There’s no doubt that body piercing is one of the most popular ways that people express themselves today. That’s in no small part because there is such an incredible range of choice - piercings can be almost anywhere on the body.
In order to accommodate the variety that customers are looking for when they walk through the door, from nostril piercings to navel piercings to labret piercings, new shop owners have to have some specific equipment that will allow them to get the job done in the right way. There is no room for shortcuts or making do here, you really just have to have the right stuff to get the job done.
Having the right body piercing supplies means that new owners can feel confident that they can offer the safety and choice that their clients are looking for. So what exactly are the necessary tools for body piercing? Check out these top five body piercing supplies, stock your shop well and give your customers a safe and memorable experience!
Piercing needles
Piercing needles do the actual work. When you’re getting into this, you want to look for needles that have a tri-bevel edge. What’s that? It’s the way the needle is designed, allowing it to pierce through the skin easily, causing as little pain and bleeding as possible.
Gauge is important here – that’s the size of the needle.
• 14 and 16 gauge piercing needle – most navel, eyebrow, nipple, lip labret and tongue piercings
• 18 gauge piercing needle - most nose, eyebrow, ear lobe piercings.
There are plenty of other sizes out there for body piercing needles, but these three will really get you through nine out of ten of the requests of your clients, making them must have body piercing supplies for any new shop.
Piercing needles are a body piercing supply that you have to get right. Make sure you start out from the very beginning with high quality needles! You’ll find that customers hurt less and are more likely to return to your shop in the future.
Piercing tool
The body piercing tool can come in a wide range of styles for a wide range of applications, as there really are just tons of ways to do this. Start off with something basic – ring opening and ring closing pliers. You’ll use these body piercing tools to open and close captive bead rings, a super common application that you’ll find you use again and again for a wide variety of parts of the body. An absolute must have.
Hemostat forceps
When you’re piercing the body, you’ve got to hold the jewelry steady and secure when you’re doing the piercing. In order to do that, you’ll need a set of quality hemostat forceps. This is a body piercing supply that you’ll use again and again, and one that needs to be comfortable and easy for you to use. You’ll find both straight and curved hemostat forceps, and you’ll want a set of both in order to offer the variety that you need.
Forester forceps, pennington forceps, septum forceps
These three body piercing supplies hold the actual body part still while you’re doing the piercing. That’s a pretty important part of the process as it actually touches the body of your client! You’ll find slotted and non-slotted varieties, which will allow space for the forceps to be pulled out once the needle has gone in. Septum forceps can be intimidating due to their appearance. They have a small tunnel at the end that a needle will go through on either side of the septum. They are an effective and essential body piercing supply as the septum is an incredibly popular kind of piercing.
Autoclave
The final, and perhaps MOST essential piece of body piercing equipment is the autoclave. You’re essentially doing surgery on the body when you’re piercing it, passing a needle through and creating a hole where there wasn’t one before. In order to do that without causing some kind of crazy, nasty infection, you’re going to have to sterilize the stuff you’re using to prevent both infectious disease from spreading, and also to prevent bacteria from invading the body of the person you’re piercing.
An autoclave is going to be one of the most expensive things you’ll have in your shop, and the peace of mind that you get from having this essential body piercing supply is really well worth the cost. The autoclave looks basically like a little microwave, and you’ll put the piercing tools, needles, and jewelry inside. Then you’ll press a button and the machine will use very high heat, steam, and gas to kill the nasty little bugs that were hiding on all of it. Sterilization pouches, or envelops that are self-sealing, will offer an indicator printed on them to let you see whether your tools are sterile or not. And of course you’ll need gloves to keep yourself and your clients safe as well, though that almost goes without saying.
Invest in a good quality autoclave from the very beginning, and you’ll be so very glad that you did. This is a piece of body piercing equipment that you’ll be using again and again, every single time you perform a piercing.
This is really just the tip of iceberg when it comes to body piercing supplies – you’re going to find a wide variety of things that are necessary for you to get the job done well and right. That’s in large part because of the incredible variety of things that people want to have pierced!
Body piercing is guided by people’s imagination. You’re really just there to facilitate their self-expression and in order to do that you’ve got to have the right body piercing tools for the job.