First time clients are often nervous or curious about the actual process followed to create tattoos. While the history of tattoos can’t be pinpointed exactly, one of the earliest recorded tattoos dates back to 5000 BC, and was found on a man named ‘Otzi’. Modern tattooing methods have evolved to ensure consistent, high quality results are achievable.

Rage against the machine

While traditional tattooing methods are still practiced today, during which sharpened stick / non-mechanical instruments are used to insert colour into the skin, most commercial tattoos are applied using a small electric device which operates on principles similar to those employed by a sewing machine. One to fourteen needles are grouped together and attached to the end of a metal rod called a needle bar. The other end of the needle bar is attached to the tattoo machine. The needle bar moves up and down through a tube which serves multiple purposes: it guides the needle to ensure that it moves in a controlled, consistent manner, and it provides a handle for the tattooist to hold the tattooing machine. The needles protrude from the tube by only a few millimetres, ensuring that they don’t penetrate the skin too deeply. Rubber bands are also used to minimize the side to side movement of the needle bar.

Let the application begin

After preparing the skin with a germicidal soap, the artist dips the needles into a small amount of pigment or ink. As the machine is guided over the skin, the needle bar moves up and down allowing the needles to puncture the skin, depositing the ink. A tattoo machine can puncture the skin between 50 to 3,000 times per minute, depending on the machine setting used and the skill of the artist. Once the tattoo is completed, the tattooist applies an ointment and covers the area with a sterile barrier film. I talk to all my clients about the correct aftercare procedure to follow, as described in detail in the aftercare section on this website.

Safety first!

When tattooing, I take great care in ensuring that the environment, machinery and supplies used are both safe and sterile.

I follow the guidelines listed without exception. It’s important that whoever you entrust your skin to follows these guidelines to ensure your safety and health.

• Always insist on clean and sterile equipment. I use only ultrasonically cleaned and freshly sterilized instruments for tattooing. Ultrasonic units use ultrasonic waves to disintegrate ink debris, blood and plasma from tattooing instruments, ensuring superior, consistent cleaning. The only acceptable means of sterilization is by an autoclave. The autoclave I use is spore tested monthly to ensure that it is functioning properly.
• All of the needles I use are single-use only. I will only ever use new needles sealed in autoclave bags. These autoclave bags have colour indicators to show that they have been sterilized in an autoclave.
• I only use fresh ink poured into new disposable ink caps. I wash and sterilise my hands, putting on a new pair of gloves during the setup / preparation for each tattoo. Any items that I may touch during the tattoo process are covered by plastic or barrier film, to avoid cross contamination. Cross contamination is the act of spreading potential pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms from one item or surface to another. If a tattooist is wearing a pair of new gloves, but touches a cross contaminated item or surface, you are in danger of those pathogens being transferred to your punctured skin. The proven way to prevent cross contamination from one client to the next, is by covering all surfaces that a tattooist might touch during the tattoo process with disposable plastic or barrier film.

And finally, all of the containers, work stations and floors deployed in the studio are made from hard, non-porous materials which are regularly cleaned with a surface disinfectant. Please don’t hesitate to talk to me about any of these basic guidelines and procedures, should you have any questions during the tattooing process. I believe that ensuring the sterility and safety of the environment is as, if not more important than creating a beautiful piece of artwork.