Sleeping With A New Tattoo (6 Things You Must Know) [2024]

Everyone has things to discuss and doubts to clear. But here we are talking about the most important topic, which is sleeping with a new tattoo without damaging it. Also, there are two common and most searched questions, “Should I Wrap My Tattoo Before Bed?” or “Is Wrapping My New Tattoo Before Bed Necessary?” with their answers. But the real question is “How to Sleep With A New Tattoo?”. So here in this article, we have covered all the details for you. Remember, you should properly take care of your new tattoo in the stages of a healing tattoo. Therefore, your tattoo heals without any side-effect and looks attractive forever.

We have found that sleeping with a new tattoo is pretty simple. You only have to follow some simple instructions to avoid damaging new tattoos while sleeping with new ones. Remember, tattoo aftercare on the first night is the most important phase in the tattoo healing procedure. After that, you can sleep on your tattoos regularly. Our tattooist team tried everything possible to sleep with a new tattoo comfortably without damaging it and succeeded. Therefore, we gathered all the details and brought them to you in 6 simple guidelines.

Let’s start with these few relevant questions:



Should I Wrap My Tattoo Before Bed?

Obviously yes. You must cover your tattoo to help the healing procedure and keep it safe. You can only remove the wrap from the tattoo if your tattoo artist says. As they know the situation of your tattoo and skin.

Is Wrapping My New Tattoo Before Bed Necessary?

Yes, wrapping a tattoo while sleeping is necessary for proper sleep with a new tattoo before bed. You must understand that newly tattooed skin is full of wounds and weaker than normal skin. At this moment, germs and bacteria can easily infect the skin.

The few nights after getting a new tattoo are not so easy. But to heal the tattooed skin fast, you have to sleep properly. Also, you can easily damage the new tattoo while sleeping. Therefore, you have to wrap the tattoo for a few nights while sleeping with a new tattoo.



Moreover, you don’t feel pain because of the tattoo numbing cream that numbs your skin for a long time. Remember, the new tattoo bleeds a bit, and the plasma sticks to the bedsheet. This situation can make you uncomfortable and increase the pain.

That is why keeping the tattoo wrapped will keep you safe from any problem. Last but not least, we do not suggest you do tattoo covering by yourself.

On the other hand, we have a solution to your “How to Wrap a Tattoo Before Sleeping?” question, which is our guide.

Sleeping With A Tattoo – First Night Tattoo Care

We do not advise you to rewrap or wrap your tattoo alone. But to keep the tattoo safe until the tattoo heals, you need a guide to cover the tattoo while sleeping. So you can clean the tattoo and rewrap it without any issues.

  1. Clean New Tattoo Before Sleep (Step By Step)
  2. How To Sleep With A New Tattoo?
  3. Why Sleeping On a New Tattoo Is Bad?
  4. When Can I Sleep On My Tattoo?
  5. What To Put On A New Tattoo Before Sleep?
  6. Benefits Of Sleep With A New Tattoo




1. Clean New Tattoo Before Sleep (Step By Step)

There are the following steps for tattoo cleaning. These will help you to increase the safety level of the cleaning process:

  • Keep The Tattoo Wrapped: First, your tattoo artist cleans the tattoo with antibacterial and unscented soap. This cleaning will kill all the germs and prevent infection for better tattoo care. Put on the wrap for at least 5-6 hours but not more than a day.
  • Remove The Tattoo Wrap: You need to remove the tattoo wrap the day after the tattoo session and replace it with a new one. Gently remove the tattoo wrap in tattoo care on day 1. If the wrap does not remove easily from the skin. Then, use warm water to remove the wrap.
  • Wash The Tattoo: Start washing your tattooed skin with antibacterial tattoo soap. The best thing to do is to use warm water. Also, it will help you to clean the clots of dried blood or plasma. Most importantly, be kind in this whole washing and cleaning process.
    clean your tattoo before sleep
  • Dry It: Let your tattoo dry for a few minutes. You can only use a paper towel on the skin. Because other hard or rough clothing can hurt the skin. Make sure the tattooed skin dries completely.
  • Rewrap The Tattoo: Rewrap the tattoo with new and clean plastic. Remember, this unique tattoo wrap has to remain on your new tattoo for 5-6 days. You can use ointment or any healing moisturizer for tattoo aftercare if your tattoo artist allows it. Otherwise, going against his instruction will be a big mistake.
  • Repeat The Procedure: Repeat all these steps given above for at least 4-5 days.




2. How To Sleep With A New Tattoo?

There are very few but important things to do while sleeping with new tattoos on your body:

    • Dark Bed Sheets: Before sleep, ensure the bedsheet is clean and washed with an antibacterial agent. Also, never go for a light-colored bed sheet. Because the bloodstains will be more visible on light-colored bed sheets.
      We recommend using regular bed sheets rather than your favorite ones. If the bedsheet is attached to your skin, use warm water to separate it carefully.
    • Don’t Wear Tight Clothes: We recommend wearing big, loose, and soft clothes instead of tight and sticky ones while sleeping with a new tattoo. So, the chances of skin and cloth contact decrease. Also, the skin tissues breathe easily. Therefore, you can sleep better without irritation.
    • Separate Skin From Bedsheet: In case, your skin got stuck due to a bleeding tattoo. Just take your bedsheet to the washroom with you. Now, flow warm water on the skin until the bedsheet gets separated from the skin comfortably. Moreover, you can use the tattoo numbing spray if the pain of tattooed skin increases.
    • No Pets: As we all know, animals love to touch and play with us. Their germs can take over your tattooed skin and cause various infections. So, if you want to keep your new tattooed skin safe, just stay away from pets for a few days until the stages of the tattoo healing process are complete.




