Leave the bandage on for a minimum 90 minutes, a maximum of overnight. As soon as the bandage comes off, wash the tattoo. This may require a shower, depending on tattoo placement. Using comfortably warm water and a mild, unscented soap, get a heavy lather of soap in your hands, get the tattoo very soapy, gently rub with your fingers and rinse. Do not use a sponge, luffa, washcloth, etc, just lather with your hands and lather the tattoo, really wash it, and then rinse it off fully. Do this again. And again. You want to wash all of the ointment, excess tattoo pigment, blood and plasma from the tattoo. This often takes a bit more washing that you would think. Once you’ve completely washed the tattoo, give it one more wash and then turn the water to straight cold. Let cold water run over the tattoo for 30-45 seconds. If it’s a large tattoo in a painful spot, this will be unpleasant. The cold water causes your pores to close and it slows the blood flow at the surface of the skin, this helps your skin ‘seal’ the fresh wound. I recommend this because I was told to try it and it genuinely changed how my body healed tattoos. Now I tell this to everyone I tattoo. Now, pat the tattoo dry with a clean towel and apply a tiny amount of your preferred ointment. Aquaphor, Vitamin A&D ointment are some classic recommendations but there are many products on the market now. Less is better. If you can see or even feel the ointment on your skin you have too much on. Too much is worse than none at all. Rub this ointment fully into the skin and pat off any excess with a paper towel. Apply ointment only as needed, maybe once a day. If your tattoo doesn’t feel tight or dry, like badly chapped lips, you don’t need to put anything on it.

During the healing process, your tattoo will itch. Do not scratch it, do not pick or itch, just try to ignore it. Generally speaking, you can treat your tattoo like normal, healed skin in a couple weeks, but sometimes it takes longer.

This type of bandage is intended to be left on for multiple days. I don’t recommend this type of bandage for those who have very sensitive skin or reactions to adhesives like bandaids. I have heard of people leaving it on for up to 5 days, but I personally have never had it stick to me for more than 3 days. Body fluid might collect under the bandage. This is normal and completely fine, as long as the bandage is sealed fully around the tattoo, it’s safe to leave on. To remove this bandage, let warm water run over the bandage for a bit, warming it up helps the adhesive come off the skin a bit easier. Pull the saniderm so that it stretches off the skin, rather than pulls off the skin. Think of it like a 3M/Command wall strip. No matter how you pull the bandage off, it will feel a little less than pleasant coming off the skin. Once you have the saniderm removed, wash the tattoo. Using a mild, unscented soap, get a heavy lather of soap in your hands, get the tattoo very soapy, and rinse. Do not use a sponge, luffa, washcloth, etc, just lather with your hands and lather the tattoo, really wash it, and then rinse it off fully. Do this again. And again. This type of bandage allows your body to well into the healing process before you have to do anything. But there will still be an accumulation of blood, plasma and tattoo pigment underneath the bandage, so you still want to wash it very well. Once you’ve completely washed the tattoo, give it one more wash and then turn the water to straight cold. Let cool water run over the tattoo for 30-45 seconds. The cold water causes your pores to close and it slows the blood flow at the surface of the skin, this helps your skin ‘seal’ the fresh wound. This is more helpful when taking the bandage off within 12 hours of getting the tattoo, but I think it’s always good for the skin. Pat the tattoo dry with a clean towel and apply a tiny amount of your preferred ointment. Aquaphor, Vitamin A&D ointment are some classic recommendations but there are many products on the market now. Less is better. If you can see or even feel the ointment on your skin you have too much on. Too much is worse than none at all. Rub this ointment fully into the skin and pat off any excess with a paper towel. Apply ointment only as needed, maybe once a day. If your tattoo doesn’t feel tight or dry, like badly chapped lips, you don’t need to put anything on it.

During the healing process, your tattoo will itch. Do not scratch it, do not pick or itch, just try to ignore it. Generally speaking, you can treat your tattoo like normal, healed skin in a couple weeks, but sometimes it takes longer.