Cleaning

Hi Guys, im being mentored by a family friend and have ordered my tattoo kit.

however as for most of you sterilisation is very important to myself.

so i was just wondering i know all the basics only using needles once blah blah, but need advice on the cleaning on the cleaning of my equipment.

which items need sterilizing? like grips, tips etc. i'll be bagging my machine to minimise contact with that, but how often do you all clean your machines? do you take them all apart?

and what do you recommend as the best manual sterilisation as i cant afford an autoclave yet

thanks in advance.

and no nasty comments i really want to get to grips with it and ensure every box is ticked a million times over to ensure i get a good reputation

okay it's good you're thinking about health and safety before just picking your machine out and tattoo'ing with it like some idiots do i was reading and reading months before i even picked mine up

so my advice for you would be to buy disposables tubes to start with,

the purpose of the machine bag has a few purposes

1) when you tattoo there's a splatter radius (i think about 6 meters) so when you tattoo little splatters of blood etc from a client can splatter upto 6 meters away, that's one reason machine bags are used because backspray up the tube can come into contact with your clothes (this is why people shouldn't leave stuff in their red zone such as ink bottles because if they're in the 6m splatter radius that's like wasting a whole bottle of ink, only keep your things you NEED during a tattoo.. i.e green soap etc and make sure you bag your greensoap it's the 1st thing you do when setting your station up) btw red zone is like the danger zone where there's the most stuff going on.. you put your machines/vasseline here(not the bottle just the amount you need)

2) while you're tattoo'ing and you may need to touch your machine if you've been touching a client you're basically touching their blood (nasties) then you go and touch your machine, that's another reason for bag covers

so even if you have a machine cover you still need to clean your machine after

i think most people use madacide (however you spell it) i personally use some spray i found in a shop it kills upto 99% MRSAA etc and those major things.. but even if it kills '99%' it doesn't kill EVERYTHING something is only 'sterilized' when 100% everything is dead (when it's been pressurized at around 150degrees c and kept at a pressure of 15psi for around 20-15mins i believe) so i wouldn't use metal tubes/tips if i were you unless you know a lot about the subject, just stick with disposables for the start, cleaning your machines (taking them apart) depends how much you tattoo really.. if you practice on pigskin then it's fine.. just make sure that IF you decide to go onto real skin you take it apart and give it a damn good clean first. If you're tattoo'ing clients i'd take it apart after each day and clean it thoroughly

remember cleaning with madacide, otherthings won't sterilize your equipment it will only sanitize it so it's not safe, the only way EVERYTHING will die is to sterilize is with pressure/heat that's only achievable by a pressure cooker/clave.

here's some really useful videos to get you started

sterilization/sanitation - Tattoo Equipment Sterilization - YouTube

setting up your station - Tattoo Break down (Quick version) - YouTube

keeping your station clean - How to keep a tattoo station sterile **MUST WATCH** - YouTube

my advice watch these and absorb everything you can.. just read everything you can too, become obsessed, if you're truly interested in tattoo'ing this stuff will always be on your mind, like when i'm laying in bed it always comes in my mind and i think about random shit, then when you've progressed a little bit, set up your station a few times.. go back and watch it again, you'll pick up new things again from the same videos

when i first begun i absorbed a lot of information, then when i learnt a lot more i went back and watched them again, when you're more experienced you will watch it in a completely different way and pick up new things too

and if you're really serious go premium the manual is a good read! it's a good job you're not just jumping straight in though the health and safety side is always where you should start

hope this helped

by the way if someone is mentoring you shouldn't they know all this stuff? just wondering (not saying it in a nasty way)

hYSobe said:

by the way if someone is mentoring you shouldn't they know all this stuff? just wondering (not saying it in a nasty way)

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Thankyou so much, yes i want to make sure i know everything inside and out before i pick my gun up. start as you mean to go and all that.. and yes my mentor does, but i dont want to be pestering him to much yet.. dont want him to get sick of me too soon lol.

thanks again

6 meters is a bit drastic. Your "HOT" zone is your set up area. The place where all your ink caps with ink are. Nothing should be in this area without having a protective barrier of some sort unless it is one time, single use disposable. If your grabbing for things outside this area, they are being contaminated. Before you start tattooing, make sure you have enough supplies to get you through the entire session. If by chance, say one of your ink caps is is low, your not going to grab the bottle of ink and refill, even if it has a barrier on it. It should not be in the hot zone. Instead you are going to remove your gloves, wash your hands, re-glove, then outside of the hot zone you will fill a new cap with your ink then place it into the hot zone.....this goes for anything outside the hot zone. DO NOT touch it until you have removed your contaminated gloves and cleaned your hands. What I do is have a big ol bottle of hand sanitizer at my station, so I'm not running to the bathroom every time I switch out gloves. As far as splatter goes, your talking a few centimeters (inches). If your getting splatter then that usually means you have an issue going on at the tip, i.e, to much ink, to much, or to little pressure on the needle bar....

Your mentor won get mad at you for asking him about cross contamination and saftey he will be glad your concerned about the risks but he might slap ya around for calling a tattoo machine a gun hahah just playin

Devinmichael said:

Your mentor won get mad at you for asking him about cross contamination and saftey he will be glad your concerned about the risks but he might slap ya around for calling a tattoo machine a gun hahah just playin

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Mate this posts from 3yrs ago and not even sure she still on site

Patch72 said:

Mate this posts from 3yrs ago and not even sure she still on site

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Last seen october 2013, probably another one who watched a couple of tv shows and thought rock n roll lifestyle.

marked 4 life said:

Last seen october 2013, probably another one who watched a couple of tv shows and thought rock n roll lifestyle.

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Ha ha

marked 4 life said:

Last seen october 2013, probably another one who watched a couple of tv shows and thought rock n roll lifestyle.

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You know it mate

Still good someone commented on this thread as it made me find it

Ditto