Once upon a time, when it came to ink for tattoos, there were a lot of chemicals inside them that probably weren’t safe for the human body. Nowadays, tattoos are much safer, which really does help anybody who is nervous about getting one. So what should you know about modern tattooing?
Modern tattoo ink is quite safe. It’s very easily removed with tattoo removal in London, and it’s made from safe chemicals, but it’s important to understand how the process has been made that much safer for you.
What is modern ink?
So, nowadays, you will see that there is a wide selection of different pigments and chemicals that are being used to create tattoo ink. People are getting much pickier about what they put on their bodies. Modern tattoo ink is now usually referred to as organic because it is made from organic chemicals that crop up more frequently in nature that aren’t harmful.
Tattoo artists use them much more frequently than the previous type of tattoo ink, which used to be made of things like heavy metal, charcoal, or even rust.
What makes up ink?
When discussing tattoo ink, it is important to know that there are two primary components that create it. First of all, there is the colourant or the pigment base. This is what gives the tattoo its colour. The type of material that goes into the colourant is subject to what kind of colour is necessary.
After that, you have an ink carrier. This is the liquid base that distributes the colour evenly and prevents it from clumping. Modern ink creation involves safe types of carriers like witch hazel, distilled water, glycerine, or propylene glycol.
The problem used to be that to keep production costs down, manufacturers would mix heavy metal into tattoo ink. The result was often an excess of toxic chemicals that made their way into the body, meaning that tattoos are often very dangerous.
Thankfully, this isn’t the case anymore, but it’s a good idea to consult with your tattoo artist to find out what kind of ink they are using. Most artists have switched to modern pigments, but there are a few that still use traditional methods, and it’s important to know which is which before getting a tattoo.
Final thoughts
Ultimately, modern tattooing has made the tattooing process much safer. It’s important to recognise that modern ink does not contain the same harmful chemicals that traditional ink does, which is very helpful when attempting to avoid exposing oneself to said chemicals.
These chemicals are much more prevalent in older tattoos, and it’s often the case that parents and grandparents with tattoos may have these chemicals in their bodies.
It’s not necessarily going to cause massive long-term damage, as many people have tattoos and live to be quite old, but it’s also not something anybody should voluntarily put into their skin, so the development of modern ink is very helpful.
