Tattoo Healing Ointment - Tell me what you use!

I've always used A/D ointment, available in the first aid or baby care aisles.

I've used this for every single tattoo I have. No complaints.

I've always used A/D ointment, available in the first aid or baby care aisles.

^^^This is the correct answer^^^

Have been told by multiple artists.

Not true, A&D can pull out the ink. A good option is unscented lotion, even better with oatmeal. Or the better is to use something like H2Ocean, you can get that from most of the nicer shops.

I used A/D ointment for my last one, it worked the best.

dont use bactirin. its crap. I have 28 VERY colorful tats and the only thing I EVER use to heal it is bag balm. Thats it. I wouldnt use all that other crap, it will just pull the ciolor out

wow...and here i was thinkin i was the only bag balm user in this thread

bag balm for me and then unscented lotion (which i always use...fresh tats or not)

I was told to keep my bandage on for an hour, then to take it off, rinse it under lukewarm water and use a soft washcloth with anti-bacterial soap to sponge off (by lightly dabbing the area with the soapy washcloth, DO NOT RUB IT) excess blood/plasma/ink, then rinse it off and gently pat it dry with a soft towel.

Following that, I used a TINY, and I mean REALLY tiny amount of A&D ointment on it twice a day for the first three days. Just enough to give it a light shine, first thing in the morning and before bed. Don't ever re-bandage it because it needs to be exposed to air in order to heal. Yeah, that means it will stick to your clothes, blankets, and sheets when you sleep, but you can always use the soap/warm water routine in the morning to remove lint and fuzz and whatnot. When it flakes and scabs, don't pick at it or scratch it. I picked scabs off my most recent one and had to go back for touch ups because I pulled color out. If it itches, slap it. It will sting, but it takes the itch away.

For one week after the A&D ointment, I took Aquaphor lotion everywhere with me and used it as often as I needed for moisturizer, but again, just enough to give it a light shine. The tattoo drank it up like crazy, so I used probably once every 3-4 hours. I have three tattoos and this is what I did for all of them. The one on my upper back, I had to ask my boyfriend for help with cleaning and moisturizing but it worked out well. And if it got itchy at all, I made sure I had a full shirt on (not a tank top) and I would go bear-style and scratch my back against a rounded corner of a piece of furniture lol.

I got a huge one on my foot 2 months ago, I used antibacterial wipes for one week and a thin layer of regular cream...this is what I was told, the tattoo looks great.

Hi there. I got more work done on my back piece and from the beginning of time I've been using bacitracin. It works well but can be kind of messy. I use it for the first 3 days and then usually switch over to lotion.

I ordered some new stuff called H20 and it came in a box with 3 diff items. One was a blue/green soup, lotion type product, and then a nightime foam. Has anyone used this? I haven't tried it yet but I have it at home.
http://aftercare.h2ocean.com/tattoo/ultimate-tattoo-care/

What else are people using for their tattoos? Bacitracin works well but it leaves a mess on shirts you wear. Now that I'm getting multiple sittings I can't always take off work and I don't want to ruin my clothing. Today I'm wearing a shirt I don't normally wear so that works out well but I'd like to find something that works w/out leaving a mess.

I was talking to a guy with a LOT of very vibrant looking tattoos. None were faded looking at all. He said the trick is to not use anything on them after getting your tattoo. Just let them heal on their own. The only thing to watch for is not picking at them when they get itchy. Sure enough, I went from using tattoo goo to nothing and all of the new ones look much more vibrant.

A+D is known to actually harm the colors of your ink when they are in the freshest stage so for the list of you swearing by it you may want to step out of 1990 and get on the bus with the newer techniques. Aquaphor is excellent as is a good high end water based perfume/dye free skin moisturizer, If you are at your local tattoo shop Tattoo Goo is good but Ink Fixx is better. With the thicker ones though(aquaphor, goo, and fixx) this really should only be applied for the first few days to protect what is essentially an open wound, after that you should switch to moisturizer so your skin can breathe and heal better. If you are a tanning bed junkie feel free to use whatever you want because you probably picked a dumb *kitten* tattoo design and in a few months your ink will be ruined anyway. Cheers! :drinker:

Aquaphor.

My husband uses this.

Bepantham (a nappy cream) is great and coconut oil