Things You'll Need:
- Mild Anti-Bacterial Soap
- Triple Antibiotic Ointment
- Paper Towels
- Plastic Wrap
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Step 1
You should always take your bandages off about 4 hours after your tattoo is done. (Never re-bandage your tattoo the same night). Throw away all of the soiled bandages, and wash your hands. Wash your hands with Mild Anti-Bacterial soap, and dry them with a paper towel. Paper towels work best instead of regular towels because you can just throw them out.
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Step 2
After you dry your hands, run the water a bit until it's hot, it should be as hot as you can stand. This will help the skin from really scabbing over during the next few days. Get some soap and water going in your hands, then, gently rub the tattoo not too hard, then rinse your hands. Wet a paper towel then ring it out over the tattoo letting the soap run off. You can gently rub the soap off as well. Pat your tattoo dry after you clean it, DO NOT rub it. If you decide to shower instead, do not shower too long (or swim, or be under-water), or with the water hitting your tattoo directly, this could send your ink down the drain, literaly. After your done cleaning your area, you want to apply your ointment. There are many ointments you can use like Tattoo Goo, A&D Ointment, etc. I like using Triple Antibiotic the most (since I am Diabetic), it seems to help the healing process. Apply your ointment in a thin coat, you don't want it on thick cause it can clog pores and runs, which could get messy. If you wait a few minutes after, you can pat any extra ointment off with a paper towel.
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Step 3
You want to clean and apply ointment on your tattoo about 2-3 times a day. Within the first 2-3 days of your tattoo it is best to sleep with a plastic wrap of some type (especially on your legs) if your body will be exposed. It does not help having lint, dirt, etc. in your scabs when cleaning it out the next morning. You always want to repeat the cleaning process the next morning to ensure, everything is cleaned out, and your leg is fresh. (Stay out of the Sun while healing).
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Step 4
Depending on how quick you heal, by the third or fourth day, you should be off the ointment. By this time it would be safe using a lotion on your tattoo. Make sure it is a natural lotion without any fragrence, and is just to keep skin from getting dry. Your skin will get dry from time-to-time, so just lotion it, if it gets dry don't drown it. Again, you don't want to clog the pores of the skin. Continue cleaning the way you've been cleaning, only replacing the ointment with the lotion. By now your tattoo will be itching, do not scratch it, do not pick it, do not look at it! Well you can look at it, but if you must, just pat it. Sometimes you need to go through a crazy healing process to get the best results, so don't ruin your tattoo. (Stay out of the Sun while healing).
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Step 5
With itching always comes peeling skin, ans that canbe a pain as well. Do not pay any mind to the hanging skin, let it fall off naturally. If you pick it, or scratch it, you'll have a great chance of taking your ink with it. After about a week or so, your tattoo should be pretty much healed. If you want it to keep looking fresh, apply lotion daily to your skin, and use a high content sun-block when your skin is exsposed. Tattoo's do fade over time so take care of your art, you don't want your money to fade away.
