4 Ways You May Be Ruining Your New Tattoo

27/11/2015 

So, you’ve finally got around to getting that new ink you’ve been planning for a while and it looks pretty sweet! Just the healing process to go through and then you’ll be able to show your new tat off to the world.

As you’ve put a lot of time, money and effort into this body art, we’re willing to bet that you want to make sure that your tattoo looks awesome once it’s healed, right? Here are 4 tips from our tattoo experts which you should avoid doing to make sure that you don’t ruin your new artwork!

Touching

Any good tattoo artist will have probably already told you this, and it’s pretty obvious why you shouldn’t be rubbing your grubby hands all over your tattoo.

close up of the back of a woman's shoulder with her opposite hand placed on the top of it

The skin will be raw and trying to heal as tattoos essentially are an open wound. Try to keep your hands away from the area unless you are cleaning it, and even then you need to make sure that you have washed your hands thoroughly before you touch it- we don’t want any nasty bacteria in your new tattoo.

Sleeping On It

It might sound a bit gross, but if you sleep on top of your tattoo, there’s a good chance that you will find yourself stuck to the sheets during the healing process. This can be incredibly painful to remove and you are risking defacing your tattoo if you rip the sheet off.

 a young Asian woman sleeping on her right side in bed

Try to sleep on a different side where it won’t be possible for your tattoo to stick to your sheets, or sleep on a towel which can easily be taken with you to the shower where you can gently wet it with lukewarm water to help remove it from your skin safely.

Submerging It In Water

It’s incredibly important not to stay in any form of standing water during the healing process. Standing water equals prolonged contact with bacteria and that is a big no-no when it comes to healing a tattoo.

 a woman in a bubble bath with cucumbers placed over her eyes

Swap your long, soaky baths out for a shower and keep your tattoo clean like you normally would- just no baths, swimming pools or swimming in the sea… we want to keep that new art looking fantastic!

Over or Under Caring For Your Tattoo

Your artist will have probably given his or her preferred method of cleaning and caring for your tattoo so it is important to stick to the advice that they give you.

Try to find the perfect balance between over caring for your tattoo and under caring as both can seriously damage the look of your tattoo. If you are unsure, go back to the tattoo studio and ask for advice, they will be able to look at your tattoo and tell you what you need to do… or stop doing!

a young woman with brown hair and tattoo sleeves on her arms

Keeping your tattoo looking great while encouraging it to heal isn’t something that should be an issue if you are following your professional’s advice. Because you have spent so much time and money on your new tattoo, you will want to be doing the best you can to care for it and making it look as fantastic as you expected it to.

For all you tattoo artists out there, Body Shock only supply the best tattoo supplies to you. Although much of the pressure is on you to create a client’s dream artwork, it’s important to let them know you can’t work miracles and that they will need to play their part too.

For more information on our tattoo supplies, contact our team today by calling 01922 744088 and we will be happy to advice you on your enquiry. Keep up to date on all the latest tattoo and piercing news over on our Facebook and Twitter pages!