May 11, 2023

Floating Tanks and Your Tattoo

Are you thinking about trying floating for the first time? There’s somethings you should know about floating with tattoos!

What is floating?

Floating, also known as sensory deprivation, perceptual isolation, float tanks or isolation tanks, is a relaxation practice providing you with a weightless body in zero gravity. The process consists of you floating yourself half submerged in 10-11 inches of water filled with over a thousand pounds of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt). Typically, the timeframe is between 60 to 90 minutes, but you can go for even longer if desired! The idea is to deprive yourself of distractions, in a dark room with little noise minimizing your sensory. It allows you to relax, focus, and connect to yourself.

Floating with Tattoos

Floating may sound like the perfect therapy, but you should know what you’re going into if you have tattoos. Most tattoo artists will tell you to avoid submerging a tattoo while its healing, but floating tanks poise a risk to even fully healed, well-aged tattoos. This is because of the high level of epsom salt found in the tank. Similar to salabrasion (a method of tattoo removal), the prolong exposure to high levels of salt can cause premature fading and color discoloration to your tattoo. In addition, the long submersion in water can contribute to fading over time.

What all float experts and tattoo artists can agree upon is a tattoo which is not fully healed should never go into a float tank. Not only will it likely cause irreversible damage to your tattoo, but it would also be quite painful. Salt on fresh wounds is a big ouch. If you’re under 6 weeks for healing time, its best to avoid a float tank. In addition, you can also leak blood and ink into the tanks, which is disrespectful to the float tank owners and will cost you a cleaning fee. In general, don’t go in a float tank with a new tattoo.

Want to Float anyways?

Sometimes, therapy is more important than the longevity of your tattoo – and that’s perfectly fine! There are some measures you can take to avoid premature fading and color discoloration.

Small Tattoos:
For a small tattoo, you can apply petroleum jelly over the tattoo. Most float tank centers will have this on hand for scars and exposed injuries as it reduces the risk of burning sensation cause by contact to the salt water.
Medium Tattoos:
You can apply vitamin A&D ointment over your tattoo after your pre-float shower. Be sure the tattoo area is completely dry before applying.
Bigger Tattoos:
For bigger tattoos, it may be best to use second skin or cellophane to cover the tattoo. But its very important to discuss this with the float center to be sure they would allow this in their tanks.

Conclusion

If you have a new tattoo, you should avoid floating until its completely healed. It is important to discuss this therapy with your tattoo artists in ensure you’d doing everything you can to preserve your ink. The float center may also have useful and informative information in regard to protecting your tattoo as well. Be sure to consult everyone before getting into a tank and understand the risks to your tattoo.