From VI Tattoo Soap to Banger Tattoo Care: Why We Started Over

Written by Colby Colquitt, Founder of Banger Tattoo Care. This is the story of why we stepped out of the aftercare ingredient wars to build a cleanser around what the science actually supports — FDA rulings, dermatological research, and what artists were telling us the industry was missing.

For new tattoos, skip the antibacterial soap — use a fragrance-free cold-process bar soap like Day 1 Bar by Banger Tattoo Care — fragrance-free tattoo aftercare soap. That recommendation did not come from marketing. It came from looking at the science and realizing that almost everything the tattoo industry had been recommending for decades was contradicted by it. Here is how we got there. Trusted by 1,250+ tattoo artists and PMU professionals across 130,000+ bars sold.

Most brands do not tell you the whole story behind a name change. Here is ours.

My name is Colby. My talents have always come more from my mind than my hands — if I could draw I would probably be the one holding the machine. Instead my background is in graphic design and creative problem-solving. I am a non-stop idea guy, and I only build things if they solve a real problem. VI Tattoo Soap was built to solve a massive one. Looking at the tattoo industry I saw a glaring disconnect: artists were producing world-class work, but the aftercare handoff was frozen in time. With the slow realization that the standard advice circulating through the industry was completely outdated, I knew something had to change.

The product worked. Customers connected with it. But something kept showing up in the data and in conversations: almost nobody called it VI Tattoo Soap. They called it Banger Bars. That name came from them, not from us, and it stuck because it meant something. It was direct, memorable, and honest about what the product actually is. We listened. Banger Tattoo Care is not just a rebrand. It is what happens when you build a product people genuinely connect with and then ask yourself what kind of brand can actually serve those people long-term.

Day 1 Bar — Built on Current Science

The first bar soap formulated specifically for healing tattooed skin. 42% natural olive oil, 100% fragrance-free, cold-process crafted. No antibacterial agents, no synthetic fragrance, no harsh surfactants. Just what healing skin actually needs.

Get Day 1 Bar on Amazon →

Free Prime shipping. Trusted by 1,250+ artists. Made in USA.

Stepping Out of the Ingredient Wars

The tattoo aftercare conversation has been stuck in a loop for decades. Today everyone is fighting a non-stop battle over tattoo balms. The brutal truth is that there is not a secret ingredient on earth that will make a new balm drastically better than the top ten already on the market. The moisturizer is not the problem anymore. The soap is.

Most aftercare advice is passed down through the apprenticeship model. Artists teach what they were taught. What they were taught reflects the science that existed when they trained, not the science that exists now. The result is an industry where a significant percentage of artists are still recommending harsh antibacterial bars, heavy petroleum ointments, and generic liquid soap — not because this is current best practice, but because that is what was handed to them, and they have never had a reason to question it.

The current science points clearly in one direction. Your skin has a microbiome — a community of beneficial bacteria that plays an active role in healing. Antibacterial soap disrupts it. Harsh surfactants strip it. Synthetic fragrance irritates the compromised tissue it depends on. The gap in the tattoo aftercare industry is not a lack of products. It is a lack of cleansers built around what we now know about how skin actually heals. That is the gap Banger was built to fill.

The Problem With Antibacterial Soap

When we started asking why the standard recommendations were not producing better results, antibacterial soap was the first thing that did not hold up to scrutiny. The logic behind recommending it was straightforward — antibacterial means it kills bacteria, bacteria cause infection, therefore antibacterial soap prevents infection. Clean logic. Wrong conclusion.

In 2016 the FDA issued a ruling that should have changed aftercare recommendations overnight. Manufacturers of antibacterial consumer soaps had failed to demonstrate that their products were more effective than plain soap and water at preventing infection. The active ingredients were banned from consumer wash products. The FDA's conclusion was clear: antibacterial soap offers no advantage over gentle soap and introduces documented risks. For healing tattoos the problem goes further. The skin microbiome — the beneficial bacterial community that actively supports wound healing — is disrupted by antibacterial agents the same way it is disrupted by pathogens. The soap cannot tell the difference between bacteria that help and bacteria that harm. It eliminates both. The result is slower healing, more intense peeling, and a recovery process that is harder on your skin than it needs to be. We built Day 1 Bar to be specifically free of antibacterial agents — not as a marketing claim, but because the science is settled and formulating around it was non-negotiable.

