When caring for a new tattoo, avoid washing the area with soaps or lotions that contain lots of ingredients, especially fragrant solutions. Fragrance can irritate your skin. The least amount of chemicals you put on your tattoo, the better it is. Once the tattoo has healed, however, you can pretty much put anything on it!
Tattoo-care instructions vary from artist to artist. However, the bottom line is that if your tattoo is done correctly, very minimal aftercare is needed. Most aftercare instructions are designed to speed up the healing process.
Remove your bandage, after an hour or so. Once the bandage is removed remenber all wounds need to breathe if they are to heal properly.
Gently hand-wash your tattoo with warm water and antibacterial soap.
Use a mild antibacterial soap (Dettol/Savlon). Remember to remove all traces of blood as this will cause scabbing.
Do not rub and dry your tattoo, always gently pat the tattoo dry with a clean soft cloth or a tissue or just let it air dry.
Apply a thin coat of ointment advised by your Artist for the first five days. You can apply the ointment two to three times a day. However, never oversaturate the tattoo.
There is no need to re-bandage the tattoo.
You can apply the ointment whenever the tattoo is feeling stiff or dry but Do Not oversaturate the tattoo. Your body will absorb what it needs where it needs. Apply an ointment twice/thrice a day for 15-20 days. Never use vaseline on your Tattoo.
Avoid submerging your tattoo in any type of water for the first two weeks.
DO NOT PICK at your new Tattoo. Ideally, the skin will form an “onion-peel”. Allow this to slough-off naturally while bathing, and some will dislodge when you gently rub lotion into the Tattoo.
Keep your Tattoo clean, but DO NOT submerge it in water, NO swimming, NO hot tubs and saunas for atleast a Month.
DO NOT SCRATCH your new Tattoo, Like a bad sunburn, during the healing process you may find that your Tattoo “itches”, this tends to be more intense with heavy color-work, or working on a large area at one sitting and with some colors that seem to be more prone to this than others. It is not difficult to understand that scratching and picking at your Tattoo is bad. RESIST — picking at the scab that forms over your Tattoo will result in loss of color. Even if your Tattoo does not “scab” (and hopefully it won’t or any scabbing will be minimal — some parts of the body are just going to scab no matter what you do resist the urge to “peel away”.
Sunlight and Tanning Without question, WORST thing for any Tattoo.Sunlight for work or pleasure, over time your Tattoo will fade (over a lifetime, not a week).To keep them looking their best, try and keep out of direct and prolonged exposure to sunlight.Think of your Tattoo as an investment. Only expose your new Tattoo to long periods of sun after it is fully healed and then only with a strong sunscreen applied.
