Tattoo Shop FAQs
What are the laws about tattoos?
Tattoo laws differ from state to state. To find the exact laws of your state you can call your states health department, or even search their website. Tattoo’s are legal in all 50 states, however cities have the right to ban tattoo shops from their limits. All tattoo shops must be licensed by the state and county they practice in and each artist must hold a tattooing license issued by the same state. Each state has different requirements for levels of cleanliness within the tattoo shop. The most common laws include:
- Individuals under the age of 18 cannot consent to being tattooed.
- Intoxicated individuals cannot consent to being tattooed.
What is in a tattoo kit?
You can expect for every the kit to have the basics for an entire tattoo machine, however the quality of the machine will differ from kit to kit. This means a kit should have the barrel of the machine, the frame, the coils and even a power supply with a foot petal. All of these components are mandatory when you are assembling a tattoo gun. The quality of the machine depends on the parts that are compiled to make a complete gun. Some brands are better than others, so make sure you research brands before your purchase machine parts. Aside from the machine equipment you should expect to find other things in your tattoo kit. Many kits include an array of tattoo needles in different sizes and styles, mini ink sets, ink cups and transfer paper. You can also find kits that include gloves, tattoo designs and even practice skin.
My artist said he used a size 5 needle on my tattoo, what does that mean?
Needles are numbered based on the number of smaller needles that are incorporated into the entire needle. For example, if there were 3 small needles incorporated into the entire needle it would be considered a size 3 needle. Furthermore 5 small needles makes for a size five needle and 7 small needles would be considered a size seven and so on. Needles are typically sized in odd numbers from 3-15 and from there they continue up in scale in increments of 5.