  • Travel With New Tattooed Skin: If you have to go to another place for a business tour or urgent event. Make sure you take some extra bed sheets and wipes for tattoo care. It will help you stay in a hotel room with a new tattoo. Also, you can wrap tattoo while sleeping at night for better protection.
  • Avoid Alcohol: Drinking alcohol is bad for your new tattooed skin health. It can cause blood thinness and excess tattoo bleeding. Also, you can get out of your senses and damage the tattoo.
  • Proper Sleep: Your sleeping time affects the immune system. The mind reconstructs cells in the body and boosts healing when sleeping. Also, your immune system strengthens and kills all the bacteria and germs for tattoo aftercare.
    During tattoo recovery time, your mind only focuses on your immune system because there is no other physical activity to focus on. In short, your lack of sleep can lengthen the healing process of a tattoo.
  • Right Sleeping Positions: Anybody can sense the proper sleeping position according to the tattoo. Only sleep on the side that doesn’t have tattooed skin. In other words, the pressure on the tattoo can disturb oxygen and blood flow in the tattoo healing phases.
    Always sleep on the opposite side of the tattoo. Let’s take an example: you have a tattoo on your back, then sleep on your chest side. And if you have a tattoo on your right arm, sleep on the right arm side.
    sleeping with new tattoo

3. Why Sleeping On a New Tattoo Is Bad?

There are multiple reasons to avoid sleeping on a new tattoo:




4. When Can I Sleep On My Tattoo?

Most people always think, “can you sleep on a new tattoo or not?”. Many tattoo artists say you can sleep on your tattooed skin after 3-5 days. Also, some of them advise sleeping on your tattoo after a week. But we recommend not sleeping on your tattoo until the skin completely heals.

On average, a normal tattoo healing time can be around three weeks. Don’t worry, the tattoo can heal fast depending on the tattoo size and your immune system. Most importantly, the procedure of peeling skin will complete naturally in this long time.

After that, you can sleep on your tattoos and use any tattoo tanning lotion or moisturizer for comfort.

girl with tattoo sleeps

5. What To Put On A New Tattoo Before Sleep?

The answer to this question is your tattoo artist’s instructions. Some tattoo experts say to remove the wrapping after a few hours at night, and some say to keep the wrapping until morning wash. At the same time, some of them advise rewrapping the tattoo before going to bed.

Also, there are tattoo artists who suggest removing the wrap and applying healing ointment or numbing cream. But we recommend you do as your tattoo artist said, as how a tattoo heals depends on the situation of your tattoo.



6. Benefits Of Sleep With A New Tattoo

Proper sleep can work as a magical healing factor for your new tattoo. Some benefits of sleep are the following:

  • Repair Body: When you sleep, there is no physical activity happening. So, your mind concentrates on your body’s inner activities. In short, your immune system eliminates all bacterial compounds and boosts healing. Therefore, your long sleep will help your tattooed skin to heal naturally.
  • Remove Stress: You can remove stress for tattoo aftercare by many methods, like watching a movie with your loved one or getting a massage. But with newly tattooed skin, only 8-10 hours of sleep can make you stress-free.
  • Fresh Mood: We all know that better sleep wakes you up with a new state of mind. You may have already experienced this fact. It does not matter how tired you are, your body muscles get stress-free, and your mind becomes super fresh after waking from sleep.
    benefits of sleeping with tattoo

Conclusion

Having an attractive tattoo on your body is a marvelous feeling. Before you can show off your tattoo to the world, the tattoo needs time to heal. The first few days of healing are not very comfortable, as sleeping with new tattoos can be a little tricky.

But you must wrap your tattoo while sleeping and follow all the instructions. These instructions help you get a beautifully recovered tattoo instead of facing painful healing. Therefore, tattoo wrapping is necessary for protection and first-night tattoo care. Also, it will keep you safe from infection, as you can see in the tattoo healing pictures.



Our article about sleeping with a new tattoo will surely make your healing procedure easy. Remember, your tattoo will stay forever on your body. So, don’t compromise in this little healing procedure and follow all the steps. Then, you can sleep on tattooed skin for a long life.

We hope you find our article helpful. Kindly share it with your family and friends who got their first tattoo or want to get another one. Moreover, you can ask us further questions in the below comment section if you have any.
Stay Blessed!

Chloe Arthur

Chloe Arthur

Hi, I’m Chloe, a passionate tattoo artist who has been creating stunning tattoos since 2013. Through my blog posts, I aim to provide valuable information and tips on tattoo styles, aftercare, and everything you need to know about getting and maintaining beautiful tattoos.

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