How to make homemade tattoo ink from natural ingredients

Homemade tattoo inks are often associated with crude prison tattoos. On the other hand, they are also associated with the traditional tattoos of some indigenous tribes in different parts of the world. This leads many to wonder if it is possible to prepare a homemade tattoo ink that is safe and that allows results similar to those obtained using professional ink.

The answer to this important question is that it is unlikely that, starting exclusively from homemade and natural materials, we will be able to obtain an ink that consistently provides the tone, color intensity, durability and, above all, the safety of inks. used by professional tattoo artists. In view of this, it is not advisable under any circumstances to prepare homemade inks with the intention of using them to tattoo our body or that of another person.

That said, there are some situations in which preparing homemade inks can be useful and even advisable. An example is when we are learning to tattoo and need to practice extensively to develop our skills before risking leaving a horrible permanent mark on someone else’s skin. Whereas professional inks can cost around $50 per bottle, using professional inks during the apprenticeship stage can result in hundreds of dollars down the drain.

How do tattoos work?

Most of us have a preconceived idea about how tattoos are formed and why they remain on our skin indefinitely. At first, everything seems quite simple. The tattoo artist dips the needle into ink and then penetrates the skin with the needle, after which the ink enters the skin to stay there. It sounds simple, but that’s not how things really happen.

The tattoo needle does not inject the ink.

There are several preconceptions that most people have that are completely wrong. The first is that the needle “injects” the ink under our skin. This is completely false. In fact, if we look closely at a tattoo needle, we will realize that it is just that: a needle, not a syringe or tube that is capable of injecting any liquid.

The needle simply makes a hole that goes through the epidermis or outer layer of the skin, and reaches the dermis, but the ink remains outside the hole until the needle comes out and, by capillarity action, the ink is absorbed by each small hole. For this to work properly, the liquid phase of the ink must have a very low surface tension, and the skin must have some degree of permeability for the relatively large pigment particles to pass through.

The ink does not stay in place by chance.

Once inside the skin, the ink would normally be carried away by the bloodstream or the lymphatic system to be eliminated. However, this does not happen because the skin wounds caused by the needle activate our immune system, recruiting special cells called macrophages. These cells have the task of eating foreign bodies and pathogens that enter the body through any wound. In this case, the macrophages eat the pigment particles and retain them in the form of small pigmented vacuoles. This is what prevents them from being washed away and eliminated by our body and is, therefore, what allows the tattoo to last.

Requirements of an effective tattoo ink

Given the way tattoos work, tattoo ink requires three essential characteristics:

• It must have a low surface tension to be able to easily penetrate the small holes left by the needle.
• The pigment must be made up of particles small enough to be eaten by macrophages.
• The mixture must be completely sterile and preferably have antiseptic properties to prevent infection.

These conditions, in addition to having vivid pigments of intense color and avoiding any toxic or allergenic component, make preparing safe and effective tattoo inks at home very difficult, unless we are willing to invest in aseptic equipment and systems such as an autoclave, pyrex glassware, a laminar flow hood equipped with UV sterilization lamps, and other expensive gadgets.

Tattoo Ink Composition

Now we ask ourselves, then, what are professional tattoo inks made of? These essentially consist of three components:

• A liquid base, usually aqueous.
• Some surfactant.
• A pigment.

Liquid base

The liquid base accounts for most of the ink. It usually consists of a relatively concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol or some other non-toxic alcohol. Most homemade ink recipes use strong distilled spirits such as vodka. However, some also recommend the use of witch hazel distillate, which is an astringent substance that helps wounds heal more quickly.

Given the importance of sterility during the preparation of tattoo ink, it is preferable to use vodka or another strong spirit, given the antiseptic properties of alcohol.

surfactant

Surfactants are used to reduce the surface tension of water. This provides two great benefits: firstly, it facilitates the penetration of the liquid foundation into the skin, dragging the pigment particles with it. Second, the reduction in surface tension also facilitates pigment dispersion to generate a stable suspension that does not separate or settle over time.

Professional tattoo inks almost always contain a mixture of glycerin and propylene glycol as surfactants. These two compounds are very similar to each other and are perfectly compatible with water and alcohol in the liquid base.

Pigment

The pigment is usually a water-insoluble solid substance of a characteristic deep color, arduously ground to a very fine powder. This must be dispersed in the aqueous phase by means of mechanical stirring.

