Red 5 Tattoo

Red 5 Tattoo is located at 16 East 8th St. in Lawrence, Kansas. Our shop is in the historic downtown area just a few feet east of the intersection of 8th and Massachusetts Street across from Richard’s Music and the Sandbar.

The shop is owned and operated by Stan Farmer and his son Seymour. Stan began his career as a tattooist in 1998 after obtaining a BFA in Illustration from the University of Kansas. Over the years he has lived and worked across the country as well as here in Kansas and once again calls Lawrence home.

We are a 100% disposable shop. That means that we do not even reuse the standard stainless steel tubes that need to be cleaned and autoclaved. We use a single use needle cartridge system. All needle cartridges are disposed of after each use in a special sharps container that is picked up by an outside service. The new needle cartridges come pre-sterilized and remain in a sealed sterile pouch until the time of use. The newer needle cartridge system is safer than the traditional equipment in many ways. The cartridges are completely sealed to prevent a backflow of ink into the machine. (Backflow of contaminated ink is a common issue with traditional tattooing equipment and can lead to cross contamination.) The cartridges are easier to handle and dispose of with far less risk of accidental needle stick than the needle bar and tube combo. The tattoo machines we use are easily able to be completely wrapped in single use plastic barriers for maximum sterility. Nothing is ever exposed and nothing is reused. This keeps our shop environment safe for our clients and for us.