About
We are a tattoo shop in the heart of Stockholm. We first opened our doors in 2005, but in another location. We’ve been on Bondegatan 16 in SOFO since 2008. Over the years a long line of resident tattooers and guests have been creating amazing work within these walls, cementing the name Swahili Bob’s in the tattoo history of Sweden.
Since the summer of 2021 we are mostly a new crew of tattooers in the shop so it was time to launch a new website and present ourselves to the world again. We speak Swedish, English, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian.
The reputation of Swahili Bob’s has been shaped as mainly an old school street shop, doing American traditional style tattoos. However we offer and perform all kinds of tattoos, from geometric to tribal to realism to fine line and traditional Japanese. We also host guest tattooers who typically are specialized and focused in their own niche of tattooing. All to ensure that our clients can find what they are looking for and along the way become introduced to styles of tattooing they perhaps didn’t know they would enjoy.
The best way to get a sense of our work as tattooers is to look around on this site in the various galleries or to go directly to our individual instagram profiles for a deep dive. Of course you are also very welcome to swing by the shop, browse our portfolios of designs and talk to us directly.
We try our best to offer the chance for walk-ins tattoos every day. That is: you show up with you idea or reference picture ready and we tattoo you right away or within an hour or two during the same day. The tides of tattooing ebbs and flows however, so some days we are extra busy with lots of clients and we will instead ask to book you in for a later date.
For bigger projects, larger than the size of a hand we prefer that you come in for a consultation so we can have time to plan together, sketch and prepare your tattoo design in the best way possible.
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Open:
Monday to Saturday 12 – 18
Call us during our opening hours:
08 – 33 53 10
You can also reach us through e-mail:
info@swahilibobs.com
How to book
What is the best way to contact the studio for a tattoo?
The best way is to simply come by the shop and talk to us. There is always someone here who can help you and introduce you to the right tattooer for your idea.
– Second best option is to call us:
08 – 33 53 10.
– You can also write us directly by e-mail
info@swahilibobs.com
or through our Instagram profile
@swahilibobstattoo
Please note that any written message might take a few days until you get a reply since we are sometimes too busy/have days off.
Is there a minimum price?
Yes, 1500 SEK.
For a very very very small tattoo, can I get it very very very cheap?
We have a minimum price at the shop and it’s 1500 SEK. This is because even for a very small tattoo we still use our time to prepare and set up for it, and the material costs involved are more or less the same as for a bigger tattoo.
Why do I need to pay a deposit when I make an appointment for a later date?
We will require you to pay a 500 SEK deposit when booking time for your tattoo. This means you commit to getting the tattoo and we commit to preparing the design for you and save the time to do it.
Later when you pay for your tattoo this 500 SEK comes off the full price. For example if the tattoo will cost 2500 you will only pay 2000 on the day when you do it.
If you are not able to come by the shop to leave the deposit we will ask you to use Swish or Paypal to send it directly to your tattooer.
What if I can not get tattooed when I am booked in?
If you for some reason can not get tattooed on the time you have planned with your tattooer you need to let us know at least 24 hours before your appointment. Please contact both the tattooer and the shop. This way we can move you to another date and you won’t lose the deposit. If you let us know too late it is our right to keep the deposit to make up for lost income.
This does not include if you (or your tattooer) can not show up because of sickness. In that case we will find a new time together and the deposit transfers to that date.
How can I prepare before getting tattooed:
Don’t be hungry, don’t be too tired or stressed.
Be clean and relaxed.
Get here in time.
Wear or bring comfortable clothes that allows you to easily expose the body part where you are getting the tattoo.
Bring a snack to help your blood sugar stay up.
Don’t:
Drink a lot of alcohol the night before.
Take aspirin on the same day as this makes your blood thinner which means you’ll bleed out more of the pigment.
Get tattooed while pregnant or breastfeeding.
What is the minimum age for getting a tattoo at Swahili Bob’s?
18.
Can my friend / family member come and sit with me during the tattoo?
