Tennessee Code Title 62. Professions, Businesses and Trades § 62-38-209

(a) Each tattoo artist shall use a single use lap cloth.

(b) Each tattoo artist shall thoroughly wash the tattoo artists's hands with an antibacterial solution and hot running water prior to and after administering any tattoo.

(c) Disposable, latex examination gloves shall be worn by a tattoo artist at all times while administering any tattoo. Gloves shall be changed and properly disposed of each time there is an interruption in the application of a tattoo or whenever their ability to function as a barrier is compromised.

(d) Only single use supplies or sterilized equipment may be used to apply a tattoo and shall be disposed of after each tattoo. This subsection (d) includes single use disposable razors, single use towels or wipes, lubricants from a collapsible tube and single use paper stencils or plastic stencils soaked in a germicidal solution. If the design is drawn directly onto the skin, it shall be applied only with a single use article. Dyes or pigments should be manufactured for the sole purpose of tattooing. Single use or individual portions of dye and ink pots or trays shall be used. After tattooing, single use items, dyes and containers shall be discarded and the tattoo area disinfected.

(e) All tubes and needles should be sealed for individual client use in autoclave bags with an autoclave indicator and date of sterilization clearly visible. Autoclave bags may be stored for use for up to one (1) year. Autoclave sterilization minimum standards shall mean holding in an autoclave for twenty (20) minutes, at fifteen pounds (15 lbs.) pressure, at a temperature of two hundred sixty degrees fahrenheit (260° F.) or one hundred twenty-seven degrees celsius (127° C). After tattooing, used nondisposable instruments such as tubes shall be kept in a separate, puncture resistant container until properly cleaned, disinfected and sterilized using universal precautions and recognized medical methods.

(f) Each tattoo shall be bandaged, when applicable, before leaving the tattoo studio.

(g) No tattoo artist shall remove or attempt to remove any tattoo.