What Soap Can I Use To Wash My Tattoo?

Using a mild, fragrance-free soap ( Dove, Dial, and Neutrogena ); gently wash all excess blood, ointment, ink, and plasma from your tattoo. Only use your hand – DO NOT use a washcloth or loofah as they can harbor bacteria.

Contents

1 Can you use dish soap to wash a tattoo?
- - 1.0.1 What should I use to wash my tattoo?
  - 1.0.2 Is Dove soap OK for tattoos?
2 What if I don’t have unscented soap for my tattoo?
3 When can I wash my tattoo with regular soap?
4 Should I wash my tattoo with hot or cold water?

Can you use dish soap to wash a tattoo?

First Time Cleanup – Leave the tattoo bandaged for 2 to 24 hours. DO NOT RE-BANDAGE or put Vaseline on the tattoo again.

The first time you clean the tattoo, remove the bandage gently , getting it wet if it’s stuck.
Wash gently with clean hands , and not a wash cloth. Don’t be afraid to really wash your tattoo thoroughly, or you won’t get the vaseline off.
Use mild soap like Dove, Ivory or Dawn dishwashing liquid. It’s best to avoid very hot water.
Be sure to remove all the Vaseline – it usually take 4 to 6 or more times washing and rinsing the tattoo before the vaseline is gone.
Pat dry with a fresh, clean towel. A paper towel is fine if it’s not linty. Don’t rub the tattoo – just pat it. For cleanliness, don’t use anything that you or other people have already used.
Apply a tiny amount of water-based lotion such as Curél or Lubriderm — most lotions are oily, and don’t let the tattoo “breathe. ” We’ll tell you how much lotion to use for your particular tattoo, but in general, use an amount that absorbs completely in about 5-10 seconds when you’re rubbing it into the tattoo.
You can also use bag balm or fresh aloe vera leaves (but not aloe vera products sold in stores, as they have stabilizers in them which aren’t good for your tattoo).
You can remove tape residue by rubbing with olive oil, then wash with soap and water (try not to get olive oil in the tattoo).

PLEASE NOTE: We do NOT recommend Neosporin or similar ointments – they clog the pores and the antibiotic formula can draw out color.

What should I use to wash my tattoo?

Aftercare for Your Tattoo – So, how can you make sure that new tattoo is something you don’t end up regretting? Follow these steps while your new tattoo heals.

Be sure your artist covers your new tattoo in a thin layer of petroleum jelly and a bandage.
Remove the bandage after 24 hours. Gently wash the tattoo with antimicrobial soap and water and be sure to pat dry.
Apply a layer of antibacterial/Vaseline ointment twice a day, but don’t put on another bandage.
Gently wash your tattoo area twice a day with soap and water and gently pat dry before reapplying the antibacterial/Vaseline ointment.
Keep applying a moisturizer or ointment after you clean it to keep it moist.

You should repeat this process for 2 to 4 weeks. Also try not to wear clothes that will stick to your tattoo, and avoid swimming and the sun for about 2 weeks. And take cool showers. Scalding hot water will not only hurt, but it can also fade the ink. Wear a physical blocker sunscreen with at least 7% zinc oxide sunscreen during the daylight hours and/or cover it up (with clothing, a bandage).

Is Dove soap OK for tattoos?

Disregard any advice from friends and family. We are licensed professionals and the proper healing of your new tattoo is very important to us. Your bandage should be worn for 1 to 2 hours. Thoroughly wash your hands and dry them with a paper towel before removing the bandage.

If you find that the bandage is stuck to your tattoo, try running the bandage under water. You DO NOT however, want to soak your fresh tattoo in ANY water to include but not limited to bathtubs, swimming pools, hot tubs, lakes, and ponds.

These all have chemicals, dirt, and all kinds of nasties that can cause infection. Showers are fine-just NO SOAKING! Using a mild, fragrance-free soap (Dove, Dial, and Neutrogena); gently wash all excess blood, ointment, ink, and plasma from your tattoo.

Only use your hand – DO NOT use a washcloth or loofah as they can harbor bacteria;
If you are not sure which soap to use, read the ingredients;
If alcohol is listed as one of the first few ingredients, DO NOT USE IT;

Soap with fragrance and alcohol will burn and can over-dry the skin. After washing the tattoo, pat it dry with a paper towel. DO NOT use a hand or bath towel. Towels can harbor bacteria. DO NOT re-bandage your tattoo. It needs to “breathe” and get air to heal properly.