Often yes. The tattooer making your tattoo is free to decide this. For example if there are many people in the shop all ready or if someone is getting tattooed in a private part of the body we probably will decline. Or if the tattooer is doing a extra tricky tattoo on you and don’t want any distractions.
Our aim is to keep the tattooing process focused so that the creative interaction is clear and open between tattooer and client. Involving any third person typically does not help this. Instead make sure you are confident in getting tattooed, enjoy the special occasion and catch up with friends and family later.
What to do after getting tattooed?
Your tattooer will give you instructions and answer any questions you might have.
For general guidelines check this page.
A good idea is to get some food after finishing a decent sized tattoo so your body recovers energy. Take it quite easy the rest of the day if you feel tired. It’s good to know that tattoos can look red and even bruised on the second day after getting tattooed, especially certain areas of the body. Don’t let this worry you too much.
Remember that a tattoo is a sort of handcraft art form, like pottery, wood carving or silkscreen printing. Imperfections are part of the charm and with time all tattoos change and lose part of its original sharpness and saturation. On top of that every person has different skin and different lifestyle that will affect the tattoo as it ages. Tattoos are supposed to change with time, there is no way around it. Don’t compare healed and aged tattoos with photoshopped images.
How do I go about getting a custom drawn tattoo from you?
First give it some thought and look around at reference pictures for what you want to include in your design. This can be other tattoos, drawings, photos, whatever.
This will make it easier to present your idea to us. It doesn’t have to be detailed or long about the meaning and why you want to get the tattoo, but clear and focused the visual parts of your idea.
We will assist, give feedback and advice if needed.
In the description include what you want and don’t want.
For example:
“I want a tattoo of a cool 1960’s lady with long black hair, I do not want her to wear a colourful patterned dress” or
“I want to get a palm sized tattoo of a skull with horns but I don’t want it to look scary or angry”.
We aim to include all your ideas in the tattoo but the main goal is to make an amazing tattoo for that part of your body. This means we might need to leave out things you asked for, or add some other things to aid with the composition of the design.
Make sure you tell us what is the most important about your idea and be open to see what your tattooer presents you with, even if it might surprise you.We are both on the team of wanting to make the best tattoo possible for you 🙂
For any further questions, just contact us!
info@swahilibobs.com
Aftercare
Taking care of your new tattoo is very important to make sure it heals as good as possible. Every person has different skin, different health status and different lifestyle factors affecting how easy and quick the tattoo heals. On top of that there is also the difference in placement on the body, size of the tattoo, technique and types of pigment and needles used that will play into how your tattoo heals and how long it takes.
Some lucky people heal well very easily doing almost nothing for their new tattoo, while others need to be more careful with the aftercare.
This is our general recommendations for healing a new tattoo.
Your tattooer might give you more specific instructions too.
- Leave the plastic wrap on until the next morning.
- On the morning after, remove the plastic before showering. Wash the tattoo and gently “massage” it to remove excess blood, pigment and plasma on the outside of the skin.
- Let the tattoo air dry without touching it, then with clean hands apply after care cream on the tattoo.
- Repeat this cleaning + cream routine 2 times per day, morning and evening, during the first week.
- When the scabs start appearing after a few days, do not pick them or scratch them. The tattoo will itch a lot. This is normal and good. Let the scabs fall of when they are ready.
- After the first week you can keep applying cream 2 times a day if you notice the skin is still dry.
- Washing the tattoo and taking short showers is fine. For at least the first week you should not swim, use a sauna or shower very long/ in hot water. This opens up the scabs and disturb the healing a lot.
- Avoid having tight/stiff fitting clothes or irritating textiles like wool on the part that you have tattooed. Better with soft materials and loose fitting garments so the tattoo can breath.
- Your body knows how to care for and heal itself. Let it take time and do not touch the tattoo more than necessary as this just disturbs the healing and could result in extra scarring.
- During the first week you need to avoid getting too much direct sun exposure on the tattoo. Even after it’s recommended that you use sun block on your tattoo to best preserve it as sun over time will affect the pigments.
- If you have any further questions feel free contact us.
