It started with a question we did not want to ask.

We are Max Ek and Jakob Svenmo. We are 33, we live in Sweden, and we use the sauna every day. Have done for years. The sauna is not a habit for us — it is part of the day, like training and sleep.

We both live with partners. Neither of us has children yet.

At some point we started talking about the thing you do not talk about. We sauna more than almost anyone we know. We also knew heat and sperm are not friends — that is not a guess, it is in the research. Is the daily sauna a cause? There is no way to know. We are two people, not a study. But the question would not go away, and “don't know” felt like a poor answer when there was something simple to do about it.

So we looked. In Sweden there was nothing. We found American sites selling exactly what we wanted — for around 70 EUR plus shipping and customs for a pair of briefs. We bought them anyway. The fit was mediocre. They were built for someone else.

So we made our own version. Then we made the rest of the gear too — the hat, the slippers, the mitt, the towel — because everything we used daily turned out to be a cheap compromise.

Blue Balls Co. is the result. Nordic sauna gear, built by two guys who actually use it every day, at a price that is not a joke.

The name is a joke. The products are not.

— Max & Jakob