Anti Bacterial is not recommended,the skin has a natural and friendly population of bacteria that helps protect the surface of the wound,therefore using an anti-bacterial product would kill the bad bacteria but would also greatly reduce the natural bacteria leaving the skin without its primary defense.

Your tattooist already has used clean and aseptic techniques to avoid any nasty bacteria so its usually best to use warm water,(do not use cloth or sponge) pat dry then allow the skin to dry out for 40-60 mins and apply an Aftercare product such as Protat or Tattoo Goo etc.

Hope this helps.

i use a spray wash by savlon , its mild as its for children’s cuts and grazes i have also used normal dove soap before and i have never had any problems with healing at all 😀

I just use a towel soaked in warm water to gently pat it and remove any dried blood and apply bepanthen, I don’t use soap until maybe a few days later.

you should never use anything that is oil based for aftercare treatment….. this includes tee tree oil !!! it can leach out the colour;)

personally i use bactericidal hand soap made by zenith, i always have it in my studio …. its the same stuff that you would use in a restaurant or catering business, but i have also used dove soap and all is well.

one of my clients uses savlon baby wipes to wipe it gently and then let it dry, she heals real quick so i might try that when i have another done :p

Arcangel is 100% on the money. Antibacterial soaps just allow antibacterial soap RESISTANT bacteria to stay alive and destroys all the rest IF and ONLY IF you leave it on the skin for 2+ minutes. Otherwise, it’s useless… it takes 2 minutes to work.

BUT… after those two minutes… you’ve got a bigger problem… you only have resistant bacteria on your skin.. they multiply and now you’ve got a new society of flesh eating bacteria with no competition for food. I read this at http://bioprin.posterous.com/mom-why-antibacterial-soap-is-dangerous-to-yo

mmmmm…:rolleyes: