Fading a Tattoo for a Better Cover-Up

I've been tattooing since 1991, and cover-ups have been part of the job the whole way through. Old names, faded tribal, a rushed holiday tattoo, something that just doesn't feel like you anymore. People come in hoping we can make it disappear under something new, and a lot of the time we can. But the honest answer to "can you cover this?" is often "yes, but it'll be a better tattoo if we fade it first."

Why fading makes such a difference

A cover-up works by putting darker, bolder tattooing over the top of what's already there. The old ink doesn't go anywhere, so the new design has to be built to hide it. If the original is dark, solid and heavy, that limits you. You end up needing a bigger piece, more black, more dense shading in exactly the spots where the old lines sit. Sometimes the design ends up being chosen because of what it has to hide, not because it's what you actually want.

Fading takes that pressure off. A few sessions of laser break down the old pigment and knock the tattoo back so it's lighter and softer. It doesn't need to vanish. It just needs to be quiet enough that the new tattoo can do its own thing. That means more freedom with colour, more open skin in the design, and often a cover-up that doesn't have to be twice the size of the original.

Do you always need it?

No. Plenty of cover-ups go straight over the top with no laser at all, especially when the old tattoo is small, light or already faded with age. Japanese work is brilliant for this. The bold outlines, strong black backgrounds, wind bars and water give you loads of places to hide things, and I've covered a lot of old work that way over the years.

Where fading really earns its place is with very dark or very solid tattoos, heavy blackwork, old lettering you want completely gone, or when you're set on something lighter, like softer florals, lots of colour or fine detail. In those cases, laser first usually means a cleaner result and a tattoo you'll be happier with long term.

How the fading side works

Laser fading at the studio is done by Darren, who's VTCT qualified and runs all our laser work. He uses Q-switched lasers that break the ink into tiny particles your body then clears away over the following weeks. We've got cooling equipment in the room too, which makes the sessions a lot more bearable.

Fading for a cover-up usually takes fewer sessions than full removal, because we're only aiming to lighten it, not erase it. How many you'll need depends on the ink, the colours, how old the tattoo is and how your skin responds. Sessions are spaced six weeks apart to give your skin time to heal and your body time to do its part. Darren will look at your tattoo properly and give you a realistic idea before you start, rather than a guess.

Once the fading's done, the skin needs to fully settle before we tattoo over it. No rushing that bit. Tattooing on skin that's still healing from laser doesn't do anyone any favours.

Having everything under one roof

This is one of the reasons I like having laser in the studio. You can sit down with your tattoo artist and with Darren and plan the whole thing together. We can look at the old tattoo, talk about the design you actually want, and work out how much fading it needs to get there. No guesswork, no going back and forth between two places that never talk to each other.

Sometimes that conversation changes the plan completely. Someone comes in expecting a huge dark piece, and after a couple of sessions of fading we can give them the lighter design they wanted all along.

Thinking about a cover-up?

If you've got a tattoo you're ready to move on from, the best first step is a chat. Send us a photo through the contact form and tell us a bit about what you'd like instead. We'll let you know honestly whether it can go straight over, or whether a bit of fading first will give you a better tattoo.

There's no online booking for tattoos here, just proper consultations, so we can get it right from the start.

Good Times Tattoo  1st Floor, 8 Lower Clapton Road, Hackney, London E5 0PD. Get in touch through the contact form on our website or pop in for a consultation.

Tattooing East London since 2009.