Wash your tattoo once or twice a day for the duration of the healing time. Too much washing can wash away your body’s natural bacteria which helps your skin to heal. Washing the tattoo in the morning and at night before you go to bed is sufficient.

For the first day, the tattoo will “ooze” clear plasma. This is completely normal. There is NO NEED to use any ointment on your tattoo. Most ointments are for fighting infection and are contributing to antibiotic resistance. Additionally, ointments can “suffocate” the tattoo by not letting enough air get to it which can cause excessive scabbing.

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Ointments also lead to higher rates of dermatitis in tattoos. Before going to bed, wash your hands and wash your tattoo. Sleep in something old (yet clean) to cover the area that was tattooed. Most tattoos will ooze clear plasma the first night and this can stain and stick to clothing and sheets.

By the second or third day, your tattoo will start to dry out. It will start to flake like a sun burn. You will see large black and colored flakes coming off, especially in the shower. This is completely normal. DO NOT under any circumstances, pick or “help” these flakes come off.

Doing so will result in the loss of line and color in your tattoo as well as cause scarring. And YES, we can tell when someone has picked at their tattoo! In addition, DO NOT wear tight clothing that may rub the tattoo.

When your tattoo starts to flake and peel, you may then start using 1or 2 drops of fragrance-free hand lotion. Keri, and Curel are both good choices. Rub the lotion in completely or blot excess off with a paper towel. If you unsure if the lotion you have at home will work, read the label.

If alcohol is near the top of the list of ingredients, then DO NOT USE IT. You may also do a spot test if you are unsure. Rub just a small drop into a small section of the tattoo. If it starts to burn or sting in a couple of minutes, then wash it off immediately and discontinue using it.

Continue to use the above steps until your tattoo is completely healed. Healing time varies with each individual and the area that was tattooed. Generally, tattoos are fully healed in two to three weeks. During the healing process, DO NOT use anything on your tattoo that you wouldn’t use on any other wound or abrasion.

This includes oils, glitter, sun block, etc. If you have special circumstances that require you to alter our advised healing method, please ask the artist or staff. An example would be someone that works in an industry where their fresh tattoo might be exposed to dirt, germs, etc.

while it is healing.

What if I don’t have unscented soap for my tattoo?

Remove bandage 2-3 hours after your tattoo is complete.

Wash your hands with soap and warm to hot water. Now wash your new tattoo with warm to hot water and a mild, unscented soap. Wash gently using only your hands and soapy water. Make sure to wash off any residual blood or plasma, ink, and ointment from the entire area around the tattoo. Dr. Bronner’s mild soap or any unscented mild soap will work.
Gently pat dry with a clean towel or a paper towel.
Apply a very thin layer of unscented lotion, or an even thinner layer of Aquaphor to the entire tattoo. Gently rub product into skin thoroughly. Mild unscented lotions like Aveeno, Lubriderm, Eucerin, etc. are appropriate; nothing medicated. For a baseball sized tattoo, a pea sized drop of lotion should suffice.
Repeat twice a day for about two weeks, until it looks like normal skin.
Wear gentle or loose fitting clothing if your tattoo is in a location impacted by clothing, shoes, or bra-straps. BE GENTLE.

Brand new tattoos may be sensitive, red, and swollen. The surrounding area may even show mild bruising. This is normal. Healing tattoos feel sometimes like a healing sunburn. For the first few days, your tattoo may “weep” clear or colored fluid. This is also normal. You may want to wash your tattoo a few additional times during the first few days.

Antibacterial soap is not necessary;
Be careful not to over-do the lotion;
As your tattoo is healing, your skin will shed or peel a layer of dead cells in the color and location of each part of the tattoo;

This is normal. Let any peeling skin fall off naturally. Do not pick at any flaking skin, it may not be healed underneath. While your tattoo is healing, avoid direct contact with sunlight. Also, do not soak your tattoo in water, i. baths, swimming pools, the ocean, etc.

until the tattoo is fully healed;
This will be generally between 10-20 days, or more for larger or extensive amounts of tattooing;
Healed tattoos should be protected from excessive sunlight;
Tanning or sunbathing and tattoos don’t mix;

These are general guidelines to help you heal your tattoo. Everyone’s skin is different. Some people may find they need to continue these steps for more time, some need less time. We have done our best to make you a tattoo that will look great and last for as long as you live, now it’s your turn to ensure that it is well cared for after you leave the tattoo shop.