Pigments commonly used in commercial inks

The pigment is one of the most important parts of the tattoo ink, since it is the one that provides the color that we want the tattoo to have. Also, of all the ink components, it is the one with the greatest potential for causing problems. For starters, many pigments commonly used in paints for other applications are toxic to humans and cannot be used in tattoo inks.

On the other hand, it can be very difficult to get some pigments into powders fine enough to be properly dispersed in an aqueous solution.

That being said, and in spite of regulations on toxic substances, many colored pigments are based on salts or oxides of heavy metals that we know are harmful to health, including mercury, lead and chromium. This is why many professional tattoo artists prefer to make their own inks, as tattoo ink manufacturers are not required to disclose the composition of their formulas and may want to save costs by using these dangerous pigments.

Some examples of these pigments present in commercial inks are:

• Magnetite
• cadmium red
• chrome green
• Cobalt blue
• Titanium oxide (white)

natural pigments

To avoid introducing these substances into our bodies, we can use some natural pigments instead such as:

• Ashes or charcoal
• Soot
• Extracts from some plants I take green tea
• coffee extract
• Ocher (mixture of ferric oxide with brown/reddish clay)
• Cinnabar or cinnabarite (scarlet red)

The most common home-made natural ink is black in color and is based on the use of amorphous carbon from the incomplete combustion of wood or other organic material.

Recipe for the preparation of homemade tattoo ink

Now that we know how tattoo ink works and what its components are, let’s see a recipe that we can use to prepare it at home. This recipe includes the use of surfactants such as those used by professional tattoo artists. However, these are optional.

safety notes

We cannot stress enough that homemade tattoo inks can be hazardous to your health. They can cause infections that will not only destroy the design, but can also endanger our overall health. In addition, the pigment components used may cause an unwanted allergic reaction.

For these and other reasons, the ink prepared according to the following recipe is not advised for any application other than practicing on fake fur or pigskin. Any other use that is given to it is entirely the responsibility of whoever prepares the mixture.

Ingredients

The homemade ink recipe requires the following ingredients:

• 800 mL of Vodka or distilled water with witch hazel.
• 2 tablespoons of medical grade glycerin (optional).
• 2 tablespoons of medical grade propylene glycol (optional).
• 500g of a carbon source (this can be hardwood to burn, charcoal, animal bones, or even baby oil).

materials and equipment

To prepare the ink reproducibly requires:

• Sterile surgical gloves.
• Sterile medical mask.
• A glass bowl of 1 L capacity.
• A digital scale.
• Plastic or metal cookie trays.
• Good quality blender with a glass preferably glass or stainless steel.
• A hearth or fireplace where a fire can be made to burn for a long time.
• Wood or coal to maintain a fire for 10 hours. Alternatively, a gas oven can be used, but it will take longer.
• A granite mortar with its pestle (optional).
• A set of fine sieves (optional. Pastry flour sieves will do).
• Cast iron saucepan or, failing that, a clean and dry paint can with its respective lid.
• Oil lamp (optional).

Preparation of the black pigment

Black pigment can be prepared in a number of ways, depending on the source being used. Two common ways are carbonization of organic matter and incomplete combustion of combustible liquids such as baby oil.

The preparation by carbonization can start from wood or animal bones. Depending on the original source of carbon, pigments with particular characteristics will be obtained. The procedure is the next:

1. Wood or bones are cut into small pieces.
2. Place them in a cast iron saucepan, cover with aluminum foil and place the lid of the saucepan on top. Alternatively, they can be inserted into a clean, dry paint tin, a couple of holes are punched in the lid with a nail and the lid closed over the tin, making sure it is firmly in place.
3. Light a fire and place the saucepan or can between the burning coals. Keep the fire alive for at least 10 hours. Heating in the absence of oxygen from the air will char wood or bone.
4. Turn off the heat, remove the can or saucepan and let it cool to room temperature.
5. Crush the charred pieces one by one in the mortar until a fine powder is obtained. Water can be added to facilitate the process and prevent the release of dust particles into the air.
6. Mix the pulverized carbon with plenty of water, shake vigorously, and immediately transfer to a bowl or other glass container.
7. Let stand a couple of days until the water looks completely transparent and colorless.
8. Eliminate as much water as possible from the surface, preventing the bottom from agitating.
9. Stir the remaining water vigorously to resuspend the black powder and transfer it all to a flat tray to dry in the sun.
10. Once dry, grind again in the dry mortar, sift and reserve in a clean, dry container.

