This is the regimen that I follow and my tats turned out fabulous:
1. Keep the original bandage on your tat for a minimum of 3 hours. I usually just leave mine on overnight. If your friends are bugging to see it, tell them they'll just have to wait.
2. Use lukewarm water (not *hot* water) and antibacterial soap to wash your tat at least twice a day. Do NOT use a washcloth or anything harsh/abrasive. Your hand will do just fine as long as your hands are washed with soap/water first. Lightly pat your tat dry with a clean towel.
(As far as if it's okay to use non-antibacterial soap, I really really wouldn't recommend it. Antibacterial soap is really inexpensive - just go to the corner Rite-Aid or drug store and pick some up. I got a small bottle of liquid Dial for about $3.)
3. For the first 3 days, apply a bit of Bacitracin to your tat after washing. Unlike things like petroleum jelly or Neosporin, Bacitracin doesn't drain the color out of a tat. You can pick some up at any drug store. A tube of it costs about $3-4. Some people still use Neosporin but it can cause an allergic reaction in some folks and you'll end up with a fugly tattoo.
4. Thereafter, keep your tat clean and apply lotion when needed. As far as "fragrance-free" and all that, it's to make sure that you don't have some kind of adverse reaction to the ingredients in the lotion. Do you have sensitive skin or are you susceptible to allergic reactions? I use Vaseline Advanced Healing fragrance-free lotion with vitamin E. You can get a small bottle of the stuff (3 fl oz.) for about $2 at a drug store. But if you really want to save money, ask your female relatives or friends. I'm sure one of them has to have some fragrance-free stuff around.
5. After a few days you'll notice some peeling and possibly scabbing. It may itch like crazy but whatever you do, DONT scratch it! Smack it if you have to or apply more lotion to it.
Other things to keep in mind:
-Don't take baths or soak in water while your tat is healing. This can cause loss of color or vulnerability to infection.
-Don't wear tight clothing over your tattoo. This blocks oxygen and also traps bacteria in.
-Don't expose your tattoo to sunlight for the first two weeks or so. After that, apply sunblock to your tat if it's going to be out in the sun. This will help keep it looking bright.
-Don't rebandage your tat. You want it to get plenty of oxygen to speed up healing.
-Try not to work out as much or do anything that will cause you to sweat a lot for the first week or two. This has the same effect as soaking in water and the sweat can also irritate the tat. If you can't avoid it, always shower/clean your tat after sweating.
Anyways that's basically what I followed and it worked quite well for me. You will more than likely hear different kinds of advice from different sources -- some people don't like to use ointments and recommend using only lotion, while others say not to use lotion at all as it can be a bacteria-carrying agent. Others say not to use bacitracin as a very small % of people may have an allergic reaction to it, etc. etc. Like most things in life, nothing is guaranteed or fool-proof. When in doubt or if you run into any problems, call your tattoo artist and follow his/her advice.
Also, don't be stingy with your time or your money when it comes to tattoo aftercare. Your tat is going to last you for the rest of your life, take good care of it from the start!
Hope this helped,
Pixie
