Pen style machines

I’ve been tattooing on and off for years started on coils moved to rotary’s now cartridge machines I recently bought two cnc q2’s and two mast archers my question is if I wrap my machines with clip cord covers and barrier film and don’t touch the cartridge till I’m done tattooing would I still need to autoclave the grips? I’d be using multiple machines instead of one machine multiple needles I’d assume it would be the same as traditional machines with disposable grips/tips just clean the machine with cavicide once I’m done and oil it throw about the disposable stuff

This is a contentious issue. I’ve seen many tattooists at conventions and in shops wrapping pen machines with anything from grip tape (which is porous), machine bags, clip cord covers other non-porous sleeves etc. Very few that I have seen actually autoclave their grips, presumably believing that the barrier method is adequate.

IF you manage to keep your non porous barrier intact through a tattoo, my experience is that simply changing carts can tear and compromise the protection near the cartridge aperture. But let’s say this isn’t the case…..you are right to identify that returning carts to the machine after you have used and removed and ‘probably’ rested them on your work area…which is a bio hazard from the moment you shave the client and should be treated as a space that once entered consigns any component to the clinical or sharps waste.

The danger then is picking up nasties from this space and depositing them inside the machine, potentially cross contaminating to the next client through this cart switching process. Some machines have ‘better’ bio protection in their design, The Axys Valhalla for one has a simpler thread for easy cleaning and less of the grip touching the machine body. Malin has mentioned Scorpion machines are also more hygienic, but I personally don’t know these machines.

So protecting the grip is an obvious, but the tip of the push rod will also physically interact with a part of the cart, which could become contaminated. The danger is when you remove a cart with the next customer, and place that in your work area.

Maybe not the answer you want…….and I have heard others say that it’s a dirty secret of modern tattooing. My minimum clean down would be thorough and vigorous alcohol wiping off the grip, inside of the machine and the tip of the pushrod and this aperture. I also (always) soak my grips in high grade medical disinfectant (Chemgene) for the minimum 4 minutes to achieve maximum effect. I use polythene sleeves to cover, I bought a 300M roll for around £30GB and its about 3/4 times the thickness of the typical clip cord polythene. I sheath the machine and pull one end back over the grip and secure with grip tape. I have a small stainless steel tube (from an old grip) that I twist and puncture the aperture with, so I get a clean circular hole that is less probe to splitting of expanding when I change grips.

Not perfect, but I think we all have to as much as we can on this.