Sleeping With A New Tattoo (6 Things You Must Know) [2023]

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. The only thing you have to do is follow some simple instructions to avoid damaging new tattoos while sleeping with new tattoos. Remember, tattoo aftercare on the first night is the most important phase in the tattoo healing procedure. After it, you can sleep on your tattoos regularly. Our tattooist team tried every possible thing to sleep with a new tattoo comfortably without damaging it and succeeded. Therefore, we gathered all the detail 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 have to cover your tattoo to help the healing procedure and to keep it safe. You can only remove the wrap from the tattoo if your tattoo artist said. As they know the situation of your tattoo and skin.

Is Wrapping My New Tattoo Before Bed Necessary?

Yes, wrap a tattoo while sleeping is necessary for proper sleep with a new tattoo before going to bed. You have to 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 wrapping 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 on your own. But to keep the tattoo safe until the tattoo heals, you need a guide to wrap 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 of tattoo cleaning. These will help you to increase the safety level of the cleaning process:

• Keep The Tattoo Wrapped: In 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.
  
• 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 new 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 allowed 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, make sure the bedsheet is clean and washed with an antibacterial agent. Also, never go for a light color bed sheet. Because the bloodstains will be more visible on light-colored bed sheets.
    We recommend using regular bed sheets than your favorite ones. If the bedsheet got to attach to your skin, then use warm water to separate it with care.
  • Don’t Wear Tight Clothes: We recommend wearing big loose and soft clothes instead of tight and sticky clothes while sleep with a new tattoo at the night. 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. The germs from them can take over your tattooed skin and can 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 for a business tour or urgent event to another place. Make sure you are taking some extra bed sheets and wipes with you 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 sense and can 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 becomes strong 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 position of sleeping 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 the flow of oxygen and blood 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, then sleep on the right arm side.
  

3. Why Sleeping On a New Tattoo Is Bad?

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

• Ink Bleeding: You have to understand the procedure of tattooing to know this crucial point. During the tattoo session, the tattoo artist makes holes in the dermis layer of skin to fill it with tattoo ink. These holes don’t heal in the first 3-5 days, and pressure can remove tattoo ink.
• Disturb Oxygen Flow: You can’t heal your tattooed skin without oxygen. The pressure on the skin stops oxygen to enter the skin, and the skin heats and sweats. Moreover, the bacteria and germs got imprisoned in sweat skin to infect the skin.
• Damage Design: As we know, the pressure on a tattoo can eliminate the skin via holes. Thus, the tattoo can become patchy. Moreover, the infection can increase the damage and cause removal.

4. When Can I Sleep On My Tattoo?

Most people think all the time “can you sleep on a new tattoo or not?”. According to many tattoo artists, 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 you to not sleep 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 with comfort.

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 the night, and some of them say to keep the wrapping until morning wash. While some of them advise rewrapping the tattoo before going to bed.

Also, there are tattoo artists that 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 fast 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 sleep of 8-10 hours can make you stress-free.
• Fresh Mood: We all know that better sleep wakes you up with a fresh state of mind. You may have already experienced this fact. It does not matter how tired you were, your body muscles get stress-free, and your mind becomes super fresh after waking from sleep.
  

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 difficult.

But you have to wrap your tattoo while sleeping and follow all the instructions. These instructions help you in getting a beautifully recovered tattoo instead of facing painful tattoo healing. Therefore, wrapping your tattoo is necessary for tattoo 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 given steps. Then, you can sleep on tattooed skin for 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 have any.
Stay Blessed!