Lightweight plastics help tattoo artists avoid dreaded typos

If there's one person in your life that you want feeling comfortable, it's whoever is etching that tattoo onto your arm, leg, back, neck or whatever body part you've chosen.

Because if that person isn't at 100 percent, you could have a wrong or misspelled name across your biceps. That could be awkward. “Michelle, honey, I don't even know a girl named Melissa…”

And while your biker pals might be impressed at the sight of a BORN TO RIDE tat on your neck, they might not feel the same way about BOON TO RICE.

With that goal in mind, tattoo equipment maker Morphix Inc. is using Radel-brand polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) resin in its tattoo needle grips. Radel PPSU is made by Solvay Specialty Polymers at its plant in Alpharetta, Ga.

In a recent news release, Solvay officials said that Chicago-based Morphix designed its grips to help relieve the pain and discomfort associated with repetitive-use stress injuries that tattoo artists often experience. Radel PPSU can be an alternative to conventional metals in light-weight grips.

Morphix sampled several other resins before choosing Radel PPSU for its Humbolt and Flatiron grips. The cost to manufacture these same grips out of aluminum would have priced Morphix out of the market.

“Tattoo artists' hands take a beating,” Morphix president and CEO Todd Myers said in the release. “Between the heavy equipment, constant vibration and repetitive motion, many artists battle with wrist and digital pain throughout their career.”

“Our redesigned grips are a lot lighter and more comfortable than standard metal grips, and they give artists better control,” he added. ““We've never seen a thermoplastic material perform as well in stress testing as Radel PPSU.”

All of which should prevent, for example, a Cleveland Browns fan from looking at that new ink on his or her arm and seeing GO BRONS.

Another life improvement from the world of plastics!