How to Remove Tattoo Stencil?

Would you like to know how to remove tattoo stencil? Maybe you’ve done a bad tattoo stencil job and would like to start from the beginning.

Fortunately, tattoo stencils can be easily removed from your skin using warm water and antibacterial soap. It may take several days before the stencil is washed off your skin. If you’re the person who gets tattoos regularly and doesn’t want to wait longer, you may like to consider buying a stencil-removing spray. 

This guide delves deeper into how to remove tattoo stencil and the practical methods.

What is a tattoo stencil? 

In case you didn’t know yet, tattoo stencils are an outline of the tattoo design printed into a hectograph carbon paper or thermal paper.

The stencil is a guide for transferring tattoo designs into the skin. That helps the tattoo artist outline, trace, and perform the tattoo without mistakes or complications.

These stencils can also be utilized to show the client how their tattoo design might look on the skin or where they decided to place the tattoo.

What are the common options for a stencil for tattoo designs? 

You will find two kinds of stencils utilized within the tattoo community. The most basic is the hectograph paper—a fancy name for the same carbon paper used to make duplicate copies of printed or typed documents.

It features a top layer where you can trace or draw your design. There’s a lower layer where the force of the drawing tool implants carbon from the top layer to make the design. There is also a layer of tissue.

Thermographic paper is identical to the kind used for making shirt transfers and is printed using a dot-matrix or thermographic printer. You will also peel away a protective layer, leaving behind the finished tattoo stencil.

That needs a specific printer. Thus, amateur tattoo artists favor the low-tech carbon paper alternative.

Can a tattoo stencil be removed?

Yes, they can. The stencil can be easily removed, even when it has dried. However, it may take different amounts of time or various products to remove the stencil, depending on the ink type of tattoo stencil and your skin type.

You will find a wide array of products online advertised as a tattoo stencil remover. Nonetheless, unless you get tattoos regularly, it’s unnecessary to purchase such costly products.

Simple aftercare tips from your tattoo artist might help, not to mention the stencil will go away on its own after a few days.

How to Remove Tattoo Stencil From The Skin?

Knowing how to remove tattoo stencil painlessly and quickly will help you enjoy your tattoo even more. Of course, these stencils will wear off on their own in about a week or so, but there are all types of reasons you might like to remove them right away.

Simply follow these tips for removing a tattoo stencil to start all over:

• Exfoliate

You can try using a gentle body scrub. Most stencils will disappear by rubbing an exfoliating scrub on the temporary stencil.

Creating one is rather easy if you don’t have anything on hand. The only ingredients you need are coconut oil, sugar, and a few drops of essential oils. It is a sweet and luxurious way to eliminate that tattoo stencil.

• Nail polish remover

Acetone, the key ingredient in most nail polish removers, will remove just about everything. Spot a cotton swab with some nail polish remover to remove your tattoo stencil in no time.

• Coconut oil 

Coconut oil is surely the best oil on the planet, and it can also work to remove a tattoo stencil.

Coconut oil can eliminate temporary tattoos. Apply a few dips on the stencil and rub it in small circles until the stencil tattoo wears off your skin.

• Mouthwash

Surprisingly, mouthwash can also get rid of temporary tattoos as well. Of course, a splash of mouthwash must help break apart the stencil, which could rub off with a warm washcloth.

• Cold cream 

If it is great enough to eliminate a full face of makeup, then it can take on a temporary tattoo without a fuss.

Grab some cold cream and rub it on your tattoo stencil. Then, scrub it with a washcloth. The tat can wipe it off. If you don’t have a cold cream on hand, you can always try other makeup removers.

• Rubbing alcohol 

You have a bottle of this item handy underneath your bathroom sink. To do this, soak the cotton ball in the rubbing alcohol.

Let it sit over the tattoo stencil for a few seconds and scrub away. Your stencil can be easily removed in no time.

Also if you want fade your unwanted tattoo, read our guide – How to Fade a Tattoo: Safe and Effective Ways.

How long do tattoo stencils last?

Remember that the time it will take for a tattoo stencil to last on your skin can differ based on the color and type of ink used.

For instance, some stencil colors, especially red, may take a while to fade. Often, the stencil ink could last anywhere from a few days or a week on the skin. Also, the ink doesn’t damage the skin or tattoo.

That means you don’t need to rush the entire process of the ink fading by using a product to remove it.

Final thoughts

There’s no doubt that a tattoo stencil can be bothersome after the tattoo is done. Nonetheless, these designs help tattoo artists ensure they do not make mistakes with your tattoo and make it the way you like it.

To sum up, stencil designs will disappear after a few washes and won’t ruin the healing process of your tattoo. Of course, you can find products that can quicken the fading process, but they are unnecessary.

It will help if you take good care of your new tattoo as an alternative. Consider all the tips your tattoo artists give; your tattoo stencil will disappear in no time.