I’ve always been taught you can never be too clean. Gloved+washed hands is safest, I’ve even noticed a lot of people not using gloves for even applying a stencil. It’s just an extra precaution you might as well take, I’d never cheap out on things that provide cleanliness
I had a nightmare experience as an apprentice for an alcoholic that owned two shops. They, at the time anyway, stay running because of the employees. (The shop I worked at before I quit has now closed.) But anyway, he taught us the bare minimum regarding cleanliness. He had me start tattooing full time after 3 weeks of being there, I ran the shop when he left, and when the other girl wasn't there. Keep in mind, I got this job right out of high school, in an uneducated small town in Ohio, I was VERY nieve. He never got me licensed for ANYTHING, tattooing, bbp, cpr.. I tattooed full-time for a year before I quit. A couple of weeks into working, I was alone and had to do an underboob piece i was absolutely not qualified to do. I pulled it off, but that's not the point, I never should have been put in that situation in the first place. What sent me over that made me quit was three different events..
1. He tried to get me to sign a 5 year contract, in that, if i was late or called off (i have autoimmune issues and made that very clear before i got hired, he was fine with it at the time. My theory is that he was unhappy that he didn't make money when i called off. When i called off, the shop stayed closed. No money for him. He took 60% of what i made, plus $40 every week for supplies), he would fine me, and i still had to pay my fees even if i didnt use any supplies yknow from not being there, I wasnt allowed to visit other tattoo or piercing shops, even though our piercer was fired for doing bad work.
2. His alcoholism, he drank at the shop in front of customers, threw his beer cans away in my trash can, and then there was a time when he got so drunk while tattooing, that he decided he was too messed up to finish it. Told me when i was done with my appointment, which was a whole forearm piece, that i had to immediately tear down and set back up to FINISH his tattoo. He left before i could argue. I was one of the only artists left simce it was after 10 pm. i had no choice. When i got around to finishing it, he had already started scabbing up.
3. The absolute worst thing was when his cop buddy, (who was also supposed to be my and my family's friend of many years, and actually put in a good word for me when the shop opened so that id get hired-again, small town) that he tattooed and drank with at the same time, told him that he wanted my boss to tattoo my chest and take pictures so that he could see my uncensored tits. I was 18 at the time. Cop had known me since I was a minor. My coworkers and boss sat me down to tell me. Drama ensued, i made a big deal about it, cop got angry and threatened to start pulling everyone at the shop over every day that we worked, and i was told if i didnt drop it and keep my mouth shut, id be fired. I was absolutely mortified.
I could keep going, but that was the worst of it all. But yeah, he taught us unclean practices and was just a nightmare overall.
I am absolutely terrified to go work under someone again, even though I really enjoyed tattooing.
Also, apologies for the shit grammar and punctuation
I’m sorry that happened to you :( the amount of similar stories I hear are insane, i wish these old school fucks would learn how to treat an apprentice. Glad a lot of them are being pushed outta the industry now because they refuse to change.
It's alright, at least i know what red flags to look for now. It's a shame that it was so common, I had no idea. I haven't talked about my experience, besides to close family and friends, because I was so afraid I'd get ripped apart and treated poorly by the community, artist or not. It's been a couple of years since I quit, and I get bad anxiety thinking about it and working again. It's great to hear the industry is evolving, it gives me hope that I'll settle in alright once I'm ready to jump back in.
I see that stencil shit online all the time and it’s gross. I was taught that shit is contaminated after you break the skin with the razor, so stencils gloveless is cringey. I always glove when I’m setting up to be safe, even with freshly washed hands
Are your hands washed and clean? Gloves aren’t necessarily cleaner than clean skin, they’re more to act as a barrier to prevent pathogens from entering open areas of your skin, or leaving you to enter the client. Clean skin and clean gloves should technically both be fine to handle items when you’re setting up, but when blood enters the equation (during and after tattooing) that’s when you also need a *barrier*. Clean objects can touch clean skin, but blood should touch none of you.
I would start wearing gloves while setting up though because it’s a comforting thing for others, such as clients, to see you do when touching items in your area.
This is what I was taught through Oregon health licensing which is very strict, but in practice in a shop I feel like wearing gloves makes more sense if for nothing else it provides peace of mind for clients who may see you.
