Sterilization

You know I've been reading this forum for about a month in a half now and I see all of this online blog fighting about apprentiship's and scratchers and to tell you the truth it blows me away on how immature all of it is. I'm not a tattoo artist, not even close. I'm workin up to it and taking what advice i get off the net and people around me and not once have I really seen a "good" talk about sterilization on here. I don't dare ask anyone on here any specefic questions as far as being these talking shit tattoo artists and scratchers because all of you are ignorant as hell. I'll get to my question. All of you tattoo artist's on here stress on how much sterilizing is crucial in the tattoo industry. Of Course. Why wouldn't it be? Anyways I just ordered TAM Magazine issue #13 ( which by the way is a great mag if u can get a hold of it ) and these featured tattoo artists do their thing, yatta yatta. When I came across the Computer DVD it came with, I watched the Part on SCOTT HARRISON Tattooing. Great artist! Shitty role model if you ask me, reason being this. He is tattooing in somebodies bathroom with no bag over his gun, all of his equipment is on a playschool kids table and he has a "client" sitting in a bathtub ( literally ) getting inked. Oh and while he's doing all of this he's sitting on top of a FUCKING TOILET!!! By all means, anybody that wants to waste there time writing back to this as you'd probably like to say to me for an answer lol, please do so with no hesitation. Because I'd really like to know how in the hell tattooist's on this blog can justify that.

I here ya, some of the so called veterans will tattoo a person on the street corner now how sterile is that. Autoclaves are the thing of the past for a sterile tattoo artist. There are artist who still use them and swear by them, I am an artist who paid his dues, who has been certified by Osha emergency rescue and chemical clean up. I have all the certifications necessary. The scary realization is the industry is not heavily regulated it depends on the state you live in. The worst thing is a lot of artist are complaining about scratchers, let them scratch, shoot more cover up/ fix it work for me. If you let someone screw up a design I will fix it but it will cost more (hence the cover-up) what needs to be done is the fighting must stop and we as artist should get the word out on proper sterilization Techniques. Or at least inform the person getting tattooed so they know what to look for. My first tattoo I didn’t know anything and the artist didn’t tell me anything not even that he was using a sterile needle, for my first tattoo I didn’t know the questions to ask or what to look for, all he said was I’m set up lets go boom done. Here is how you care for it verbal instructions bandaged with napkins (no paper after care instructions or nothing) and have a nice day. The shop has been operating for over 10 yrs. I had to speak to another artist in a different shop for proper after-care. after my apprenticeship I now know sterilization and what to look for, I would not want one of my family members getting sick from a scratcher so I keep them well informed.

if you want to learn proper sterilization, i suggest going to some sites such as painful pleasures.com and reading up on how to set up, maintain, and work in a sterile field. at my shop, the first thing i learned was how to use an autoclave. we use it daily to keep all our stuff clean. we also use Purple Power to clean the tubs before we run them through the autoclave. (you should always use NEW needles!!!) not only do you have to keep the environment clean, you got to keep your equipment clean. im sure if you look hard enough, you can find a better place than this online to read up fully on sterilization.

sounds more like a fun pic type of deal but i could be wrong. as far as bags on a machine.thats up to the artist.remember some of us do have a sense of humor,and thats what the pic youre explaining is. as far as a autoclave and such this is a mandatory requirement everywhere i have tattooed.safety first.

Ok, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr "Autoclaves are the thing of the past for a sterile tattoo artist." Not sure what this means?? Any hoo, there is not a tattoo artist in the world that works in a sterile environment. We all work (or should) in a clean field with sterilized equipment such as needles and tubes and disposables. Get the lingo right this just erks me. If there is air in the room it is not sterile tattoo artist or room. For the above statement?? If using pre made needles and disposable tubes they should still be coming pre-sterilized via EO or autoclave. Be sure you know the difference and how long the shelf life is. There are sooooooooooooooooo many facets to working clean it is a must to learn!!! Plus the amount of human error in the incorrect way to sterilize can also be a huge deal. Hope you all are gloved when opening all too.