# DIY tattoo removal. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 1, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793 "2014-06-01T21:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793/1 "2014-06-01T21:46:42Z")
A steel wire brush grinder works. Except his buddy nicked the guy’s eyeball. :eek: Makes me cringe thinking about it. It worked and the scaring isn’t too bad. Looks better than those jail tats and he has a chance to get a job now. > **[Florida man GRINDS off his jail tattoos with a steel wire brush](https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/05/31/florida-man-grinds-off-his-jail-tattoos-with-a-steel-wire-brush/)** > > A Florida man is slowly recovering after grinding jail tattoos off his face with a steel wire brush. The gruesome ordeal splattered blood all over Ericks Mackus’ body and left the 22-year-old… Kids don’t try this at home. DIY Tat removal should be parent supervised. 😃😛 > **[Florida man GRINDS off his jail tattoos with a steel wire brush](https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/05/31/florida-man-grinds-off-his-jail-tattoos-with-a-steel-wire-brush/)** > > A Florida man is slowly recovering after grinding jail tattoos off his face with a steel wire brush. The gruesome ordeal splattered blood all over Ericks Mackus’ body and left the 22-year-old… I hope the guy succeeds in turning his life around. He’s obviously screwed up most of it so far. It sounds like he’s serious about getting a job. That’s a start in the right direction. > [@](#): > > The gruesome ordeal splattered blood all over Ericks Mackus’ body and left the 22-year-old with a sliced left eyeball. But the Clearwater man is happy the tattoos — remnants of his time in jail — are gone. > > “Very painful,” Mackus told the Tampa Bay Times about the removal. “But we got them off.” > > Mackus has been in and out of jail since he was 12 years old. His birth mom was addicted to drugs and he never knew what had happened to his birth father. His adoptive parents, Karl and Ausma Mackus, an engineer and a geologist, tried their best to give him all the love and support he needed. He was raised in an upscale neighborhood in Palm Harbor and saw an educational therapist in elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793/2 "2014-06-10T05:58:18Z")
I don’t know about you, but I’d think twice about hiring someone dumb enough to try and remove his own tattoo with a wire brush. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793/3 "2014-06-10T12:19:28Z")
I still wouldn’t hire him. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793/4 "2014-06-10T12:25:52Z")
> [@](#): > > **He wants to save up money and leave Florida and his past behind — perhaps go out to Texas or up north to Alaska.** Which area code? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793/5 "2014-06-10T12:44:44Z")
> [@](#): > > A Florida man Who woulda guessed? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793/6 "2014-06-10T13:46:23Z")
Am I the only one that got the impression that story was written by someone that’s approximately 13 years old? Also, this took place in 2012. Why is the NY Daily News just publishing it now? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-tattoo-removal/689793/7 "2014-06-10T15:58:43Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Am I the only one that got the impression that story was written by someone that’s approximately 13 years old? > Also, this took place in 2012. Why is the NY Daily News just publishing it now? slow news year?