My 10th stick-and-poke tattoo convinced me that sterilizing with rubbing alcohol is way better than boiling water.

After I boiled my needle for 15 minutes and still got a little infection, I switched to 70% isopropyl alcohol and a fresh setup and had zero issues since.

3 comments

3 Comments

west.casey15d ago

Question whether boiling water even kills everything you'd need it to, especially at home where you can't guarantee the right temperature for the right amount of time. A little infection's a pain but not exactly life threatening unless you're unlucky.

faith_shah8815d agoMost Upvoted

People act like a good scrub even counts as disinfecting. @west.casey

reese_lee915d ago

That part about "a little infection's a pain but not exactly life threatening" - I gotta push back on that one. Seen too many guys on the job site get a small cut, think it's nothing, and a week later they're on antibiotics with a red streak going up their arm. It's not about being unlucky, it's about bacteria being real good at finding a way in. Scrub gets the dirt off but it doesn't kill the tiny stuff that actually causes problems. Boiling water might kill most things but you're right it's hard to keep it hot enough long enough at home.