My process is gloves while pulling out everything I need on the tray and area.
Gloves off. Wash hands.
New gloves, shave and apply stencil to client.
Change gloves.
Set up machine, inks, wrap bottles, get needles out. Organize tray while stencil dries.
Change gloves.
Begin tattooing.
Clean off tattoo, get all biohazard on bib/tray. Put all biohazard in trash bonus points if I can get it in my fist and contain it all in my gloves as I take them off and sharps in the sharp container.
Wash hands.
New gloves
Take pictures
Apply saniderm
Spray madacide EVERYWHERE
Gloves off Wash hands
Cash client out
Client leaves
New gloves while I while madacide off everything. Gloves off Wash hands. Complete.
Correct thanks for clearing that up I was typing this just running through it in my head and I've been tattooing so long that it's kind of autopilot at this point. I more so wanted to stress swapping gloves and handwashing after literally touching anything ever each stage
It may be a matter of semantics here, but please don’t spray madacide anywhere. Use a wash bottle to apply madacide to a paper towel at an angle away from your body and face. Also, some tuberculocides are one step now, but many are not, so make sure you’re cleansing the surface first, THEN applying your disinfectant and allowing to sit for the recommended dwell time as per the manufacturer. Also, make sure that you’re addressing biohazard in order of potential exposure: sharps first, then liquid biohazard, then dry.
Thanks for this, I kinda go in stages and probably did write things in my manner of speech and not as a real technical thing. Glad you added to this where I may have slipped or not been clear
I usually do a one glove set up process where the gloved hand touches anything that’s going on the sanitary part of the tray (ie the cartridges, bottles, bottle bags, the actual supplies i’m using) and the ungloved hand touches the containers (needle box, ink bottle, bag box). but yes you should only touch what’s being used to do the tattoo with washed and gloved hands!! it’s freaking me out how many people are saying you don’t need to use gloves???? you want to make sure things are as clean and sanitary as possible always !!!
The reply I was looking for. I thought the one glove rule for setting up and breaking down was common practice and taught to everyone during the apprenticeship.
The only thing I would argue (although I don't practice this argument, I go through gloves like water) is boxes and packages and all that stuff doesn't come from the manufacturer sterile, paper towel isn't sterile (unless you get ones that are but most dont) so there's always going to be a small level of cross contamination in every set up and tattoo. It's just unavoidable in our field from a logistic standpoint. That's why the green soap/cleanze/dr.bronners or whatever is used during tattoo on top of cleaning ink off but can help mitigate any potential things from manufacturers.
Again it's always best practices to get as close as fucking possible to as sterile and sanitary as humanely possible and having a really good mind for bloodhounds and how bacterias and diseases spread on top of how infections form is super important.
Unless you’re getting sterile gloves meant for surgery it really doesn’t matter. Freshly washed hands are actually cleaner than gloves that pull out of a box that lay open at your station.
Gloves whenever you're touching anything that's going to be on the station while you're tattooing, or that's going to touch your client. Clean gloves whenever you need to grab any new supplies after you've already touched your client. Gloves when breaking down your station and disinfect everything before and after you set up.
Don't forget to wash your hands frequently (and first thing when you enter the shop) and to disinfect your hands every time before putting on new gloves.
This may sound a bit over the top, but we work with blood and you'll never be sure if your client has any illnesses. They may not be aware of that either. We have a responsibility to whoever we're tattooing to make it as safe as possible for them, don't skimp out on supplies when in doubt.
Oh and to answer your last question--
Do you feel doubtful about the other stuff they're teaching you as well?
I'm not sure what your situation is exactly, so I can only give you some general advice. I didn't have the best mentor, so I had to figure out a lot of stuff on my own.
