How to wash a new tattoo

Why this matters more than the cream

People obsess over which aftercare product to buy and give almost no thought to how they wash. That is backwards. The product you put on is a supporting act. Keeping the wound clean is the main event.

A fresh tattoo is an open wound with a large surface area, sitting on skin that touches clothing, bedding, gym equipment, door handles and your own unwashed hands. Infection does not usually arrive from the studio. It arrives afterwards, from you.

When to start washing

As soon as the initial wrap comes off.

If your artist used cling film, that comes off after a few hours, not overnight. Wash it then.

If you have second skin, leave it on for as long as your artist told you to, which is usually somewhere between one and five days. Do not wash over the top of it and do not take it off early because it looks gross. It is meant to look gross. There will be a pool of plasma and ink under there and that is exactly what it is designed to hold.

How often

Twice a day for the first two weeks. Morning and night is fine.

More than that is not better. Over-washing dries the skin out and strips it of the oils it needs to heal comfortably. Wash it if it gets genuinely dirty, obviously, but you are not trying to sterilise your arm every four hours.

What soap to use

A plain, fragrance-free gentle cleanser. That is it. That is the whole specification.

Fragrance is the single most common trigger for skin reactions in aftercare, and a healing tattoo is exactly the wrong place to find out you are sensitive to it. Read the ingredient list rather than the front of the bottle, because plenty of products labelled "unscented" still contain masking fragrance.

What to avoid:

• Fragranced or scented soaps. Includes most nice-smelling body washes.
• Antibacterial soaps. Harsher than you need, and they strip the skin.
• Exfoliating or scrubbing washes. Obviously.
• Bar soap that lives in a shared shower. It collects bacteria. Use a pump.

The technique

The actual washing, in order:

1. Wash your hands first. Properly. Your hands are about to be the only thing touching an open wound.
2. Lather the soap in your hands first, not directly onto the tattoo.
3. Apply with your fingertips in gentle circular motions. No washcloth, no loofah, no sponge, nothing with texture. Your hands are the tool.
4. Use lukewarm water. Hot water opens up the skin and increases weeping. It also feels amazing on an itchy healing tattoo, which is exactly why people do it. Don't.
5. Rinse until there is no soap left. Residue sitting on healing skin is an irritant.
6. Pat dry with clean paper towel. Not your bath towel.
7. Let it air for five to ten minutes before you put anything on it.
8. Thin layer of aftercare. Thin. Worked in until absorbed, not sitting on top in a glossy film.

The bath towel thing

This is the step people ignore and it is worth its own heading.

Your bath towel is damp, it has been used, it lives in a warm bathroom, and it is a very comfortable place for bacteria. It also has a texture that can catch on peeling skin and lift it before it is ready.

Use clean paper towel for the first two weeks. It is a small annoyance and it removes an entire category of problem.

How much product to use

Less than you think. A pea-sized amount for a palm-sized tattoo is about right.

The skin should look hydrated, not shiny. If it looks greasy or feels tacky, you have used too much. Thick layers trap heat and moisture against the skin, which is the environment bacteria are hoping for.

This is why heavy petroleum ointments are a mixed choice for daily aftercare: not because petroleum is evil, but because it is very easy to apply too much of something that heavy. If you use one, use a genuinely thin layer.

The mistakes that actually cost people ink

• Washing with dirty hands. The single most avoidable one.
• Hot water. Feels good, increases weeping, dries the skin out afterwards.
• Scrubbing. You are cleaning a wound, not a frying pan.
• Bath towels. Bacteria and snagging.
• Too much product. Suffocates the skin.
• Skipping washes because it hurts. It will hurt slightly. Wash it anyway.
• Re-wrapping in cling film after the first wrap. Do not do this. It traps everything.

When to stop this routine

Once the peeling has finished and the surface has closed, usually somewhere around two to three weeks, you can go back to washing normally.

Keep moisturising though. That part does not stop. Hydrated skin holds ink better than dry skin, and moisturising tattooed areas is a long-term habit rather than a healing-phase chore.

Tattoo Standard is published by Penguin Tattoo Co, an Australian tattoo aftercare brand. This guide is general information, not medical advice. Always follow the specific instructions your artist gives you, and if something looks wrong, speak to them or a GP.