Your tattoo artist will be finishing off your new tattoo and complete it by washing down your tattoo and wiping it down.
From there, they will apply A & D ointment and apply a clean clear wrap to your tattoo. With alot of my tattoos they are in done with difficult spots, for this my artist will use tape to keep the wrap around the tattooed area.
I have a love and hate relationship with the plastic wrap applied to fresh tattoos.
I love:
- How I dont have to take the wrap off to show people who ask
- How it keeps the open area covered and clean
- How it does not stick and can cover the entire area of the tattoo
I hate:
- The Aftercare mess! The thing with the wrap is it will seep the bodily fluids from the tattooed area making a literal bloody mess that can be difficult to wash off.
Bandaging and the Tattoo Healing Process
You will get home with the plastic wrap still on the tattoo, this is applied to contain bodily fluids, keep the area clean, and make tattoo cleaning simple.
Pro Tip 1:
Remember patience is a virtue and that it is important to not get too excited and remove the wrap early.
If you get your tattoo during the day and you will have time to be out and about after getting it then from my experience I would remove the wrap after wearing it for 2-8 hours of having it on.
Immediately after getting your tattoo, you technically have a fresh open wound on your body. It is critical that you keep it protected for 2-8 hour time frame to ensure your tattoo heals correctly.
My artist has told me a couple times to sleep with the wrap on. Generally, this is because we finish late at night. In cases like this there is a simple protocol I follow:
- I don’t shower or expose myself to water
- I place towels where my tattoo will be on my bed
- I am very careful about how I sleep to not apply pressure to the area.
- I wake up in the morning and remove the wrap
Pro Tip 2:
I sometimes see people leaving their tattoo wraps on for more than 8 hours, sometimes even days at a time. Or even worse, they remove the wrap and then reapply another one because someone said that was a good idea.
While I always advise listening to what your tattoo artist says to ensure proper recovery, I do not believe in doing anything from the above.
By leaving the plastic wrap on your body for extended periods of time, or even worse applying another one you are increasing the chances of an infection to occur.
Let’s think about this, the area that has been tattooed is hot, moist, and is leaking bodily fluids as an open wound. If you were to contain these fluids without cleaning them for long periods of time allowing them to collect dirt and anything else that it may be exposed to an infection can develop very quickly.
Once your remove the wrap you would want to move onto the 7 stages of washing your new tattoo to continue a successful tattoo healing process.