Copyright © 2010 O'Tool Design Custom Tattoo
Are walk-ins welcome or should I make an appointment?
Hell yeah, walk-ins are always welcome. So stop into either location. O.D. Custom Tattoo has 9 artists to choose from and chances are one should be available. However, quick phone calls are never a bad idea. Just to make sure. Give either location a call and make an appointment. Any of our friendly personable staff members are glad to help guide you to the artist that best fits your style. Make an appointment today!
Do you take credit cards, debit cards, or checks?
O.D. Custom Tattoo accepts all major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Debit cards are also accepted. Sorry, we do not accept checks.
Do you tip a tattoo artist?
Absolutely! There is no greater compliment to a tattoo artist than to get a tip, other than having a customer coming back of course. Again… and again. It’s a close second. If you had a great experience getting tattooed, if you love the work, or if you dig the artist then yes, give em’ a tip! No artist is going to ask or even mention it but it is greatly appreciated.
Can I get a tattoo if I have my parents’ signature?
Sorry, no you may not. Many teens think that all they need is parental consent to get a tattoo but it is more complicated than that. Convincing your parents is only half the battle. It is not legal to tattoo someone under the age of 18 years old and no amount of parental consent will help. Your parents cannot consent away the law. You must be at least 18 years of age to receive a tattoo at either of the O.D. locations. Be careful, if someone is willing to overlook common laws to tattoo you, what else are they going to overlook?
Do you need a license to tattoo?
Yes, in fact you do. Any artist who tattoos legally has submitted an application to the city clerk and completed all the requirements; including a physical proving they are free of any communicable diseases and a major background check. Once you are accepted you pay a small fee and receive your license. However, it’s not that simple. Tattoo licenses are only issued to persons working out of a licensed tattoo establishment. All legal tattoo establishments must submit an application and clear all requirements. From the state health department this inspection assures that all sterilization equipment has been inspected and is in proper operating condition through monthly testing. Any persons performing tattoos without proper licensing is not only breaking the law, but could very well be a health risk to the community. Applying for a license isn’t all that much to ask and shouldn’t be a problem to anyone applying to tattoo unless they have something to hide. If someone is tattooing out of their house this doesn’t necessarily mean they are not legally licensed but it is your right to know if they are and in your best interest to get tattooed by an artist in a safe environment. So ask!!! If anyone tells you different or says they do not need a license to tattoo they are lying. And it’s probably not a good way to start a trustworthy relationship with your tattoo artist.
Contact us and we will be happy to answer any other questions.
Does it HURT to get pierced? How about the pain post piercing?
There may be some momentary discomfort experienced as pinching, or pressure, or perhaps a burning or stinging sensation. This depends primarily on the placement of the piercing. The thing to remember is that the experience is extremely brief. It is too quick to be all that bad.
Most of the pain that people experience is mental, the stress you put yourself through while leading up to the piercing is almost always worse than the actual process.
After the piercing you can expect minor discomfort for anywhere ranging from minutes to a couple days, most people tend to notice that there is “something there” and can feel the occasional tingle or stinging sensation, obviously you can expect some tenderness after you get your piercing but if you avoid rough handling during aftercare and bumping your freshly pierced area during the healing process you won’t notice any pain a good 99% of the time.
How is the piercing done and what do you use?
Most of the piercings done at Otool Design are done freehand, this process doesn’t use clamps, clamps tend to cause more swelling and bruising on a fresh piercing so we avoid them unless they’re completely necessary. The piercings are done with a single use laser beveled needle, all our equipment is sterilized or single use items
What if I have metal/latex allergies?
Almost all metal allergies are nickel based. The jewelry we use is all implant grade 316lvm surgical stainless steel or implant grade titanium. If you’ve had issues with piercings you’ve previously gotten with piercing guns, out of houses, or from some shadier places you might have been, it’s not something you need to be concerned with coming to us. We use the highest quality metals available on the market so allergic reactions aren’t something you need to worry about.
