How do you wash a new tattoo?

The order, every time

It takes about a minute and the order matters more than the products.

• Wash your own hands first, with soap. Every single time · this is the step people skip.
• Warm water, not hot. Hot water opens the skin and stings on a fresh tattoo.
• Unscented liquid soap, worked gently with your fingertips. No cloth, no sponge, no bar of soap that lives in a shared shower.
• Rinse until it no longer feels slippery.
• Pat dry with a clean towel or kitchen roll. Never rub, and never the towel that has been on the rail all week.
• Leave it a minute to air, then a thin layer of moisturiser.

How often

Two or three times a day for the first two weeks, and any time it gets dirty or sweaty. More than that dries it out; less and plasma dries into scabs that take longer to go.

Showers yes, baths no

Shower from the first day and keep it brief. What you cannot do is soak it, so no baths, no swimming and no hot tubs until it has fully closed.

Try to keep the shower off the tattoo directly for the first few days. Let the water run down over it rather than hitting it.

If it is under an adhesive film

Then none of this starts until the film comes off. Wash around it, not through it, and follow what your artist told you about how long it stays on.