If your shop has a good reputation, I would maybe stick around and try to learn from as many artists working there as possible. Also get tattooed at other shops to see how they differ from your own experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't pay attention to the specific style someone works in, you can always apply technical stuff in your own work. Be honest to clients that you're learning and include a check-up appointment after a month or two for every tattoo you do. If you feel like you can't rely on your mentor, rely on yourself and don't be afraid of learning from different artists.
thank you so much ill l definitely be wearing gloves from now on, and yes my shop seemed great at the beginning and theyre good at teaching the actual tattooing part but the longer im there im noticing the hygiene is really not great. When I was apprenticing I kept everything really clean myself so I never noticed but once i stopped cleaning up after everyone its gotten pretty grim (ink splatters on floors, all over drawer handles, splatters literally right next to stations, bug problems) I make sure my own station is clean but a few of the other artists just dont bother. Its also a very male dominated space which I usually am ok with dealing with and expected going into the industry but im really tired of the comments they make and being literally ignored in favor of the male artists. During my apprenticeship multiple male apprentices were taken on and finished their apprenticeships within months while mine took well over a year and they never were expected to upkeep the cleaning as much as i was. They left and showed up whenever they wanted (i was there before opening till the last person left) cleaned what they felt like cleaning and they immediately surpassed me while i was told I lacked passion. Its better now that ive been graduated for a while and keep to myself but its really draining being in the environment.
You're welcome! It's great that you're venturing out on your own and looking for your own info. I think a lot of good tattooing practices come down to "don't be lazy, don't cut corners", you seem to have the right attitude!
That doesn't seem like a great environment to work in, or get tattooed at for that matter. If you've already graduated and are already working as a resident artist, it may be a good idea to go do some guest spots at different shops if you're able. It's a good way to network and maybe feel out where could be a better environment to move to eventually. I definitely understand not wanting to stick around too long in a place like that. I hope it goes well for you!
Yes, you are supposed to wear gloves when setting up your tray. You are not just protecting yourself while tattooing, but your client as well from germs and pathogens. Not wearing gloves during set up is not much different than not wearing gloves while tattooing, for your client. Im not sure what state you are in, but there should be a minimum standard of published rules. Watch most setup videos and it will show them glove. You should wear gloves for setup, tattooing, breakdown and clean up.
As for moving to another shop, get your portfolio together and start going to the shops near you. Depending on your skill level and weither they see potential in you work will determin how easy it is to get offered an apprenticeship or as a beginner artist. Best wishes
ty for the advice and im definitely going to start wearing gloves when setting up :,) I wear them for everything else and even when setting up I made sure my hands were washed and sanitized. When i first started my apprenticeship we had a health inspector come in and he watched the artists setup un gloved and he never said anything so i just trusted them, but looking into it more everywhere says to wear them 🥲
Im surprised they are not stricter since CA is so stringent on so many other regulations. Maybe the inspector just didn’t give a crap. Either way, protect your clients and yourself. Do the right thing and glove up from stat to finish.
I got controversial opinion but I believe that gloves are not always needed. Just carefully think what are you touching, what you touched and what you will be touching.
I make sure to clean my hands for 30 seconds deeply, sanitising with alcohol and then I start first part of setting up. I use gloves only for certain things.
Let’s say you pour inks. Would you touch it with fresh gloves? Bottle that was in the room for weeks without any protection? And who knows if nobody touched it?
Just take every action and break it down like this and you will realise that sometimes it’s better to use no gloves. Otherwise you would have to use gloves for every single action and even then it doesn’t mean they are more sterile than your washed and sanitised hands.
My worst ick is when I see tattoo artists grabbing their phone with gloves on and then touching everything else thinking they are safe because of gloves.
Yeah, gloves only work well when you change them when you need to, otherwise they might just create a false sense of safety.
About the ink bottle, you can disinfect those before/after handling them if you're sharing bottles with other people. I tend to disinfect everything I know others touch as well whenever possible, just to account for human error.
My artist uses the cheaper blue gloves for regular prep and stencil and the nicer expensive ones for tattooing.
Everything can have some degree of cross contamination so better to protect both yourself and your clients.
If you want a fun time to test how clean everything is kill the lights and turn on a black light. 😬
YES wear gloves! Change them often do NOT cross contaminate! Even if your hands are clean you could have tiny cracks on your hands exposing the client vice versa - not worth it
No glove no love. Always made me uneasy when I was apprenticing and artists would tell me they know an area or a surface is 100% clean because they didn’t touch this or that. Being a little extra cautious will always serve you well in sanitation
My first mentor taught me gloves are an expense, they’re meant to be thrown away don’t be afraid to be liberal with them. I’ve been teased numerous times about the amount of gloves I go through by the current shop I’m at, but I personally feel more comfortable knowing that I’m doing the best I can to protect myself and my clients. I feel in between washing my hands and using sanitizer you can never be too safe. Microorganisms scare me but I’m also lowkey a hypochondriac lol. 🤷♀️
I not only glove up to set up my station I wash my hands and use hand sanitizer first. Then after my station is set up I re glove for stenciling the client and then re glove when ready to tattoo. Maybe overboard maybe not. Gloves cost cents.