When can I wash my tattoo with regular soap?

The first wash – After usually no less than 5 hours, it is safe to remove the bandage and wash the tattoo. After thorough hand-washing, a person can gently wash the tattoo with hypoallergenic soap and warm water using their fingers. The moisturizer on the skin will come off, and the tattoo may appear as if it is oozing ink or a thick, sticky substance.

This reaction is not usually a cause for concern, as it is just the excess fluid and ink from the tattoo process;
After washing, a person should pat the skin with a clean paper towel and allow it to air-dry for up to an hour;

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When the area is completely dry, they can apply a thin layer of moisturizer to the tattoo, but leave it uncovered to allow the skin to breathe.

Can I wash my tattoo with just water?

Showering tips – Yes, you can and should shower with a new tattoo. It’s okay to get your tattoo wet as long as you don’t soak it. Just try to keep your tattoo away from the actual water flow. Submerging your tattoo in a bath or hot tub can cause serious damage, so avoid those for 2-3 weeks, but showering is perfectly fine as long as you don’t saturate your tattoo.

What can I use if I don’t have antibacterial soap?

What About Hand Sanitizers? – A hand sanitizer can cause people to think that they do not have to wash their hands as rigorously or as often. When soap and water are unavailable, the use of a hand sanitizer with 60% alcohol content can indeed be an effective alternative. The CDC makes the following recommendations for adults and children regarding the use of hand sanitizer:

Use enough hand sanitizer so that all surfaces of the hand will be covered.
Rub the sanitizer over the entire hand, including fingers and fingertips.
Continue rubbing your hands for about 20 seconds until they are dry.

Can I wash my tattoo with just water?

Is Dawn dish soap antibacterial?

FAQs – Can I substitute another type of dish detergent? I do not recommend substituting other dish soaps. Blue Dawn is concentrated and lends the best results. Can you use Dawn dish soap for shampoo? It is not recommended to regularly wash your hair with Dawn as it can dry it out because it cleans so well.

I have heard of both regular people and cosmetologists using it as shampoo to remove too-dark hair color mistakes but I have not tried it myself. Is original Dawn dish soap antibacterial? No, the original blue dish soap is not antibacterial.

They do currently have 2 antibacterial dish soap options but they are not as concentrated as the blue kind and I do not recommend them for these uses.

Can I wash my tattoo with Palmolive?

Josh Arment: Hey, I’m Josh Arment. Thank you for coming to The Aloha Monkey and getting your tattoo. I appreciate it. I might not be the person that tattooed you, but I’d just like to give you my two cents on how to take care of your tattoo. Attached to this email is going to be a PDF.

It’s going to spell it out all for you, but what I’m going to provide you right now is a little bit more in depth;
So basically your band is just going to come off in like three to four hours;
You’re going to take it off;

You’re going to wash it real good with soap and hot water. When you wash it, I just want you to use a skin to skin contact. I don’t want you to use a wash cloth, no sponges, nothing abrasive, but just good skin to skin contact and don’t feel like you have to ginger around with it.

You can actually push on it and get the lymph off;
The lymph is the white blood cells that are trying to create a scab;
We don’t want scabs here;
Scabs equal bad healing tattoos;
So, you use the hot water;
It’s going to sting, It’s going to be like sunburn;

Soap; the soap, I would say, like a antibacterial soap, like a Dial, a Palmolive, some kind of dish soap is a really good soap. I like to use liquid soaps. So, you’re going to wash it real good with soap and hot water. Press on it and then you’re going to blot it dry.

Something with a clean towel or paper towel, not something you’ve used in your house all week. You get a nice fresh hand towel out or a paper towel. You’re going to blot it dry. You don’t want to scrub it again; no abrasive contact with the tattoo.

Then what I want you to do is put a thin coat of Aquaphor or A&D ointment on it. Now what that’s going to do, and when I say thin, I mean super thin, like you don’t want to look like John Candy at the beach with a bunch of sunblock on the top. You want to have it rubbed into the skin.

We’re looking for a matte finish, not a gloss finish. So when you rub that into the tattoo, I want you to make sure that it doesn’t have a reflective nature or any kind of sheen to it. It’s got to be worked into the skin and then what I would like you to do is, if you’re going to be wearing clothing around this thing or sleeping on this thing, I personally, this won’t be in the PDF, but I personally like to see somebody wash it, put the Aquaphor or the A&D on it, and then put Saran Wrap on it.