The Problem With Fragrance

Fragrance is the most common skin irritant in dermatology. It is also present in the overwhelming majority of mainstream soaps, body washes, and aftercare products — including many that market themselves as gentle or natural. On intact skin most people tolerate fragrance compounds without obvious reaction. On healing tattoo skin where the barrier is compromised, fragrance penetrates more easily and triggers inflammatory responses that extend the healing timeline and increase discomfort. Essential oils create the same problem through a different mechanism — tea tree, lavender, peppermint, and citrus oils are all documented irritants on compromised skin regardless of their natural origin.

The word "unscented" on a product label does not mean fragrance-free. Many unscented products contain masking fragrances — chemicals added to neutralize the smell of other chemicals. These are still fragrance compounds with the same irritation potential. Every Banger product is genuinely fragrance-free. No synthetic fragrance, no essential oils, no masking agents.

The Problem With Liquid Soap

Liquid soap became the dominant recommendation in the 2000s partly through marketing and partly through a persistent myth that bar soap harbors bacteria. Both of those foundations have since collapsed. The bacteria myth was debunked in research going back decades — bar soap does not transfer bacteria between users when stored properly, and the alkaline pH of bar soap inhibits bacterial growth on the surface, with each lather exposing fresh clean soap from the layers beneath.

More importantly, liquid soap and bar soap are not equivalent products. Cold-process bar soap contains three to six times more nourishing oils per wash than conventional liquid soap — roughly 42% oil content versus 5 to 15% in liquid formulas. It retains natural glycerin produced during saponification that commercial manufacturing removes and sells separately. It requires no preservatives because the solid format does not support microbial growth the way water-based liquid soap does. For healing skin the higher oil concentration is not a minor difference. It means every wash delivers meaningful nourishment to compromised tissue rather than just removing debris.

Day 50+ Bar — For the Tattoos You Already Have

Cold-process base formula with pumice and sea salt for weekly exfoliation. Removes dead skin buildup that dulls healed ink. Fragrance-free. For fully healed tattoos only — use once weekly to reveal the color that is already there.

Get Day 50+ Bar on Amazon →

Free Prime shipping. Trusted by 1,250+ artists. Made in USA.

The Problem Nobody Was Talking About — Long-Term Ink Maintenance

Almost every conversation about tattoo aftercare focuses on the healing phase — the first two to three weeks after getting tattooed. Almost nobody talks about what happens to tattooed skin over the following months and years. The cumulative effect of washing tattooed skin daily with harsh conventional soap — fragranced, sulfate-heavy — is gradual barrier disruption, chronic low-grade inflammation, and accelerated fading. The tattoo does not look dramatically different after one wash. After five years of daily washing with the wrong soap, the difference is visible.

We built the Day 50+ Bar specifically for this reality. It is the same fragrance-free, microbiome-friendly base formula as the Day 1 Bar — but with pumice and sea salt added for weekly exfoliation. Dead skin accumulation on healed tattoos is one of the most common reasons older pieces look dull and faded. It is also one of the most reversible. Regular gentle exfoliation removes the layer of dead skin cells that sits over the ink and dulls its appearance, revealing the color underneath without touching or damaging the work itself.

The Problem With How Aftercare Gets Handed Off

There is a moment that happens in every tattoo shop, multiple times a day. The artist finishes the work. The client is wrapped up. The aftercare instructions are delivered — usually verbally, sometimes on a printed card, occasionally with a sample product. This handoff moment is where most of the damage to healing tattoos begins. Not because artists do not care. Because the system for that handoff has never been taken seriously as something that deserves its own infrastructure.

Generic aftercare instructions paired with generic products produce generic results. Clients go home and use whatever soap is in their shower. Healing is inconsistent. Artists get callbacks about peeling, dryness, and irritation that could have been prevented. The Banger Day 1 Bar 72-pack was built for the artists and shops who understand that the handoff matters. A case of 72 Day 1 Bars gives a shop a consistent professional aftercare product to hand every client — not a verbal recommendation, not a generic printout, but the right soap in the client's hands before they walk out the door.

The Professional Standard — 72-Pack for Artists and Shops

Day 1 Bar in professional volume. The same fragrance-free, microbiome-friendly formula your clients take home after every session. Stop recommending the right thing and start handing it to them.

Shop Bulk 72-Pack on Amazon →

Free Prime shipping. Trusted by 1,250+ artists. Made in USA.

The Complete Aftercare Kit — Raising the Standard Further

The 72-pack solves the volume problem for shops that want to hand product to every client. The Certified Banger Kit takes it further — a complete handoff-ready aftercare package that includes a Day 1 Bar, Banger Balm, and care instructions in matchbox packaging designed for professional presentation. The kit exists because soap alone is not a complete aftercare system. The cleansing phase and the moisturizing phase are two distinct needs during tattoo healing, and a professional handoff that addresses both is a different category of client experience.