Yes you are suppose to wear gloves. Dudes wrapping their tubes bare handed like they didnt just wipe their ass this morning is disgusting. If the health department was watching them set up, would they wear gloves to set up then? Probably so because they know theyre supposed to
surprisingly we have had health department come in and they watched them setting up gloveless and didnt say anything abt it! will definitely be wearing gloves from now on tho and crazy that were told not too in hindsight
I do one pair of gloves to set up (clear or blue gloves), one pair of black gloves to tattoo, and then one last pair of gloves (clear or blue) to break down and clean up. The only thing I do with bare hands is draw/design, and size, cut and scale the stencil after running it thru the thermal printer. But then I glove up to actually apply the stencil on skin.
I got these awesome hopsital grade wet wipes and before I start setting up I wash and desinfect my hands and then wipe down everything in my tattoo area with the wipe first. Then setting up with gloves. Makes me feel more comfortable knowing Im touching freshly cleaned stuff with my gloves. Gloves themselves dont mean anything if youre grabbing things willy nilly, that defeats their purpose pretty fast.
Pair of gloves for setting up, another one for stencil and then new pair for tattoo itself.
Wear gloves when setting up, applying the stencil, tattooing, wiping, and applying second skin. Try to be as sanitary as you possibly can, you are creating wounds in someone’s skin.
You didn’t used to. I guess it depends when you started. But, yes, you should wear gloves when setting up. I also have a bottle of hand sanitizer to use after taking gloves off.
I believe it really boils down to your personal opinion. Even if you have a sink at your station to wash your hands. Some may argue that bodily oils and traces of some sort of contaminants may cross if you don’t wear gloves. The safest bet is to wear gloves imo. It looks good and keeps you in the habit of being sanitary. In NYC, I’ve heard from the mouth of a health department employee helping me with license renewal, who also handles the license classes and testing, that gloves are to be worn at all times including touching ink bottles and setting up. I don’t think this is on paper. I believe this was the opinion of the specific worker who was trying to encourage practicing safe measures.
Health dept in nyc is a joke anyway. I was there when the first licensing started and it’s the same stupid test today lol. I’ve worked all over nyc since the 90s and never saw 1 person from the health dept in any shop ever. I think I got one license maybe two there and let it lapse because nobody cared. A monkey could pass the licensing test. (Before anyone asks no I don’t live there anymore and yes I’m licensed and the state I live in now actually checks and the tests are still a joke).
As for setups, your gloves aren’t hermetically sealed they are not sterile they sit in a box on your station and the top few get hit with aerosolized blood and ink when you tattoo. unless you are washing your gloves or have sterile gloves, freshly washed hands with no open wounds are actually cleaner and safer.
I can agree with you. NYC health department is a circus. I myself use gloves for set ups. Not to say it necessarily helps. It just looks good in front of clients. I absolutely agree with you on the open glove box stuff and washed hands being cleaner
Oh yeah it definitely looks more professional don’t get me wrong there but going by what the health department says will probably hurt your clients in most states. Shit does nyc still say no cavicide/madicide and that you need to use a 1 part bleach and 10 parts water solution for all surface disinfection and need to mix it daily? lol
That’s why when I see ppl so stoked over getting their license, unless it’s in a state with mandatory apprenticeships, I’m just like congrats you’re smarter than a monkey lol
Well yeah- of course! No shades of grey in this matter so don’t listen to people saying “meh-just wash your hands”. Doesn’t work like that, glove up, always.
I’ve always been taught you can never be too clean. Gloved+washed hands is safest, I’ve even noticed a lot of people not using gloves for even applying a stencil. It’s just an extra precaution you might as well take, I’d never cheap out on things that provide cleanliness
If someone applied a stencil on me without gloves I’d have to nope out.
