Tattoos are growing in popularity more and more every day; in fact, it is estimated that around 45 million Americans have at least one tattoo, if not more. And whether they are drawn to the art form of tattoos for sentimental or aesthetic purposes, the fact remains that people are constantly on the look out for where and when to get their first or next tattoo. With approximately 21,000 tattoo parlors in the United States, there are plenty of options for people to choose from when it comes to where to get their tattoos done, so long as they know just what they want to get.

There are a few things that factor into deciding where to get a tattoo done, however.

First, there is the reputation of the shop, what people say about it, whether these things are good or bad. There are the artists themselves, what they’ve seen from them, how good or renown they are. There are the prices of said tattoos; while it is true that you get what you pay for and you should be wary about bargain hunting when it comes to something so permanent that will be etched onto your skin for the rest of your life, some people truly can’t help but pick a cheaper shop over the more expensive one.

And last but certainly not least, a decidedly extremely important factor to take into consideration is the cleanliness of the shop. When it comes to things like tattoos, where a needle is repeatedly being used to pierce your skin and deposit ink into it, essentially creating an open wound on your body, it is very important, given that blood-borne pathogens are able to live on surfaces and objects for up to a week, that the environment in which this is done is as clean as it can possibly be, to avoid complications and the transmission of blood-borne diseases. Just as it is important that the equipment itself that is used is sterilized before it is used on the client.

Many tattoo shops are moving towards using completely disposable equipment making the need for tattoo sterilization equipment in their shops nonexistent, but other shops and artists are more traditional in that they don’t see the need to continue buying new equipment when they can simply use their same tried and true methods to sterilize the equipment they already have.

In the case of those who would rather continue to use their tattoo sterilization equipment, some of the more popular pieces of equipment used are the statim 2000 autoclave, and the statim 5000 autoclave, both of which are steam sterilizers that run between 250 and 270 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperatures that must be maintained in order to kill most contaminants and microorganisms that can cause disease or infection if picked up by a client in a shop.

Indeed, the world of tattooing is a fun one to play around in, and many people are enjoying themselves both as the client and the tattoo artist, but it is important to remember your tattoo sterilization equipment in the midst of the fun and games, lest you find yourself playing a far more serious game if proper precautions and sterilization techniques and procedures are not adhered to. Because that is surely where the fun would end.