why wash?

Polysporin is ok...just no neosporin...Washing a tattoo is a awy of getting rid of the detritus of dead and dying skin cells that were damaged during the tattoo process...removing these dead cells along with the blood and dried serum not to mention the bacteria and germs that are teeming in the rotting layer on the top of your tattoo....why anyone would want to leave this nasty layer on a healing open wound is beyond me....There once was a shop in town whose sole artist always told people to never wash their tattoos because it inhibited healing...God we saw so many BAD infections from the failure to keep his work clean...jesus!!...and you are lucky that YOU didn't develop a horrble infection.

oh , shitt! i guess i was told that by someone along the way , and it stuck what kind of soap in this case i guess im a changed woman thanks dude

Use only the pure soaps...Ivory bar soap...neutragena etc etc

how is polysporin diferent than neosporin ? other than neosporin having one other antibiotic and less of the others polysporin: Active Ingredients: Bacitracin 500 units Polymyxin B 10,000 Units neosporin: Active Ingredients: Bacitracin 400 units Neomycin 3.5 mg Polymyxin B 5,000 units

In the rare event that you may get your peice contaminated and develope a staff infection....The neosporin is ok. What the hell.....The staff infection has already destroyed the tattoo. P.S. NOT washing that tattoo is a great way of getting said infection.

shitty what are the symptoms of a staff innfection? ill know if i have one right?

Ask Bee about staff infections.........................she'll tell you. I think that she knew she had SOMETHING, but not exactly what.............until she went to the doctor, that is. TCE

My first few tattoos are 37yrs. old. The artist said,"take off the bandage tomorrow and leave it alone. Don't get it wet or dirty! Don't pick the scab, don't even touch it. In 2 weeks you will have a nice tattoo. I healed five tattoos like that and never had a problem.Fortunately! My current tattoo artist called it "dry healing" and said some people still choose to heal that way.

Yep! When I was first tattooing 35 years ago I was taught to put on a Very thick bandage and tell the client to leave it on until it stunk!!...I am not kidding here...thats the way it was done!...I think mainly so they could get out of town before they saw the tattoo!!! But as in anything as years go by trial and error facilitates knowlege and change...most take advantage of experience and new medical technology and use it to their advantage...there are some however who just prefer to stick with what they learned decades ago....For instance 35 years ago we didn't know what an autoclave was...we only changed needles when they go too dull to puncture skin and changing between customers?...Hell no!..we just dunked the tube and needle down in a bucket of water with listerine in it and went to the next tattoo!!...And we RARELY saw an infection!!!..A liner and a shader machine? NOPE!!...A nine loose liner for everything!! And ya wondered why gramps tattoo is now a big blob!!! Anyway that was then and man have we come a long way baby!!

taz you mentioned "ivory soap bar" you think a bar of soap is a good idea. isnt that biohazard? i think anything that comes out of a tube is far more sanitary. no one has ever touched it. and i actually wash the tube in the water so when i grab it its clean. and when i put it back its clean. bar soap must carry bacteria?

Not a biohazard at all if you have any common sense whatsoever

This is kinda off topic, but whatever. My roommate goes to a different tattoo artist than I do (I personally think his artist's tattoos' turn out crappy and blotchy, but I am biased) Anyway, his tattoo artist also tells him to not to lotion his tattoo. I've honestly never heard this before and he is the only artist i've heard of doing this, Is there a reason to this? We had a discussion about it yesterday and he (my roommate) won't listen and swear by it. I am just confused and need an answer. Thanks!

Every artist has their own methods of aftercare...however not keeping a fresh tattoo moist does prolong healing and in my opinion based on over 3 decades of tattooing can ( and usually does) have a negative effect on the final appearance of the tattoo!

ouch taz

Oh no! Not throwin a dig at you Vish...and you have a point but if people aren't smart enough to use a bit of common sense they deserve an infection!

To answer Karma's question.... The difference is that ingredient Neomycin has a knack for causing a lot of allegic reactions when it comes to tattoos. What it is, I don't know yet. I haven't gotten that far. But just FYI.

Nope...not an allergic reaction ...too high a concentrate of PURE neomycin sulfate which makes it very harsh

....teachers pet!