Certified Banger Kit — The Complete Professional Handoff

Day 1 Bar + Banger Balm + care instructions. Matchbox packaging. Currently available for artists and shops in 12-pack minimum. The handoff your clients remember.

Shop 12-Pack Kits on Amazon →

Free Prime shipping. Trusted by 1,250+ artists. Made in USA.

Why the Name Changed — And What It Unlocked

Listening to customers is not a marketing strategy. It is how you find out what you are actually building. When 95% of your customers are organically calling your product Banger Bars instead of the name you gave it, that is a signal. The product had found its identity before the brand had. Customers named it because it resonated with them in a way the official name did not — it was direct, it had personality, and it said exactly what it was.

Banger Tattoo Care is the brand we built around that signal. And the name change did something the original name could not: it gave us room to grow. VI Tattoo Soap was a name that described one product. Banger Tattoo Care is a platform. It can house multiple product types, serve both collectors and artists, and expand into new gaps as we identify them. The tattoo aftercare industry has more gaps than any single product can fill. Banger Tattoo Care exists to close those gaps one product at a time, starting from a foundation of current science and customer feedback rather than industry tradition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did you rebrand from VI Tattoo Soap to Banger Tattoo Care?

Nearly 95% of customers organically called the product Banger Bars rather than VI Tattoo Soap. We listened and built the brand around what customers were already calling it. Banger Tattoo Care also gave us room to grow beyond a single soap product into a full platform serving both collectors and artists.

What makes Banger Tattoo Care different from other tattoo aftercare brands?

Banger stepped out of the tattoo balm ingredient wars to focus on the cleanser — the part of aftercare that the industry had never taken seriously. Every product is fragrance-free, free from antibacterial agents, and formulated with high natural oil content through cold-process manufacturing. Built around current skin biology and microbiome research, not industry tradition.

What is the difference between the Day 1 Bar and the Day 50+ Bar?

Day 1 Bar is formulated for healing tattoos during the first two to three weeks. It cleans gently without stripping the skin barrier. Day 50+ Bar uses the same fragrance-free cold-process base but adds pumice and sea salt for weekly exfoliation on fully healed tattoos — removing the dead skin buildup that dulls older ink and revealing the color underneath.

Why is antibacterial soap bad for tattoo healing?

Antibacterial soap disrupts the skin microbiome — the community of beneficial bacteria that actively supports wound healing. The FDA ruled in 2016 that antibacterial agents provide no advantage over plain soap for preventing infection. For healing tattoos, antibacterial soap eliminates beneficial bacteria with no offsetting benefit, slowing recovery and producing worse healing outcomes.

Are the Banger aftercare kits available for individual collectors?

The Certified Banger Kit is currently available for tattoo artists and shops in 12-pack minimum. Individual collectors can purchase the Day 1 Bar and Day 50+ Bar separately on Amazon with Prime shipping.

Why is cold-process bar soap better than liquid soap for tattoo healing?

Cold-process bar soap contains three to six times more nourishing oils per wash than conventional liquid soap, retains natural glycerin that supports the skin barrier, and requires no chemical preservatives because the solid format does not support microbial growth. For healing skin the higher oil concentration means every wash delivers active barrier support rather than just removing debris.

The Bottom Line

VI Tattoo Soap became Banger Tattoo Care because customers told us who we were before we fully understood it ourselves. The science that the industry was ignoring — the FDA ruling, the microbiome research, the bar soap chemistry — was always there. Building a brand around it just required stepping out of the product category everyone else was competing in and looking at the problem from the beginning. Day 1 Bar is where that thinking starts. For the complete peer-reviewed science behind these recommendations see The Science of Tattoo Aftercare.

Follow @bangertattoocare on Instagram for the science behind tattoo aftercare — no fluff, no filler, just what the research actually says.

Related Posts:

• Why Antibacterial Soap Damages Tattoos and What Artists Use Instead
• Bar Soap vs Liquid Soap for Tattoos — Which Is Actually Better?
• 5 Ingredients to Immediately Avoid in Your New Tattoo Soap
• Day 1 Bar vs Vanicream vs Mad Rabbit vs Dr. Bronner's — Full Comparison
• When Can You Use Normal Soap on a New Tattoo?
• The Science of Tattoo Aftercare — Full Source List