is it against health code to have a personal ultrasonic for your station??

ok i need some clarification here. i have my own ultrasonic cleaner at my staion that i use for cleaning my tips between colors (with a small dixie cup in it with water/green soap dillution) i don't use this sonic for my dirty tubes i use the shops in the clean room for that. i'm debateing the issue with another tattooer and i would like to clear this up can someone give me a definite answer? thanks.

Great idea for cleaning tube tips during a tattoo sorta. The main issue I'd see is that when running the ultra sonic the vibrations sent through the water can and do create a mist that's capable of spreading up to something like 12 feet above and around the ultrasonic itself I believe. Alconox ,or whatever solution you're using, isn't good for broken skin. That'd be your problem if you ask me. That alone should make you remove your ultrasonic from your procedures area into it's own seperate room. I'm pretty damn sure most health departments don't give a rat's ass as too where you put it, but you being the professional , should be the holding yourself responsible for the safety of your clients.

Dispite the paranoid and unsubstantuated claims that an Ultrasonic sprays a potentially dangerous mist, which is now reportedly up to 12 feet away, there is no legitimate information to support this from any health authority or health agency. Providing you use the smaller 'personal' Ultrasonics which hold smaller amounts of fluid, change the cups with each client and use a rinse cup (water) to rinse the fluid (diluted green soap or Alconox)) you use in the cup, you do not need to worry. If anyone can provide legitimate proof and not their own beliefs/suspitions with absolutely no fact/evidence to support it I'll change my mind and procedures. Personally, I've found the use of the Ultrasonic in the work area to be the most effective way of removing color from the tubes when changing colors in a tattoo I've ever heard of or tried. Caution is commendable, to be sure, paranoia is not. Doc

Rinse cup with plain water does the job for me.

Not this again... It's risky at the very least, and potentially dangerous. No, it is not against health codes. Jer is right, most tattoo related health codes are set up as the BARE minimum of standards. The CDC suggests ultrasonics be used in a room seperate from sterile equipment (and thereby AWAY from a tattoo procedure area). See the other post about Ultrasonics. In doing so, you'll have to take the retarded pissing contest for what it is... (one guy set in his ways, and one 'paranoid' about furthering tattoo safety for the public.) Long story short... cleaner is better.

That other post I was referring to is titled "Tattoo Studio Ignorance Rant..." Point is, you'll have to read between the lines and make your own choice in the matter. -Good luck!

thanx guys. if theres even any doubt then i guess ill stop doing so. id rather err on the side of caution than risk any sort of contamination.it really does work alot better for me though. i hate when another color gets tainted by the previous color. i've resorted to having another setup entirely for white highlights when finishing a piece. anyway, we were having a debate and i wanted some outside opinions before i made up my mind . so thanks again guys

This works for me, I acquired this method from doing water color paintings. Use 2 cups. The first cup is mostly distilled water with a squirt of green soap from your nalgene bottle. The second cup is just distilled water. Do your gross cleaning in the first cup. Then to clean out the thinned out pigment and soap mixture, run machine in 2nd cup. The second cup will barely change color by the end of tattoo and I always get a clean tip and grouping for the next color. Hope this helps.