All I see are scratchers these days…..and what really makes someone a “Scratcher” isn’t just there limited knowledge on tattooing itself but also on HEALTH and SAFETY measures while tattooing. Scratchers are known for being the leading cause of disease and infection in tattooing.

Listen if you’re going to be tattooing out of your house,garage,ect you need to really study health and safety measures for tattooing.First do not ever use TOWELS or your own bed that you sleep in,because no matter if you wash them in a machine it will not kill off harmful pathogens and disease.Plastic Wrap and Industrial Medical Tape are your best friends use them on everything your filthy gloves should not come in contact with anything but your machine and the clients tattoo.

Disinfect EVERYTHING when finished before you start on a new client.  I recommend investing in plastic disposable tubes since a lot of you don’t have the proper tools like an autoclave to completely sterilize metal tubes,which can be catastrophic and spread horrible blood based pathogens and disease.Make sure you have a legitimate needle box marked that it contains harmful waste for used needles and also a trash bin also marked that it contains harmful waste for the paper towels,plastic wrap ect that were used on the tattoo.You can dispose of this by calling local bio hazard waste pick up.

Also id recommend investing in a legit massage table and an arm rest so you can tattoo your clients safely and correctly because using your bed or a couch…..is just disgusting and really unsanitary.Also make sure to wrap the following areas of the table and or arm rest in fresh plastic wrap prior to every tattoo and to disinfect with germicide and alcohol prior to the next tattoo.

Ink should NEVER be re used,unless you want to give all of your clients HIV,Hepatitis,and more diseases.Plastic tubes should never be re used and should be disposed of properly after usage,that means DON’T throw it away in a trash can you use daily or weekly,again have a special bin away from any food or anything you need to dispose of all of your tattoo based trash.

Animals shouldn’t be present where you are tattooing,its unsanitary especially if they tend to shed a lot,short haired dogs or cats may be of an exception but id really look into it before doing so.

Also when throwing away all of the supplies used in the tattoo be aware that you must change your gloves after tattooing a client,and wear gloves while handling all of the waste,your hands must never come in contact with any of it,diseases like hepatitis C can live on a surface outside of the body for up to 4 days,Hep A for can live for months,and Hep B at least 7 days.So always wear gloves while handling waste.

And be sure to study aftercare procedures for the sake of your client and there new tattoo.Of course id recommend that the best way to learn all of this is to work in a shop,thats what I did and am currently doing,and it has taught me so much! Look into this and you’ll be on your way to becoming a healthy and safe tattooer. Thank you