I'm in the tattoo & body piercing industry. I'm using a steam autoclave for all my equipment but I've heard from a few people that dry heat sterilization is better, is this true, because my thinking was that the dry heat makes the instruments brittle.
Which method works better for our purpose?

Thanx

Dear Andre

Dry heat is not as versatile or widely used as moist heat. In general, moist heat is much more effective than dry heat and is the standard method used in hospitals. Like other methods of sterilization there are both advantages and disadvantages for using dry heat as a sterilization method.
Main advantages:

• Dry heat can sterilize items that cannot be sterilized in steam or chemical sterilizers, e.g. oils, powders, or those that are prone to rust.
• Dry heat does not have a corrosive or rust effect on sharp instruments or needles.
• Dry heat will sterilize instruments containing many parts that cannot be disassembled.

Main disadvantages:

• Dry heat requires long exposure times to effectively achiev sterility.
• Dry heat requires high temperature that many items cannot be exposded to.
• Dry heat requires special packaging material that sustain integrity under high heat conditions.

Summary: the technique of choice depends on the composition of the item. The end products must pass sterility tests.
I recommend you to read "ENFORCEMENT OF SKIN PIERCING ACTIVITIES" specially Decontamination - Cleaning -Sterilization
on www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/76-2.htm

Kind regards
Josy Holdener