I had a doctor's appointment before I figured out what was causing the smell, and was wearing the sweater (this is when I decided it was the sweater at fault) and was getting my BP measured, on the opposite arm, of course, and I'm POSITIVE she could smell that smell, but, what can you say? "Oh, that funky smell? That's just my new tattoo - not me!" I did tell her I needed her to use my other arm to check my blood pressure because I had a new tattoo, so she knew, but I don't think people would think of a tattoo as being a smelly thing - I sure didn't and I'm not new to this!
Removing the Tegaderm a day and a half early didn't cause any problems, of course, and I had the usual slow peel, rather than the "insta-peel" that I have when I'm able to leave the -derm film on longer.
So, is the smell a product of the film, or the ink? If it is from the ink, does colored ink smell worse than a black and grey tattoo? Again, my experience with tattoos has been on my ankles so a smelly new tattoo is new to me. My own smelly arm tattoo has a ton of color so I'm blaming that, but maybe a B&G tattoo healed the normal way would stink just as much.
... I don't think this can be the Tegaderm... Depending on how you had it wrapped it could be that something got into into it, I've used it twice, both for 2-3 days & never had an issue with the smell, some plasma & colour leaks yeah but never a "funky" smell, my artist used it right after the tattoo was finished both times after thoroughly cleaning it though... I know some use it after the fact when they get home & if that's the case it's definitely possible something got into it before you bandaged it or it wasn't clean enough before you wrapped it .. I personally find keeping it on for 2-3 days helps you to avoid infection & makes it easier to care for during the most critical healing time .. might wanna get it checked just to be safe though by now you probably already know if there was an issue with infection.
Tegaderm/Saniderm/Tatuderm healing process
in Tattoo After Care
Posted
... I don't think this can be the Tegaderm... Depending on how you had it wrapped it could be that something got into into it, I've used it twice, both for 2-3 days & never had an issue with the smell, some plasma & colour leaks yeah but never a "funky" smell, my artist used it right after the tattoo was finished both times after thoroughly cleaning it though... I know some use it after the fact when they get home & if that's the case it's definitely possible something got into it before you bandaged it or it wasn't clean enough before you wrapped it .. I personally find keeping it on for 2-3 days helps you to avoid infection & makes it easier to care for during the most critical healing time .. might wanna get it checked just to be safe though by now you probably already know if there was an issue with infection.