Everything about hygiene in tattooing
Hygiene is the be-all and end-all in any tattoo studio. It is not only about the personal well-being of the customer, but first and foremost about minimising the risk of disease transmission.
Even as a tattoo artist, you are not doing yourself any favours with an unclean workplace. The first impression counts and is for many people the decisive factor in choosing a tattoo studio.
The requirements for tattoo artists have become stricter and stricter over the last few years. Studios are subject to monitoring by the health authorities and must comply with the ever-increasing regulations and laws.
Manufacturers have recognised this problem and offer high-quality products for studio hygiene.
Gloves
With these gloves, you protect yourself and your clients from possible infections. The gloves differ both in their composition and in their design.
The tried and tested classic is black latex gloves. They are extremely stretchy, flexible and popular in a wide range of industries (medical, chemical, food). However, latex allergy sufferers should avoid these gloves and opt for other materials, such as nitrile.
Nitrile is comparable to latex in terms of quality, but is not quite on the same level in terms of stretchability and robustness.
For cleaning your tattoo studio, we can recommend vinyl gloves. Here, stretchability and quality play a subordinate role and are therefore also more cost-effective.
Cleaning
In addition to cleaning the work surfaces, you must also pay attention to the correct cleaning of the skin. Your client's skin has to endure a lot of strain during the tattoo session. It is therefore all the more important to care for it with a gentle cleanser after the session. Thanks to particularly skin-friendly ingredients in today's tattoo hygiene, such as menthol, thymol or witch hazel, blood, Vaseline and excess ink are gently removed from the skin and severe swelling is prevented.
Sterile work is the be-all and end-all in the studio. Therefore, your machine must be protected from dirt and disinfection. There are specially made disposable protective covers for machines, handles and clip cords that can be put over them. This prevents contamination with blood or paint and saves you time-consuming scrubbing. Please also pay attention to the correct waste separation in the studio! Your tattoo accessories, especially your tattoo needles, must be disposed of in a container with a lockable lid.
Medical studio supplies
From Vaseline, wooden spatulas and razors to various workplace covers, aprons or containers, you will find everything you need for daily hygienic contact with customers.
You rarely find aprons in tattoo studios, but they offer excellent protection against paint splashes! This way your favourite shirt will stay free of paint splashes for a long time.
After Corona, we've probably all had enough of mouth guards. But you should still wear it when tattooing! Authorities like to see you tattooing with a mouthguard and your health will thank you for it. The bacteria filtering capacity can be up to 99% and reliably protects you and your customers from germs.
You are now safe, but your equipment is not yet. You should use covers for your studio equipment. You will save yourself tedious cleaning work in the tattoo studio, which will save you an amazing amount of time. All products for covering your equipment are designed for one-time use.
Disinfection and sterilisation
More than half of all infectious diseases are transmitted through hand contact. Hygiene measures such as regular hand washing and proper disinfection can prevent this. You should also thoroughly disinfect your surfaces and utensils after each customer.
It is best to buy disinfectants in small sizes, as the health authorities will check whether you are complying with the expiry dates when carrying out hygiene inspections. With large packaging sizes, it is quite possible that you will exceed the best-before date,
According to the guidelines of the health department, it is also necessary to use sterilised water when tattooing, for example to clean the tattoo needle. Sterilised water prevents germs from the tap water from getting into the skin. Unlike tap water, sterilised water is purer and more conventional and largely free of heavy metals, microorganisms, salts and organic substances.
Ultrasound scanner and accessories
High frequencies cause water vibrations that act like brushes. The ultrasound itself creates microscopically small bubbles that adhere to hard surfaces and collapse immediately after being created. This loosens the dirt from the surface without damaging the metal handles or tips of your tattoo accessories. With the appropriate cleaning concentrate, specially adapted to ultrasonic devices, the imperative standard of hygiene is maintained.
Bandage material
To keep dirt and germs away from the stressed and vulnerable skin, you should use a foil bandage or a transparent wound care.
The blood stopper from THE INKED ARMY is also well suited for initial treatment. Due to its liquid consistency, it closes the freshly tattooed area like a conventional wound dressing, but also provides an additional supply of oxygen. This accelerates and helps the regeneration of the skin.
With the Lockdown Tattoo Film, your customer does not have to clean the first few days after the session. The film provides ideal protection against environmental influences and helps the wound to regenerate optimally.