Tattoo aftercare instructions
The way you look after a new tattoo in its first few weeks shapes how it looks for years to come. The care itself is simple, and we'll walk you through it one stage at a time.
Tattoo aftercare timeline
Here's how to take care of a new tattoo at a glance, from the day you leave the chair to the day it's healed.
The first few days
The fresh tattoo is at its most tender, so keep it protected under any second skin your artist applied.
Week one
Once any film is off, the skin begins to heal over, and keeping it clean is the main job.
Week two on
This is the itchy, peeling stretch as the surface sheds, and the job is to keep your hands off it.
Once it's healed
Your tattoo has settled into its finished look, and the habit that matters most now is protecting it from the sun.
Second skin for the first few days
Days 1 to 5
If your artist covered your tattoo with second skin, a clear film such as Saniderm, leave it on for 3 to 5 days, or for as long as your artist told you. Once it comes off, the tattoo is ready for its first wash, and the week one routine begins.
Washing your tattoo in week one
Week 1
- Wash the tattoo two or three times a day with fragrance-free soap, using only your fingertips.
- Pat it dry with a clean towel, pressing gently instead of rubbing at the healing skin.
- Rub a thin layer of Aquaphor or bag balm into the skin until you can barely see it.
With the right amount, the tattoo looks faintly shiny and never greasy.
When your tattoo starts to itch and peel
Week 2 onward
From the second week on, switch from ointment to a fragrance-free lotion, and keep washing the tattoo just as you did in week one.
Itching and peeling usually arrive somewhere in weeks two and three, and both are a normal part of healing. The flakes may carry the color of your ink, which can look alarming, but it's only the top layer of skin letting go, and the ink underneath stays where it is. However much it itches, don't pick or scratch, because pulling flakes off early can take ink with them, and the soft grey shading is the first to suffer.
What not to do until your tattoo heals
- Stay out of pools, lakes, baths and hot tubs, and never let the tattoo soak in water.
- Keep it out of the sun and away from tanning beds, covered by clothing whenever you're outside.
- Hold off on putting sunscreen on the tattoo itself until the skin has fully healed.
Summer is the hardest season for a fresh tattoo, with pool days and lake weekends all calling at once, so if a trip is coming up, plan it around your healing.
2 to 3 weeksfor the surface of the skin to heal
Up to 6 monthsfor the skin underneath to settle
What's normal while a tattoo heals, and what isn't
Somewhere around weeks two to four, most tattoos go through a stage where they look cloudy, waxy or patchy, as if the ink has faded. It hasn't: that's the skin still healing, and the tattoo clears as it finishes. Everyone heals at their own pace, depending on the size of the piece, how much shading or color it carries, where it sits and your own skin, so yours may take longer than a friend's did.
Some changes are not part of healing, though. A raised, itchy rash that shows up in only one color of the tattoo, most often red, can be a reaction to the ink. If you notice a rash like that, or any of these signs of infection, see a doctor, and let your artist know as well.
- Redness that spreads or keeps getting worse
- Skin around the tattoo that feels hot to the touch
- Swelling that grows instead of going down
- Pus, or a bad smell coming from the tattoo
- A fever, or a general feeling of being unwell
Caring for a healed tattoo
A healed tattoo is the version you'll live with, and black and grey work often looks a shade softer than it did on day one, which is exactly as it should be. From here on, the sun is what fades a tattoo fastest, so make sunscreen on it a habit for life.
If a spot needs a touch-up, come in as soon as the tattoo is fully healed. Skin keeps changing with time, so the sooner a spot is touched up, the better it will match the rest of your piece.
Tattoo aftercare questions
Keep it covered only for as long as your artist told you to leave the second skin on. Once that's off, the tattoo needs washing rather than wrapping, and the only cover it needs is clothing whenever you're out in the sun.
Most often the warning is about using too much of it. A heavy layer clogs the pores and can pull ink out of the healing skin, while a thin layer rubbed in until it's barely there gives the tattoo what it needs.
Your tattoo is healed on the surface once the peeling has stopped, the cloudy look has cleared and the skin feels smooth again. The skin underneath goes on settling for a while after that, so keep treating it gently.
Call or text your artist with questions
If anything about your healing worries you or leaves you unsure, call or text your artist here at our Wheat Ridge studio. We'd much rather hear from you than have you guess.
Hours: Tue to Sat, 11 AM to 8 PM. Sun and Mon by appointment.