CHAPTER 5 Closure
Once the process of applying the tattoo is complete, clean the tattooed area well with alcohol. Then use a tongue depressor to apply a heavy coat of A+D or triple-antibiotic ointment all over that botch. Cover well with the appropriate sized sterile padding of your liking, tape it down (use only hypo-allergenic tape), and bandage it with Dri-Loc pads or a Kerlix dressing.
Be sure to give your clients a printout with instructions on aftercare and general maintenance. Instruct them to remove the bandage in one hour and wash the area with antibacterial soap. (Remind them to wash their hands for two full minutes, giving each finger special attention before touching a fresh piece.) Advise them to continue to wash the tattoo a few times a day and apply a thin coat of A&D ointment afterward, each time they shower for the next four days. (Artists should constantly supply such coatings to sell or give away.) Customers should always wash the tattoo before applying ointment and not forget to cover it again. Try not to substitute for more than 3 hours a clip unless you’ll be exposed to contaminants throughout your day. After the bloodiness subsides, they should put fresh sheets on their bed. Stress the importance of keeping the tattoo moist with unscented skin lotion, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, or vitamin E oil- for the next two weeks.
Also, tell them to stay out of sunlight for two weeks and avoid submerging the tattoo in water for the next two weeks. Prolonged exposure to water will seriously fuck up a tattoo. Although fresh air is excellent, in-the-sun activities will expose the skin to ultraviolet rays and tattoos don’t like UV. Finely shaded areas, in particular, last longest when they’re kept out of direct sunlight.
Fresh air accelerates skin healing—it just has to be kept moist while it breathes. A tattoo must stay moist for at least a week or two. Don’t rebandage at all, except in situations during the early stages where a temporary shield is needed against dirt, viruses, and harmful rays—that is, only when the client expects to come in direct contact with hazardous matter or sunlight. If there’s a chance of contact with dirt or other contaminants, I will go with standard plastic wrap—you know, the kind we wrap muffins and sandwiches in; any brand will do. Plastic wrap is a speed healer, but it predisposes clients to infections—staph and shit like that—if they sweat too much or keep it on the tattoo too long. A person who gets work done must adequately care for it—especially during the first week.
On the artist’s end, apart from issuing aftercare instructions, it’s necessary to make a final inspection of the piece. Ensure that the lines are cleanly drawn, straight, and well-defined. The width of the tattoo should be even. Make sure the proportions are as accurate as possible. Also, check the color, the format, the texture, the layout, and things of that nature.
Prioritize cleanliness during breakdown. Discard all hazardous and disposable materials, such as drop cloths. Rewash your hands when finished. Ensure every reusable item is autoclaved or put in the ultrasonic cleaner. Keep your tube, tip, and grip setups in sealed, dated bags until you use them again. Different brands have different expiration dates based on their quality.
The following material is presented as a sample handout to customers.
AFTERCARE INSTRUCTIONS
After one hour, take two minutes to wash your hands and clean each finger before handling materials. By now, the bleeding should have stopped. Remove the bandage and wash the tattoo site well with antibacterial soapy water. Apply a thin coat of A+D Ointment. Rebandage the tattoo under the above guidelines.
For the next four daysRepeat the steps above every two hours while you are awake and after showering.After the third day, don’t cover the tattoo again, and put clean sheets on your bed. Use either unscented skin lotion, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, or vitamin E oil to keep the tattoo moist for ten days to two weeks. Always wash your hands before touching your fresh piece. Fresh air is good for accelerating healing, but playing sports and performing other activities in the sun exposes the skin to ultraviolet rays and may damage your work. Prolonged exposure to water will seriously damage a tattoo. Keep your new tattoo out of direct sunlight, and do not submerge it in water for two weeks. Do not rebandage it. Plastic wrap can be used as a temporary shield against possible contaminants; however, remove it as soon as possible to prevent staph infection.
Once your customer has left, you may begin to break down. The overarching idea is to ensure no cross-contamination. It might be enough to tell you to collect and dispose of all the relevant materials and equipment without contacting anything directly; however, that might be. Here’s one method, broken down step by step.
1. Dismantle the machine setup and dispose of needles in your red biohazard container (sold in various sizes via the Internet).
2. Roll lap pad plastic wrap and paper towels together. 3. Take the plastic bags off the spray and squirt bottles that hold your alcohol and green soap.
4. Stick all the stuff from step 2, and put them in step 3. (Everything is now inside the plastic bag.) Some of you may wonder how all the materials in step 2 will fit in the size bag that covers an eight-ounce squirt bottle but miraculously, it does.
5. Pull the left glove over step 4.
6. Pull the right glove over step 5. Throw away the glove-covered trash.
7. Put on fresh gloves. Pick up machines with clean hands, lightly pad them with a hospital-grade disinfectant, and then put them in its case or shelf. After that, place the used tubes temporarily in the sink. Under the sink is the best place for a waste can, by the way.
8. Spray everything with hospital-grade disinfectant and proceed to clean.
9. Clean off disinfectant bottles.
Throw your needle in a biohazard container. All garbage can now get thrown away and taken out in the trash. Tubes can now be brought to the ultrasonic cleaner and onto the autoclave. Such machines range in function, so I’ll leave those instructions to their manuals.