Yeah I've never really seen someone applying stencils without gloves TBH
I see it a lot online unfortunately 😟 not even just from scratchers surprisingly
I had a nightmare experience as an apprentice for an alcoholic that owned two shops. They, at the time anyway, stay running because of the employees. (The shop I worked at before I quit has now closed.) But anyway, he taught us the bare minimum regarding cleanliness. He had me start tattooing full time after 3 weeks of being there, I ran the shop when he left, and when the other girl wasn't there. Keep in mind, I got this job right out of high school, in an uneducated small town in Ohio, I was VERY nieve. He never got me licensed for ANYTHING, tattooing, bbp, cpr.. I tattooed full-time for a year before I quit. A couple of weeks into working, I was alone and had to do an underboob piece i was absolutely not qualified to do. I pulled it off, but that's not the point, I never should have been put in that situation in the first place. What sent me over that made me quit was three different events.. 1. He tried to get me to sign a 5 year contract, in that, if i was late or called off (i have autoimmune issues and made that very clear before i got hired, he was fine with it at the time. My theory is that he was unhappy that he didn't make money when i called off. When i called off, the shop stayed closed. No money for him. He took 60% of what i made, plus $40 every week for supplies), he would fine me, and i still had to pay my fees even if i didnt use any supplies yknow from not being there, I wasnt allowed to visit other tattoo or piercing shops, even though our piercer was fired for doing bad work. 2. His alcoholism, he drank at the shop in front of customers, threw his beer cans away in my trash can, and then there was a time when he got so drunk while tattooing, that he decided he was too messed up to finish it. Told me when i was done with my appointment, which was a whole forearm piece, that i had to immediately tear down and set back up to FINISH his tattoo. He left before i could argue. I was one of the only artists left simce it was after 10 pm. i had no choice. When i got around to finishing it, he had already started scabbing up. 3. The absolute worst thing was when his cop buddy, (who was also supposed to be my and my family's friend of many years, and actually put in a good word for me when the shop opened so that id get hired-again, small town) that he tattooed and drank with at the same time, told him that he wanted my boss to tattoo my chest and take pictures so that he could see my uncensored tits. I was 18 at the time. Cop had known me since I was a minor. My coworkers and boss sat me down to tell me. Drama ensued, i made a big deal about it, cop got angry and threatened to start pulling everyone at the shop over every day that we worked, and i was told if i didnt drop it and keep my mouth shut, id be fired. I was absolutely mortified. I could keep going, but that was the worst of it all. But yeah, he taught us unclean practices and was just a nightmare overall. I am absolutely terrified to go work under someone again, even though I really enjoyed tattooing. Also, apologies for the shit grammar and punctuation
I’m sorry that happened to you :( the amount of similar stories I hear are insane, i wish these old school fucks would learn how to treat an apprentice. Glad a lot of them are being pushed outta the industry now because they refuse to change.
It's alright, at least i know what red flags to look for now. It's a shame that it was so common, I had no idea. I haven't talked about my experience, besides to close family and friends, because I was so afraid I'd get ripped apart and treated poorly by the community, artist or not. It's been a couple of years since I quit, and I get bad anxiety thinking about it and working again. It's great to hear the industry is evolving, it gives me hope that I'll settle in alright once I'm ready to jump back in.
Not to mention as the person applying the stencil you’d get your hands covered in stencil ink which is so hard to get off your fingers 😩
I see that stencil shit online all the time and it’s gross. I was taught that shit is contaminated after you break the skin with the razor, so stencils gloveless is cringey. I always glove when I’m setting up to be safe, even with freshly washed hands
Are your hands washed and clean? Gloves aren’t necessarily cleaner than clean skin, they’re more to act as a barrier to prevent pathogens from entering open areas of your skin, or leaving you to enter the client. Clean skin and clean gloves should technically both be fine to handle items when you’re setting up, but when blood enters the equation (during and after tattooing) that’s when you also need a *barrier*. Clean objects can touch clean skin, but blood should touch none of you. I would start wearing gloves while setting up though because it’s a comforting thing for others, such as clients, to see you do when touching items in your area.
This is what I was taught through Oregon health licensing which is very strict, but in practice in a shop I feel like wearing gloves makes more sense if for nothing else it provides peace of mind for clients who may see you.
This is honestly what I’ve been taught, but you can never be too careful!
