Piercing FAQs

Wherever you choose to get pierced, we want you to do it safely. Here are the questions we are asked most, and the things worth knowing before you sit down.

There is no single piercing qualification in the UK. Your local authority grants a licence when it is satisfied that the premises and the piercer are safe and competent. Experience is everything, so it is always fair to ask how long someone has been piercing.

The ONLY ‘accreditation’ a piercer can show you to demonstrate their safety and skill level, would be being a UKAPP member. The UK Associations of professional piercers is a not-for-profit organisation, members of the UKAPP have proven to the organisation that they maintain world-class industry standards.

Choosing a piercer

• Check that both the premises and the piercer are licensed with the local authority.
• Surfaces, couches and sinks should be easy to wipe clean, and treatment rooms free of carpets and curtains.
• The couch or chair should be wiped down with biocide between every client.
• There should be a sink with hot and cold running water that is not hand operated, with hands dried on paper towels rather than a dryer.
• Fresh gloves should go on after the area is cleaned and marked, sterile gloves should be applied just before piercing.
• Sterilising should happen in a separate area, away from the clean treatment rooms, with a sharps bin to hand.
• Ask to see the initial jewellery options. Implant grade titanium or niobium, ideally internally threaded or threadless WITH mill certificates, is the standard to look for.
• Air filtration such as HEPA or Medivent reduces airborne risk, and the autoclave should be serviced and spore tested.
• Ideally, at least working towards standards necessary to gain Membership of an accredited body such as UKAPP.

One thing to avoid entirely is piercing guns. They cannot be sterilised and cause needless trauma, so a good studio will never use one.

Hygiene and the cleaning process

A good piercer will happily show you their sterilisation room when they are not too busy. Some piercers are fully disposable, meaning they don’t reprocess tools (as a result they likely cannot offer every piercing, or they’ll have disposable metal tools for these). For sterilising tools, the gold standard is a three stage process.

• Cold soak: reusable tools are soaked in a solution that kills bacteria and viruses, then rinsed thoroughly.
• Ultrasonic: a detergent bath uses vibration to lift debris at a microscopic level, then everything is rinsed again.
• Autoclave: extreme heat and pressure fully sterilise the bagged equipment, which stays sealed and sterile until it is opened in front of you.

Before your appointment

• No alcohol or drugs beforehand. They thin the blood, so you will bleed more and heal more slowly.
• For non oral piercings you can have a drink (responsibly) afterwards, but avoid alcohol for a few days after any oral piercing, and a few months after cheeks.
• Think about your lifestyle and work, and how a new piercing might affect your sleep for a while.
• Choose your initial jewellery carefully.

Our ethics

We have a strict code about whether we will perform a piercing. If something has a high chance of rejecting because of your anatomy or lifestyle, we will tell you honestly. We would always rather turn a piercing away than take your money for something that will not work.

Please come alone to your appointment, to limit the number of people in the studio and keep it peaceful – we will be your moral support!

For health, safety and insurance reasons we can’t have children in the procedure room if their parent is getting pierced, or unsupervised in the studio reception. Please bring someone 16+ with you to supervise your child. Thank you for your understanding <3

On our booking system, if the calendar doesn’t allow you to select a date or time, it is because we are fully booked that day. We do accept walk-ins if our piercers aren’t fully booked, first come first served.

If you have a piercing emergency, like needing an upsize (no matter where you had it pierced), please pop in ANYTIME during our open hours, even if the calendar shows us as fully booked, we will do our best to help you.

We cannot pierce with or fit *any* jewellery sourced from outside our studio. This would invalidate our insurance AND be unsafe. We go to extreme lengths to make sure our jewellery is APP verified, brand new, sterilised and safe for you – we will not fit mystery metal sourced elsewhere, for your safety.

If you have an assistance dog we are VERY happy to accommodate you both, and we request that you book an appointment in our accessible studio. We cannot accept walk-in visits with assistance dogs, as we need additional time afterwards to clean. This is a reasonable way of balancing our services to keep ALL clients safe, as we work with broken skin. This has been approved by Manchester City Councils Equality Specialist. Thank you so much for your understanding!

It takes time for you to fill in your consent form, choose jewellery, have us sterilise it and perform your piercing. Therefore, please allow an hour for your appointment.

Sometimes, our services can run behind (e.g. a little-one being nervous, needing a little more time. etc.) We promise to keep you informed if you are waiting. Please let us know if you have other appointments and we will do our very best to look after you. Please show kindness and understanding, thank you <3

Please don’t apply any numbing creams, we can’t pierce any tissue that has been numbed. We promise you we will make your piercing as comfortable and quick as possible.

If you are lucky enough to be pregnant or breastfeeding we cannot pierce you, as your body is doing a very important job (and insurers are rather strict on this!). We recommend waiting until at least 6 weeks after finishing breastfeeding before getting a piercing.

If you have ANY physical or mental conditions (such as anxiety, autism etc), or you are just feeling particularly nervous, please feel free to email us in advance or just let us know when you come in and we will make an extra special effort to reassure you, or help with mobility if necessary

Our main studio is down a flight of stairs – inclusivity is VERY important to us, therefore we acquired and built a ground-floor accessible studio in 2025! This can be booked under Accessible Appointments. We will bring jewellery up for you to admire and discuss, and give you the same 5* experience that all of our clients deserve <3

Age requirements

• Earlobes only from age 8, with a parent or legal guardian present and photo ID for both. The ears need to be grown enough to support the piercing, and the child ready to ask for it and follow the aftercare themselves.
• Ear cartilage, navels and most other piercings from 16, with valid photo ID. Parental consent is not required.
• Nipples, genitals, surface piercings, microdermals, cheeks, translobes and large gauge are strictly 18+, with valid photo ID.
• Tattoos are strictly 18+ by law, with valid photo ID. Parental consent is never accepted.
• We do not accept copies of identification as it is so easy to electronically alter such documents. Please remember your government issue, valid, hard-copy photo ID (e.g. passport, citizen card.)
• We are a tiny independent business with huge overheads – we cannot pierce or tattoo without I.D, and your booking fee would unfortunately be forfeit if you come in without it. Please contact us before booking if you are unsure or need any advice.

Still have a question, or worried about a piercing from anywhere at all? Come in or give us a call. We will always help if we can.