Fading and Discoloration: Chlorine has bleaching properties. Short-term exposure to chlorine may not have a drastic impact on a tattoo, but repeated or prolonged exposure can cause the ink to fade and even discolor.
Limit Exposure: Try to limit how often you expose your tattoo to chlorine or saltwater, especially in the first few weeks after getting it. Overall, while tattoos won't immediately fade from swimming, prolonged and repeated exposure to chlorine and saltwater can contribute to their fading over time.
Fading: Chlorine can cause tattoos to fade more quickly, especially if you swim frequently in chlorinated pools. The chemicals can break down the ink and damage the skin, leading to a loss of vibrancy.
Tattoos shouldn't be fully submerged in water (in the way they would be while swimming) until they are fully healed. This usually takes about 6 weeks.
Limit Exposure: Try to limit how often you expose your tattoo to chlorine or saltwater, especially in the first few weeks after getting it. Overall, while tattoos won't immediately fade from swimming, prolonged and repeated exposure to chlorine and saltwater can contribute to their fading over time.
Ink Parlour tattoos are made to withstand contact with water, which makes them perfect for aquatic adventures. However, prolonged exposure to water, especially in chlorinated pools, may slightly affect their longevity.
Factors like sun exposure, skin elasticity, friction, improper aftercare, smoking, and tanning can accelerate tattoo fading. Natural methods like exfoliation and using lightening agents may help fade tattoos, but professional laser removal is the most reliable and safest option.
Don't worry, this is completely natural. It happens because the old skin, damaged during the tattooing process, forms a thin layer over your tattoo and masks its true appearance. In time this old skin will naturally exfoliate itself, revealing your tattoo underneath in all its vibrant glory.
What should you do if you accidentally submerge a new tattoo? If you've somehow got your tattoo wet by submerging it in water, there are steps to take that can potentially help. Dr. Shirazi recommends cleansing it with a gentle cleanser, patting it dry, and applying a healing ointment from Aquaphor or CeraVe.
Air Exposure: Air introduces contaminants and can lead to oxidation, affecting both the ink's color and safety. Contamination: Introducing unsterile tools or substances into the ink bottle can lead to bacterial growth, rendering the ink unsafe.
Exposure to water, especially bath water which can contain bacteria, can increase the risk of infection and cause damage to the healing tattoo.
More good news—chlorine does not seem to do any harm to your tattoo once it's healed and happy. If you're already further down the road of healing and things are looking good, then suit up, dive in and enjoy without worry!
If you have old tattoos, you don't have to worry about chlorine potentially fading your design as the ink has already connected with the skin. However, if you have fresh ink, avoiding chlorine will ensure your design remains vibrant and full of colour.
When done properly, a tattoo should show only a slight amount of settling within the first 6 months, which is totally normal. Depending on the style, location and lifestyle, a tattoo could show some early signs of fading in as early as 2-5 years although most tattoos won't show significant fading for 10-20 years.
Your tattoo is going through the normal healing process.
This milky skin sticks around for 1-2 weeks, and it might make your tattoo ink appear less vibrant. A lack of ink isn't a problem if your tattoo is still peeling and healing.
A tattoo is VERY bright when it is first completed but during the healing process, it starts to look discolored and dull. Don't worry, when the tattoo is finished healing, the color will come back.
Natural migration of pigment in the skin is manifested by: lines become visually wider; a small (about a millimeter) shadow may appear near the tattoo lines; there will be less empty space between the lines.
Aftercare & Aging
Fine line tattoos are applied with less ink. While the ink is still embedded in the second layer of skin, the single needle does not penetrate as deeply or deposit as much ink. As a result, it is common for fine line tattoos to fade with age.
Hydrogen peroxide
It is designed to work as a disinfectant but is moderately effective at fading superficial layers of ink. On its own, hydrogen peroxide is not potent enough to penetrate the second layer of skin. As a result, fresh tattoos or deeply embedded tattoos won't be phased by it.
Areas like the feet, hands, stomach, chest, elbow, lips, and inner ear are not good tattoo locations. It's essential to consider a few things when choosing a proper placement, such as pain intensity, practicality, and visibility.
Lastly, the American Academy of Dermatology states that petroleum-based products can cause the ink to fade. After all the pain and hard work you had to endure to get that beautiful new piece, surely you're not too keen on it just fading from something as simple as petroleum jelly, would you?