The preparation of the black pigment using the oil lamp method is much easier and can even produce better results:

1. The lamp is filled with baby oil and lit.
2. Place a stainless steel saucepan or, failing that, a clean metal tray over the flame, making sure that the flame touches the bottom of the tray or saucepan.
3. The tray or pan should immediately become sooty and over time we should be able to observe an increasingly thick layer of soot forming on the bottom exposed to the flame.
4. If the oil runs out, recharge the lamp and light it again. Continue like this until all the oil is consumed.
5. Carefully lift the pan or tray and, with the help of a spatula, scrape off all the accumulated soot, making sure to collect it all on a sheet or another tray. This soot does not require grinding and can be stored immediately in a clean, dry container.

Preparation of homemade tattoo ink

Once we have the pigment ready, it is time to prepare the ink. Ideally, we should have all the ingredients, including propylene glycol and medical grade glycerin. These substances can be obtained in drugstores or pharmacies. However, if they are not found, it can be prepared without them, although the suspension will not be as stable over time.

It is recommended to sterilize all implements and materials to be used by boiling them in water for at least one hour. This step is especially important if you intend to use the ink to tattoo yourself or someone else.

The procedure is the next:

1. Weigh a freshly sterilized 1 L glass bowl and record the empty weight.
2. In the same bowl, mix the vodka or witch hazel with the glycerin and propylene glycol and stir using a previously sterilized spoon. Weigh and record the weight. This will be the base liquid mixture.
3. In a small sterilized container, weigh out all of the black pigment prepared above and record the weight.
4. Transfer all available pigment to the blender jar and add a small amount of the base liquid mixture.
5. Start blending at low speed for a few minutes and observe the consistency. This should be considerably thicker than plain water, but more fluid than a paste.
6. If necessary, add more liquid until you get the right consistency.
7. Increase blender speed and blend on medium-high speed for 1 hour. This step is essential to ensure correct dispersion of the pigment, so it must be done for sufficient time.
8. Transfer the freshly prepared ink to a dry, sterile container, seal, and reserve in a dark place until use.
9. Weigh the bowl with the remaining liquid phase and record the weight.

The reason each ink component must be carefully weighed is to know the proper proportions of each ingredient so that the process can be repeated when more ink is needed. Weighing everything properly will allow you to consistently get the same quality ink.

References

Arago, M. (2022, May 24). 2 Best Methods How to Make Homemade Tattoo Ink [2021] . InkMatch. https://ink-match.com/insights/how-to-make-homemade-tattoo-ink/#gref

Asaff, B. (2019, July 11). Recipe for homemade tattoo ink . LoveToKnow. https://es.lovetoknow.com/tattoos/body-art-tattoos/homemade-tattoo-tinta-recipe/body-art-tattoos/homemade-tattoo-tinta-recipe

Damien Osborne. (2021, August 18). Making Bone Black Paint . Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B_iCh-C3es

Hunter, D. (2020, November 26). How to Make Tattoo Ink . AuthorityTattoo. https://authoritytattoo.com/how-to-make-tattoo-ink/

Hunter, D. (2022, March 11). What Is Tattoo Ink Made Of? AuthorityTattoo. https://authoritytattoo.com/what-is-tattoo-ink-made-of/

Konyak, Z. (2020, September). Traditional Method Of Preparing Tattoo Pigment By The Konyak Tribe Of Mon District In Nagaland, India . JETIR, 7(9). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353036269_Traditional_Method_Of_Preparing_Tattoo_Pigment_by_the_Konyak_Tribe_of_Mon_District_In_Nagaland_India

Pérez, R. (2019, July 26). This is how your skin cells react when you get a tattoo . Vitonic. https://www.vitonica.com/wellness/asi-reaccionan-celulas-tu-piel-cuando-te-haces-tatuaje

Premium Tattoo Removal. (2018, September 25). Chemistry of Tattoo Ink . Houston’s Premium Laser Tattoo Removal Clinic. https://www.premiumtattooremoval.com/chemistry-of-tattoo-ink

Promedicas La Paz. (2021, August 11). Tattoos: What types of inks exist for tattooing? https://promedicas.mx/lapaz/articulos/tatuajes-tinta-tipos-existen/

WikHHow. (2022, February 15). 3 Ways to Make Tattoo Ink . https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Tattoo-Ink

Cover: Any image of an artist tattooing