Now the Saran Wrap is kind of a situation that keeps it from sticking to your sheets, keeps it from sticking to your articles of clothing. You know, you’re a business person, you’re trying to go into the work the next day. So what I recommend is having a nice layer of Saran Wrap over that tattoo and just ignore it while you’re at work.

When you get home from work, then you’re going to take the Saran Wrap off. You know, you’ve got like your evening time, you want to take the Saran Wrap off, wash it immediately with soap and hot water, and then just let it air dry throughout the evening.

Maybe you’re washing it like every two hours as you start to see it sweat almost like an upper eyebrow or like your upper lip sweats during exercise, when you see it to start sweat like that, I want you to wash it again; soap and hot water. That’s the lymph coming to the top and that’s what we don’t want.

We don’t want the scab. So you’re going to kind of monitor it that way throughout the evening and then right before bed, you’re going to wash it one last time with soap and hot water. Again, skin to skin contact, and then you’re going to wrap it in Saran Wrap.

Now here’s the deal about the Saran Wrap. If you just wrap it in Saran Wrap, you’re creating a bacterial situation. It’s like a hot bed for infection. You don’t want that. What you do want is to wash it and then put the Saran Wrap on it. Then you’re creating a clean environment where it’s not going to stick to your clothing.

It’s not going to stick to your sheets;
Another thing just to know about tattoos is that you don’t want to touch something and then touch the tattoo;
Most people are like trying to pull lint off of it;
No, your hand is touched;

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Your belt is touched, your jeans, that’s bacteria. You don’t want to have that happen. So the only contact you make with it, touching the tattoo, is when you’re washing it. So in the morning, when you get up in the morning, after the Saran Wrap evening, you take the Saran Wrap off, you immediately wash it.

It’s going to have a bunch of ink in there;
You’re not losing your tattoo;
It’s going to be fine;
The ink is just the excess that’s coming out of you and let it go; like wash it off;
It’s going to look like a black mess, but wash that off;

When you’re washing it, the hot water opens the pores, so you don’t want to use cold water. If it does feel swollen, it’s around an elbow or something, you might ice it over the Saran Wrap, but you don’t want to just make contact with it with any cold nature substance at all; no water, no ice, no nothing.

Everything that you touch it with should be hot because that’s going to open the pores up and create the ability to let it release;
After about three days of that, washing, Saran Wrap, washing, Saran Wrap, then you can just have your tattoo out and air-dry;

Now most people are going to tell you to use like a Lubriderm substance or some kind of lotion. I personally don’t believe in toxic lotions. I would use a coconut oil. Coconut oil is amazing because it’s antibacterial and it absorbs into the skin. Most lotions sit on the surface of the skin and so I want you to use the coconut oil because it’s going to go into your skin.

It’s going to draw the ink inward;
You can use coconut oil through the duration of the tattoo, through two weeks of it, and it’ll just be the the number one lubricant that you use;
We thank you again for coming to The Aloha Monkey;

We hope you enjoyed your tattoo experience and we look forward to seeing you again. Thanks..

Should I wash my tattoo with hot or cold water?

DON’T. –

Don’t remove your bandage too soon! Keep your tattoo covered for as long as your artist recommends. The bandage absorbs excess blood, ink, topical anesthetics , ointments, etc
Don’t use hot water to clean your new tattoo; wash with warm water instead. Hot water will cause your pores to open, leaving new tattoo susceptible to bacterial infection and ink leakage.
Don’t put your new tattoo directly under running water—don’t soak it either.
Never rip the bandage off! Use a bit of cold water to break down the adhesive until it’s no longer painful to remove.
Don’t re-bandage or cover your new tattoo. Tattoos need to breathe and stay dry to heal.
Don’t pick the scabs—yuck! Aside from that being a terrible habit, your fingers could transfer bacteria. Your tattoo is an open wound and vulnerable to infection during the healing process. Let the scabs fall off by themselves or gently wash them off in the shower.
Don’t go tanning. Limit your tattoo’s exposure to sun, if possible. If you must be outside, find a tattoo-specific sunscreen with at least 30 SPF.
Don’t swim, soak, sweat, or sauna for at least 6-weeks after your tattoo! That may be easier said than done, but wet tattoos don’t heal properly.

Julia