Showering with a new tattoo

Why showers are fine but baths are not

It comes down to one thing: time under water.

A shower is brief contact with running water. The water hits the skin and leaves. Nothing has time to soften, and nothing sits in one place long enough to cause trouble.

A bath is a soak. Your open wound is submerged in still, warm water for twenty minutes. That softens the healing skin, can lift ink that has not settled, and puts your tattoo in a warm bath of whatever bacteria happen to be in there, including your own.

Same reasoning applies to pools, spas, hot tubs, rivers and the ocean. Different water, same problem, plus chlorine or bacterial load depending on where you are.

Water temperature

Lukewarm. Not hot.

Hot water on a healing tattoo does three things you do not want. It opens up the skin and increases weeping. It dries the skin out badly once you get out. And on an itchy tattoo around day five, it feels absolutely incredible, which is precisely why people keep doing it.

The relief is real and it lasts about ninety seconds. The dryness and irritation afterwards last considerably longer.

Water pressure

Do not let the showerhead blast directly onto the tattoo.

Fresh tattoos are tender and the skin is compromised. A high-pressure jet on raw skin is unpleasant and unnecessary. Angle your body so the water runs over the tattoo rather than hammering into it, or step slightly out of the direct stream.

How long

Keep it short. Five to ten minutes is plenty.

The longer you stand under water, the more you drift from "brief rinse" towards "prolonged soak", which is the thing we are trying to avoid. Long steamy showers also soften healing skin more than you want, particularly during the peeling phase where softened skin is easier to accidentally rub off.

Washing your hair with a fresh tattoo

This trips people up more than it should, especially with chest, shoulder and upper back tattoos.

Shampoo and conditioner run down your body. They are fragranced, they contain surfactants and silicones, and none of that belongs on an open wound.

What to do:

• Wash your hair first, then wash the tattoo last so anything that ran over it gets rinsed off properly.
• Or angle yourself so the runoff avoids the tattoo entirely, which works better for arm and leg placements than chest ones.
• Either way, give the tattoo a proper final rinse with clean water before you get out.

After the shower

This is the part people rush.

1. Pat dry with clean paper towel. Not the bath towel. Bath towels carry bacteria and their texture snags on peeling skin.
2. Do not rub. Pat.
3. Let it air for five to ten minutes. The skin should be properly dry before anything goes on it.
4. Thin layer of aftercare.

What about second skin?

If you have a breathable film bandage on (Saniderm, Tegaderm and similar), you can shower with it on. That is one of the main advantages of the stuff.

Keep it brief and lukewarm, same as always. If a corner starts lifting, water can get underneath and pool, which is not what you want. If a lot of it has come unstuck, it is generally better to remove it fully, wash the tattoo properly, and switch to the normal wash-and-moisturise routine than to leave a half-attached bandage on.

When it comes time to remove it, do it in the shower. Warm water softens the adhesive and makes it come away far more comfortably than peeling it off dry, which is a genuinely horrible experience.

When can you swim?

Three weeks, minimum, and only once the surface looks properly healed. That means peeling finished, no open or raw areas, no scabbing.

Pool water is chlorinated. Ocean and river water carries bacteria. Both involve submersion. Every part of that is a bad combination with a healing tattoo, and there is nothing to gain from rushing back in.

If you are on the fence about whether it is healed enough, it is not. Wait another week.

The short list

• Showers: fine, from day one
• Baths: no, for about three weeks
• Pools, spas, ocean: no, for about three weeks
• Water temperature: lukewarm
• Duration: short
• Direct spray on the tattoo: avoid
• Drying: pat with paper towel, never rub

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