Sterile Ink caps, tounge depressers?

[Miss Disaster]

I want everything to be as sterile as humanly possible for someone who doesn't own a shop. I bought a big bag of ink caps, tounge depressors for vasiline, and nipple grommets. Do these items have to be sterile to be safe as long as I use new every single time? Thanks again.

[Papa Gee]

Just dont reach into the bag of caps with contaminated gloves on. I doubt they're sterile when you get them but they're clean enough for use. As far as tounge depressors they're sterile in the package it they are individually packaged. Normally I just dip my gloved finger (new gloves) into the vaseline and scoop up a gob and put it on a clean paper towel on my work surface. I've never had to go back and get more vaseline during a tattoo session. And I just throw away the leftover with the paper towel when I'm done.

[Preacher]

Hello,
i put plastic under my paper towles, so that when i am done i just grab the selfain and throw the whole thing in the trash. makes it easier to clean up. get out enough caps to do the job. throw any left overs away.
Stop and watch for CC. :D

[Deakon]

Think of it like this... The only things that need to be sterilized are things that could have possibly come in contact with a contaminant, be it blood or otherwise. Your biggest threat is Hep-B which can live in a dry speck of blood for a couple of months! So...

Nipples are cheap. Every customer gets a new set. (add .05 to cost of the tattoo)

Ink caps shouldn't be anywhere near a place where than can become contaminated. Keep your bags in a cabinet. Don't reach into the bag at all... Buy a sundry jar and fill it up with various size ink caps, then fill it with alcohol. (That'll keep any kind of bacteria from trying to grow in there.) Then use forceps or tweezers to pull out caps before a tattoo.

Tongue depressors are cheap... You can buy individually wrapped depressors for fairly cheap. (add another .05 to the cost of the tattoo)

Don't stick your fingers in the vasoline... use the tongue depressor. It's less messy.

I use Virkon to sanitize my work area, wipe down my machines, clean the floor, clean the trashcan and even use it in the laundry.

The main thing is cross-contamination. Do anything to keep the current client from coming in contact with the previous client. New stuff like tongue depressors, ink caps, paper towels etc. don't need to be sterilized... just sanitized.