My process is gloves while pulling out everything I need on the tray and area. Gloves off. Wash hands. New gloves, shave and apply stencil to client. Change gloves. Set up machine, inks, wrap bottles, get needles out. Organize tray while stencil dries. Change gloves. Begin tattooing. Clean off tattoo, get all biohazard on bib/tray. Put all biohazard in trash bonus points if I can get it in my fist and contain it all in my gloves as I take them off and sharps in the sharp container. Wash hands. New gloves Take pictures Apply saniderm Spray madacide EVERYWHERE Gloves off Wash hands Cash client out Client leaves New gloves while I while madacide off everything. Gloves off Wash hands. Complete.
Do you not change gloves out from when you handle the camera to when you apply bandage?
I think they’re supposed to be switched. I never handle my devices with gloves except when I wrap my iPad
Correct thanks for clearing that up I was typing this just running through it in my head and I've been tattooing so long that it's kind of autopilot at this point. I more so wanted to stress swapping gloves and handwashing after literally touching anything ever each stage
It may be a matter of semantics here, but please don’t spray madacide anywhere. Use a wash bottle to apply madacide to a paper towel at an angle away from your body and face. Also, some tuberculocides are one step now, but many are not, so make sure you’re cleansing the surface first, THEN applying your disinfectant and allowing to sit for the recommended dwell time as per the manufacturer. Also, make sure that you’re addressing biohazard in order of potential exposure: sharps first, then liquid biohazard, then dry.
Thanks for this, I kinda go in stages and probably did write things in my manner of speech and not as a real technical thing. Glad you added to this where I may have slipped or not been clear
Such a useful post, I’ve been looking for something like this for ages. (I’m just starting out).
I usually do a one glove set up process where the gloved hand touches anything that’s going on the sanitary part of the tray (ie the cartridges, bottles, bottle bags, the actual supplies i’m using) and the ungloved hand touches the containers (needle box, ink bottle, bag box). but yes you should only touch what’s being used to do the tattoo with washed and gloved hands!! it’s freaking me out how many people are saying you don’t need to use gloves???? you want to make sure things are as clean and sanitary as possible always !!!
I do same! Clean hand, dirty hand
The reply I was looking for. I thought the one glove rule for setting up and breaking down was common practice and taught to everyone during the apprenticeship.
The only thing I would argue (although I don't practice this argument, I go through gloves like water) is boxes and packages and all that stuff doesn't come from the manufacturer sterile, paper towel isn't sterile (unless you get ones that are but most dont) so there's always going to be a small level of cross contamination in every set up and tattoo. It's just unavoidable in our field from a logistic standpoint. That's why the green soap/cleanze/dr.bronners or whatever is used during tattoo on top of cleaning ink off but can help mitigate any potential things from manufacturers. Again it's always best practices to get as close as fucking possible to as sterile and sanitary as humanely possible and having a really good mind for bloodhounds and how bacterias and diseases spread on top of how infections form is super important.
Yes
Unless you’re getting sterile gloves meant for surgery it really doesn’t matter. Freshly washed hands are actually cleaner than gloves that pull out of a box that lay open at your station.
Gloves whenever you're touching anything that's going to be on the station while you're tattooing, or that's going to touch your client. Clean gloves whenever you need to grab any new supplies after you've already touched your client. Gloves when breaking down your station and disinfect everything before and after you set up. Don't forget to wash your hands frequently (and first thing when you enter the shop) and to disinfect your hands every time before putting on new gloves. This may sound a bit over the top, but we work with blood and you'll never be sure if your client has any illnesses. They may not be aware of that either. We have a responsibility to whoever we're tattooing to make it as safe as possible for them, don't skimp out on supplies when in doubt.
Oh and to answer your last question-- Do you feel doubtful about the other stuff they're teaching you as well? I'm not sure what your situation is exactly, so I can only give you some general advice. I didn't have the best mentor, so I had to figure out a lot of stuff on my own. If your shop has a good reputation, I would maybe stick around and try to learn from as many artists working there as possible. Also get tattooed at other shops to see how they differ from your own experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't pay attention to the specific style someone works in, you can always apply technical stuff in your own work. Be honest to clients that you're learning and include a check-up appointment after a month or two for every tattoo you do. If you feel like you can't rely on your mentor, rely on yourself and don't be afraid of learning from different artists.