We commonly use latex gloves but always check to make sure you aren’t allergic, if you have latex allergies just let us know and we have non-allergenic nitrile gloves to use for you.
Do you use a gun?
No! We don’t use piercing guns for several reasons, piercing guns are generally the worst way to go about getting a piercing, they usually have plastic parts which can’t be sterilized, which means they’re dirty, the process used for them involves just pushing a blunt stud directly through your flesh, which causes skin tearing and scarring way more than a sharp hollow needle which cuts a clean hole. Guns are dirtier and more traumatic, trust us, it’s
Will it bleed and how badly, also, what about swelling/bruising?
A lot of this question is dependent on the individual getting the piercing, if you tend to bleed a lot from small cuts and scratches, have thinner blood, or low iron content you can expect to bleed for a few minutes. That being said, most of our piercings tend to not bleed more than a few small drops, but it is also not uncommon to have a piercing bleed a little bit (a drop here and there) for the next day or two after getting a piercing.
Swelling and bruising are the most common with oral piercings, usually you can expect a minimal amount of swelling for the next day or two on a lip or tongue and occasionally on any other body part, bruising is even less common but can happen, its most common on piercings near the eye like dermals and eyebrow piercings. Even then though, it’s fairly uncommon.
How much do I have to worry about infection and rejection.
If you care for your piercing properly the chances of infection are about 0.
We always check the area you want to get pierced and make sure it’s an acceptable place to pierce so the likelihood of rejection is extremely low, but with any procedure there’s always a possibility.
How long until they are healed and I can change my jewelry?
Piercings really do heal at different rates depending on what body part you’re talking about. But as a general rule of thumb you want to wait at least 6-8 weeks to change your jewelry and that’s just to switch from one piece to another. 6 months is about how long you’d preferably want to wait before trying to leave the body jewelry out for an extended amount of time.
I’ve had my piercing for a long time with no troubles at all but recently something is wrong with it, any idea what’s wrong, and what to do about it?
Most commonly when this happens it’s something that has happened in the last week or two, think back and if any of the answers to the following questions are yes, it’s probably what’s going on: Have you recently changed your jewelry, were you recently ill, have you switched detergents/body soaps/perfumes, did you recently travel and stay somewhere away from home, are you newly pregnant, have you gone swimming in a lake or river, is there a new pet in the house, has anything in your environment changed significantly? There’s plenty of other things that could be going on as well if none of those examples have happened, think about anything abnormal that’s gone on in the past 2 weeks.
Generally if your piercing has been healed for a while and you are having problems all of a sudden, it’s a good idea to stop in and let us take a look at it, if you can’t get in to one of our shops a basic thing to do that will fix most problems is to go back to the initial piercing jewelry, and treat it like a fresh piercing with proper aftercare for a week or two, and there’s always the option of removing the jewelry completely and letting it heal up.
What can I/can’t I do after getting pierced?
For the most part you can do whatever you would normally do, it’s best to avoid swimming in lakes and rivers and avoiding hot tubs for the first week or two, don’t involve yourself in anything that’s going to get you really dirty (mudwrestling for example) and watch out for rough contact to your freshly pierced area. Exercise and most sports won’t give you too many problems as long as you maintain an awareness of your new piercing and don’t catch it on anything, soccer, baseball;/softball, basketball, volleyball, and most non-contact sports are fine, just tape your piercing down if you have a game, with full contact sports like football and wrestling it’s a good idea to wait until the season is over. For oral piercings, you can eat or drink WHATEVER you want, and you can still smoke. You’re not going to get a yeast infection from eating bread or drinking beer. It’s advisable to avoid highly acidic or spicy foods for a few days after an oral piercing but that’s to avoid getting it on a fresh wound and burning/stinging yourself. Otherwise just make sure to rinse your mouth with water (preferably distilled) after you eat/smoke for the first two weeks, and you’re good to go.
How do I take care of my new piercing?
There’s many different effective ways to take care of a piercing click to see our aftercare.
