Clean Equipment

• Wear gloves to avoid contamination. Next, sterilize the tattoo equipment. After each use, the tattoo artist should place the nondisposable equipment into an ultrasonic cleaning machine to remove leftover ink and other waste. Sterilize the ultrasonic machine every day if you run a tattoo parlor. This prevents the growth of bacteria. Also soak the equipment in a disinfectant approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for hospitals. The equipment should be soaked for 20 minutes and then scrubbed clean.