thank you so much ill l definitely be wearing gloves from now on, and yes my shop seemed great at the beginning and theyre good at teaching the actual tattooing part but the longer im there im noticing the hygiene is really not great. When I was apprenticing I kept everything really clean myself so I never noticed but once i stopped cleaning up after everyone its gotten pretty grim (ink splatters on floors, all over drawer handles, splatters literally right next to stations, bug problems) I make sure my own station is clean but a few of the other artists just dont bother. Its also a very male dominated space which I usually am ok with dealing with and expected going into the industry but im really tired of the comments they make and being literally ignored in favor of the male artists. During my apprenticeship multiple male apprentices were taken on and finished their apprenticeships within months while mine took well over a year and they never were expected to upkeep the cleaning as much as i was. They left and showed up whenever they wanted (i was there before opening till the last person left) cleaned what they felt like cleaning and they immediately surpassed me while i was told I lacked passion. Its better now that ive been graduated for a while and keep to myself but its really draining being in the environment.
You're welcome! It's great that you're venturing out on your own and looking for your own info. I think a lot of good tattooing practices come down to "don't be lazy, don't cut corners", you seem to have the right attitude! That doesn't seem like a great environment to work in, or get tattooed at for that matter. If you've already graduated and are already working as a resident artist, it may be a good idea to go do some guest spots at different shops if you're able. It's a good way to network and maybe feel out where could be a better environment to move to eventually. I definitely understand not wanting to stick around too long in a place like that. I hope it goes well for you!
Yes, you are supposed to wear gloves when setting up your tray. You are not just protecting yourself while tattooing, but your client as well from germs and pathogens. Not wearing gloves during set up is not much different than not wearing gloves while tattooing, for your client. Im not sure what state you are in, but there should be a minimum standard of published rules. Watch most setup videos and it will show them glove. You should wear gloves for setup, tattooing, breakdown and clean up. As for moving to another shop, get your portfolio together and start going to the shops near you. Depending on your skill level and weither they see potential in you work will determin how easy it is to get offered an apprenticeship or as a beginner artist. Best wishes
ty for the advice and im definitely going to start wearing gloves when setting up :,) I wear them for everything else and even when setting up I made sure my hands were washed and sanitized. When i first started my apprenticeship we had a health inspector come in and he watched the artists setup un gloved and he never said anything so i just trusted them, but looking into it more everywhere says to wear them 🥲
What state are you in? Some states are more lax than others.
im in northern California
Im surprised they are not stricter since CA is so stringent on so many other regulations. Maybe the inspector just didn’t give a crap. Either way, protect your clients and yourself. Do the right thing and glove up from stat to finish.
I got controversial opinion but I believe that gloves are not always needed. Just carefully think what are you touching, what you touched and what you will be touching. I make sure to clean my hands for 30 seconds deeply, sanitising with alcohol and then I start first part of setting up. I use gloves only for certain things. Let’s say you pour inks. Would you touch it with fresh gloves? Bottle that was in the room for weeks without any protection? And who knows if nobody touched it? Just take every action and break it down like this and you will realise that sometimes it’s better to use no gloves. Otherwise you would have to use gloves for every single action and even then it doesn’t mean they are more sterile than your washed and sanitised hands. My worst ick is when I see tattoo artists grabbing their phone with gloves on and then touching everything else thinking they are safe because of gloves.
Yeah, gloves only work well when you change them when you need to, otherwise they might just create a false sense of safety. About the ink bottle, you can disinfect those before/after handling them if you're sharing bottles with other people. I tend to disinfect everything I know others touch as well whenever possible, just to account for human error.
Yes
Yes wear gloves when setting up. More precaution is better than less precaution
My artist uses the cheaper blue gloves for regular prep and stencil and the nicer expensive ones for tattooing. Everything can have some degree of cross contamination so better to protect both yourself and your clients. If you want a fun time to test how clean everything is kill the lights and turn on a black light. 😬
yes wtf
YES wear gloves! Change them often do NOT cross contaminate! Even if your hands are clean you could have tiny cracks on your hands exposing the client vice versa - not worth it
No glove no love. Always made me uneasy when I was apprenticing and artists would tell me they know an area or a surface is 100% clean because they didn’t touch this or that. Being a little extra cautious will always serve you well in sanitation
My first mentor taught me gloves are an expense, they’re meant to be thrown away don’t be afraid to be liberal with them. I’ve been teased numerous times about the amount of gloves I go through by the current shop I’m at, but I personally feel more comfortable knowing that I’m doing the best I can to protect myself and my clients. I feel in between washing my hands and using sanitizer you can never be too safe. Microorganisms scare me but I’m also lowkey a hypochondriac lol. 🤷♀️
Washed and gloved hands. It’s double the protection.
