Health and beauty

How To Find a Safe Tattoo Shop

by Helen on Apr.17, 2009, under Tattoo & Body Art, Tattoo Knowledge, Tattoo Supplies, Tattoo news

step1

Ask the tattoo shop owner or manager for a tour. If they are reluctant or flat out refuse, this should set off warning bells that they have something to hide. A clean, respectable shop should never have a problem with you taking a look around. Areas where tattoos are currently being completed, however, may be temporarily off limits because the client may not want people walking through while they’re being worked on. Some people, however, don’t mind if you take a peek while they’re being tattooed, which is a good opportunity to see how an artist operates.

Step2

Inquire from the specific artist who will be tattooing you if you can see his work station. Again, if he doesn’t want to show you his area prior to tattooing you, then he may also have something to hide, unless he’s in the middle of tattooing someone else.

 

Step3

Talk to the shop owner or tattoo artist you are considering at length. Getting to know them better is nice, but it also allows you to ask him questions about the safety and sanitation procedures that are followed. This is especially important when it comes to needles and cleaning practices. Do they use all disposable needles and tubes or do they use an autoclave on re-usable metal tubes? Can you watch them physically remove a new needle from the packaging? What kind of germicidal cleaners do they use between customers? These are just some of the questions you should be concerned with.

Step4

Find out if the shop and the artist are required to be licensed by a state office. This will vary depending on what state you are in and can also tell you a lot about how clean a shop must be to get licensed. For example, in Oklahoma, shops and artists are both required to be licensed by the State Department of Health, Consumer Protection Division. Inspectors from the department are required to physically inspect each tattoo shop at least twice a year and anytime there is a complaint made against a shop.

Step5

Visit the AAA Tattoo Directory website’s regulations by state page to learn about licensing. This is a handy guide to the status of each state, what regulations they must follow and what, if any, state departments are in charge of licensing. You can contact these departments directly to see if a specific shop or artist is licensed and some will even tell you if they’ve had any complaints.

Step6

Contact the state health department, even if they don’t handle licensing in your state. You can find phone numbers to these departments on the Internet or start by calling your local Health Department and see if they can give you the correct number to call. If they do the licensing directly, they can answer a lot of your safety questions and if they don’t, they may still know about complaints made against certain shops or artists.

Step7

 

Look for current licenses, which should be hung in clear view for both the shop and the artist, if you are in a state that requires them. If you don’t see a license posted, ask to see their license and if they can’t produce one, they are operating illegally.

Step8

Check to see if the tattoo parlor and/or artist are registered with a professional organization. Although it’s not required, it could mean the shop and artist are more up-to-date on industry standards and safety issues. However, just because they are not a member does not mean the establishment isn’t safe and vice versa.

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