the category.
This makes specialist retail especially valuable.
“Locally operating specialist stores are the cornerstone of the entire network. Products are developing rapidly, and for an ordinary consumer it is practically impossible to keep up with everything. In normal household use, fireplaces have a long life cycle, so these are not things people think about every day – but we professionals do.”
“We help customers from the very beginning to choose the solutions that best serve their individual needs. These decisions are always about the whole, not just one individual product.”
Arto Kivistö, Takkahuone
That same way of thinking also applies to sauna.
A heater may be the technical heart of the room, but the final experience is created by more than one product.
Materials, ventilation, heat, löyly, atmosphere and personal habits all become part of the whole.
“A good sauna is built from quality materials, safe and durable products, beautiful details and sufficient ventilation. And of course, the carefully selected heater should not be forgotten.”
Arto Kivistö, Takkahuone
From building the sauna to experiencing it
This is where the worlds of Takkahuone and KIUASSUOLA™ meet.
Takkahuone helps customers make the larger decisions that form the foundation of a good sauna.
KIUASSUOLA™ focuses on what happens afterwards.
When the sauna is warm.
When the door closes.
When the technical choices become a personal experience.
The KIUASSUOLA™ collection is built around Finnish sauna rituals, natural materials and products designed to become part of a person’s own way of using the sauna.
The aim is not to fill the sauna with unnecessary objects.
It is to create products that feel as though they belong there.
A natural connection through Finnish soapstone
The connection between the two companies is particularly visible in ILMARI KUURA™, the signature product of the KIUASSUOLA™ Finnish Sauna Salt Ritual.
ILMARI KUURA™ is made in Finland from Finnish soapstone in cooperation with Tulikivi.
Because Takkahuone stores already represent Tulikivi heaters and fireplaces, their teams are familiar with the material, its relationship with heat and its role in Finnish homes and saunas.
This creates a natural bridge between the technical world of sauna construction and the more experiential side of sauna culture.
ILMARI KUURA™ is placed on the sauna heater before heating. The Finnish soapstone warms gradually with the sauna, while KIUASSUOLA™ Sauna Ritual Salt becomes part of the changing heat and humidity of the room.
The product does not replace the traditional sauna experience.
It becomes part of it.
The Finnish Sauna Salt Ritual creates a different kind of customer relationship
A sauna heater may be purchased once in many years.
A ritual can bring the customer back.
ILMARI KUURA™ is designed as a lasting part of the sauna, while KIUASSUOLA™ Sauna Ritual Salt is replenished as it is used.
This creates a different relationship between the customer and the specialist retailer.
The first visit may begin with a major sauna or fireplace project. Later visits can be about the experience itself: replenishing a familiar ritual, choosing a gift or discovering something new for the sauna.
For the retailer, this can create continuity between major purchases.
For the customer, it creates something even more important: a familiar ritual that becomes part of using the sauna.
In a specialist retail environment, that ritual can also be introduced properly.
Not simply as sauna salt, but as a complete Finnish Sauna Salt Ritual, designed to be used with the KIUASSUOLA™ soapstone base.
A partnership that started with one local conversation
The cooperation began with a very concrete encounter.
KIUASSUOLA™ and Jyväskylän Takkakeskus, one of the Takkahuone network’s local specialist stores, met at the Spring Fair in Helsinki.
A conversation about Finnish sauna, materials and the sauna experience led to the idea that KIUASSUOLA™ products could also have a natural place in specialist stores traditionally focused on fireplaces and sauna heaters.
Jyväskylän Takkakeskus became the first store to test the concept.
From there, the conversation gradually expanded across the wider Takkahuone network.
One local meeting opened the door to a partnership that is now growing store by store across Finland.
From major investments to everyday sauna rituals
The first KIUASSUOLA™ assortment in Takkahuone stores has been intentionally focused.
At its core are ILMARI KUURA™ and KIUASSUOLA™ Sauna Ritual Salts.
Alongside them, selected stores also offer KiuasICE™, providing another way to add atmosphere and a small ritual to an existing sauna experience.
The wider KIUASSUOLA™ collection can be introduced gradually as individual stores learn what resonates best with their local customers.
This approach fits naturally with the Takkahuone model.
A national network does not need to mean identical stores or a one-size-fits-all assortment.
Local retailers know their customers best.
That local knowledge helps determine which products, stories and rituals feel most relevant in each market.
“Smaller sauna and gift products can bring continuity to customer relationships alongside heater and fireplace sales, while also broadening the assortment. When the products are built around the same values as the rest of our business, I see them as a natural addition to an already strong range of high-quality and durable products.”
Arto Kivistö, Takkahuone
Growing through specialist partners
For KIUASSUOLA™, the partnership is also part of a wider international philosophy.
As the brand expands beyond Finland, specialist partners play an important role as local interpreters of Finnish sauna culture.
They understand their own customers, their own market and the way sauna fits into local life.
That matters.
Finnish sauna culture does not need to be copied identically everywhere.
But its core ideas – heat, natural materials, time, atmosphere and ritual – can find a natural place in many different cultures when they are introduced with care.
“We are excited about the cooperation that has started with the Takkahuone network. Bringing KIUASSUOLA™ products into the stores is only the first step, and we are looking forward to seeing what else we can build together with both the network and its local retailers.
Specialist stores also give us valuable insight into how our products work in a retail environment where customers already come for expert advice on sauna, heat and materials. That helps us develop both the partnership and the collection further.”
Mira Kettunen, Founder, KIUASSUOLA™
Available through Takkahuone specialist stores across Finland
During autumn 2026, KIUASSUOLA™ products have become available through selected Takkahuone stores in Espoo, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Pori, Seinäjoki, Tampere, Tornio and Turku.
The network continues to develop as individual stores make their own assortment decisions.
A great sauna is ultimately built from a combination of things.
The right technical solutions.
Heat.
Löyly.
Materials.
And the smaller, personal details that make the experience feel like your own.
That space between technical expertise and personal ritual is exactly where the KIUASSUOLA™ and Takkahuone partnership becomes most interesting.