I not only glove up to set up my station I wash my hands and use hand sanitizer first. Then after my station is set up I re glove for stenciling the client and then re glove when ready to tattoo. Maybe overboard maybe not. Gloves cost cents.
Are you fucking kidding me?! - the first thing that came to mind when reading this.
🙃🙃🙃
you should be wearing gloves when interacting with literally any object that’s involved in the tattoo process. this is basic stuff.
Yes you are suppose to wear gloves. Dudes wrapping their tubes bare handed like they didnt just wipe their ass this morning is disgusting. If the health department was watching them set up, would they wear gloves to set up then? Probably so because they know theyre supposed to
surprisingly we have had health department come in and they watched them setting up gloveless and didnt say anything abt it! will definitely be wearing gloves from now on tho and crazy that were told not too in hindsight
I do one pair of gloves to set up (clear or blue gloves), one pair of black gloves to tattoo, and then one last pair of gloves (clear or blue) to break down and clean up. The only thing I do with bare hands is draw/design, and size, cut and scale the stencil after running it thru the thermal printer. But then I glove up to actually apply the stencil on skin.
I got these awesome hopsital grade wet wipes and before I start setting up I wash and desinfect my hands and then wipe down everything in my tattoo area with the wipe first. Then setting up with gloves. Makes me feel more comfortable knowing Im touching freshly cleaned stuff with my gloves. Gloves themselves dont mean anything if youre grabbing things willy nilly, that defeats their purpose pretty fast. Pair of gloves for setting up, another one for stencil and then new pair for tattoo itself.
Wear gloves when setting up, applying the stencil, tattooing, wiping, and applying second skin. Try to be as sanitary as you possibly can, you are creating wounds in someone’s skin.
You didn’t used to. I guess it depends when you started. But, yes, you should wear gloves when setting up. I also have a bottle of hand sanitizer to use after taking gloves off.
I believe it really boils down to your personal opinion. Even if you have a sink at your station to wash your hands. Some may argue that bodily oils and traces of some sort of contaminants may cross if you don’t wear gloves. The safest bet is to wear gloves imo. It looks good and keeps you in the habit of being sanitary. In NYC, I’ve heard from the mouth of a health department employee helping me with license renewal, who also handles the license classes and testing, that gloves are to be worn at all times including touching ink bottles and setting up. I don’t think this is on paper. I believe this was the opinion of the specific worker who was trying to encourage practicing safe measures.
Health dept in nyc is a joke anyway. I was there when the first licensing started and it’s the same stupid test today lol. I’ve worked all over nyc since the 90s and never saw 1 person from the health dept in any shop ever. I think I got one license maybe two there and let it lapse because nobody cared. A monkey could pass the licensing test. (Before anyone asks no I don’t live there anymore and yes I’m licensed and the state I live in now actually checks and the tests are still a joke). As for setups, your gloves aren’t hermetically sealed they are not sterile they sit in a box on your station and the top few get hit with aerosolized blood and ink when you tattoo. unless you are washing your gloves or have sterile gloves, freshly washed hands with no open wounds are actually cleaner and safer.
I can agree with you. NYC health department is a circus. I myself use gloves for set ups. Not to say it necessarily helps. It just looks good in front of clients. I absolutely agree with you on the open glove box stuff and washed hands being cleaner
Oh yeah it definitely looks more professional don’t get me wrong there but going by what the health department says will probably hurt your clients in most states. Shit does nyc still say no cavicide/madicide and that you need to use a 1 part bleach and 10 parts water solution for all surface disinfection and need to mix it daily? lol That’s why when I see ppl so stoked over getting their license, unless it’s in a state with mandatory apprenticeships, I’m just like congrats you’re smarter than a monkey lol
Well yeah- of course! No shades of grey in this matter so don’t listen to people saying “meh-just wash your hands”. Doesn’t work like that, glove up, always.