Chose a safe place to inject: one that is private, clean and well lit with running water, if possible. Use soapy water to wipe down the surface where you'll prepare your hit or lay down the paper bag your equipment came in.

Make sure you have everything you need within reach: new sterile fits, new sterile water (or cooled boiled water in a clean glass), new swabs, a clean filter, clean spoon, and a clean tourniquet.

Wash your hands (and your injecting site) with warm soapy water. Hand washing is very important to remove viruses, bacteria, and plain old dirt from your injecting environment. If you can't wash your hands use swabs, wiping in one direction to clean them. Rubbing swabs backward and forward spreads the dirt and bacteria around.