Scratchers in the Tattoo Industry Part 1

Alright, today I wanna talk to you about the “S” word. That’s right, SCRATCHERS. The demon spawn of the tattoo world. The lowest of the low. The hack and slashers. You’ve seen bad tattoos right? They look like you gave a five year old a tattoo gun and just told them to go to town. For those of us completely submerged in the body mod world, it’s disheartening to see people walk around with misspelled and pathetic looking tattoos. There are those in it to just make a quick buck, and then there are those who are in it for the art form. I want to talk to you guys today about the perils of letting a scratcher tattoo you and some of the warning signs that an artist is a scratcher. If you’re thinking about getting tattooed, scratchers are a very real danger you need to be aware of.

SCRATCHER DEFINITION:

A scratcher is an amateur tattoo artist lacking in basic knowledge and skill of the trade.

SCRATCHER WARNING SIGNS:

1.     Tattoos out of their house/apartment/anywhere that is not a tattoo shop.

2.     Has never had an apprenticeship.

3.     Lacks proper sanitization equipment.

4.     Doesn’t have the proper licensing your state requires.

5.     Doesn’t provide proper after care products or instructions.

6.     Learned the art through videos or articles.

7.     Don’t have a legitimate portfolio.

8.     Their work looks terrible.

9.     They’re listed as a scratcher on destroyallscratchers.com

WHAT CAN HAPPEN:

When you let a scratcher tattoo your body, you’re risking your health and potentially your life. You run the risk of flesh eating diseases, Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, tetanus, and hundreds of other diseases that can be spread through un-sanitized needles and cross contamination. I’m reluctant to post pictures because of just how gruesome it actually is, but in the next couple posts or so I’ll be posting photos of the work of scratchers. Be prepared, what you’ll see is not pretty, but awareness needs to be spread and these hackers and kitchen magicians need to be shut down NOW.

In my personal experience, I’ve met three scratchers and have been tattooed by a person that could be considered one.  They’re threatening the lives of those around me. They both tattoo out of their houses, have no experience, and zero knowledge of all the sanitation procedures or proper licensing that is required to run a tattoo shop in the state of Indiana. They’re not always bad people, but what they’re doing is dangerous and they need to be stopped until they can complete the requirements to be a respected artist. I’ll show some of their work in the next posts. You need to be aware as a person wanting this type of body mod that there are risks, and if you want good work and a safe artist, that you have to do your research. You pay an even higher price for cheap tattoo work. Stay safe my friends.