Visited a friend's place yesterday and left feeling weird about his homemade tattoo setup

I went over to my buddy Mark's apartment in Portland to check out his latest stick and poke work. He was using a sewing needle he'd wrapped in thread, dipping it in India ink he bought from a craft store. The whole scene was on his kitchen counter next to a pile of dirty dishes. I tried to stay chill, but the lack of any sterilization or gloves really got to me. He said he's done 15 tattoos this way and never had an infection, but that just seems like luck to me. Has anyone else walked into a friend's setup and had to bite their tongue about the safety issues?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.angela22d ago

Is a little dish soap and tap water really not enough to keep things clean?

charles_young9222d ago

Are you actually scrubbing though? Hot water and soap works but you gotta put in the work.

jessej2322d ago

@charles_young92 I call it a "blessing" not scrubbing. 😅