Mark, our website manager, asked me to write a blog devoted to how to make your tats last longer.

First of all I would say that you need to educate your customer on how to take care of their tat. You can do this verbally for each individual customer, which is easy when you only have a few customers trickling in. But when you have long lines waiting for tats this can be hard on your voice box. I would recommend that you have a framed list of care instructions placed where the customer can see it while getting their tat. Refer the customer to this care instruction list while they are getting their tat applied.

Included in your marketing portfolio is a sheet of business card, size care instructions. I would get some copies of that sheet, cut the instructions out and keep these on the table so you could hand one to any customer who wants to take care instructions with them.

Let me run through some of the care instructions with you.

1. Do not rub the tat while bathing.
2. Gently pat the tat dry with a towel.
3. Do not apply any lotions or oils over the tat.
4. Apply Talcum powder over the tat to cut down on friction.
5. Extended time submerged in water will remove the tat.

I would stress the use of Talcum powder to the customer. Friction from clothing rubbing over the tat is probably the major cause of a tat coming off before its time. If the customer has oily skin the tat will not last as long on that person and Talcum powder will help absorb some of the oil so the tat will last longer.

There are a few key tat application points I would also like to cover with you. I think these are important because I have noticed when we do training here at TAT International, for some reason, the newbie has overlooked at least one of these steps in applying a tat.

Don’t forget to clean the customer’s skin with rubbing alcohol before applying the tat. No matter how clean the customer looks, any barrier between the skin and the ink will cause the tat to come off more quickly. The tat will last longer if it lies on the skin, not over perspiration, lotion, bronzers or dirt. It is important to use rubbing alcohol to clean the skin; alcohol will do a better job of removing any oils.

Another common mistake made by our newbie is not using enough ink to cover the tat. They concentrate on spraying the center of the tat and let the edges fill in with the over spray. The edges of the tat need attention also. Give the edge of the tat a quick spray before removing the stencil from the customer’s skin. The color of the tat should be consistent from the center of the tat to the edged. Check for consistency in color before removing the stencil. After you have done this a few times you will get better in judging consistency.

Whether you are using Standard, Nazille or Duratat body inks, if your tat looks shiny and wet when you are done, you used too much ink and the tat will not last as long.

One final note: If you have a few customers returning because their tat is not staying on as long, I would not be too concerned. Chances are that it is just their bad luck to have oily skin. If you are getting a lot of complaints about tats not lasting as long, then you need to take a good look at your application process. I suggest you check our Trouble Shooting Guide for the proper application of tats. Then start practicing on family and friends and experiment to see what you need to do to increase the longevity of your tats.