We have a small but very great customer service team here at Craft Resin and they are on hand daily to answer your resin related questions. On a weekly basis there are a few questions that we get asked time and time again, so we wanted to cover them in this weeks blog so that you can gain a better understanding of how our resin works and what you can create with it.
These are the questions we’ll go through in this blog:
1 - Is epoxy resin/Craft Resin safe to use inside a house?
2 - Do I need to wear a respirator?
3 - Can I use scales to measure my resin/hardener?
4 - How do I stop bubbles appearing?
5 - Why is my project not curing?
6 - Can I cancel/skip/change my subscription?
7 - Is Craft Resin Heat Resistant?
8 - Is Craft Resin safe for food/drinks?
9 - How long have I got to use Craft Resin before it cures?
10 - How do I check if anyone has bought resin through my referral program link?
1 - Is epoxy resin/Craft Resin safe to use inside a house?
Not all epoxy resins are created equal, different brands formulate their products differently to we do, and so we can only give you advice on Craft Resin’s products. If you are using a different brand please do consult their guidance.
Craft Resin has been certified safe for home use by an external safety company, when the product is used as directed. You can find out more safety information in our safety blog which will explain all you need to know to be able to work with Craft Resin in your home environment.:
2 - Do I need to wear a respirator?
This question links to the above, but is not that straight forward to give you a definitive answer. The reason is that it depends on how well ventilated your working area is. We will always recommend purchasing and wearing a respirator as we cannot tell how well ventilated your work area is., and neither can you most probably.
When it comes to personal safety we would always recommend going over and beyond, as your own safety and future health is paramount. If you are asking the question do I need to wear a respirator in the first place, you are probably someone who likes to air on the side of caution too, and so yes, just wear the respirator.
We cannot advise you on which respirator to use, there are different brands and respirators around the world, however a good respirator company should be able to help with this. You might just need to pass the the details of our Safety Data Sheet, which you can find below or at the bottom footer on all our website pages:
3 - Can I use scales to measure my resin/hardener?
Whenever you start creating with epoxy resin, or switch brands, we would always suggest reading the basic guidelines to learn the correct techniques. The key to your creations going well on the first attempt or not, is all in following the correct techniques. We have a great blog that goes through these that we’ll share below:
When measuring our resin, you will need to ensure you measure by volume and not by weight. The easiest way we find to do this is to purchase two silicone jugs the same size and brand, and then place them next to each other, fill the resin and hardener in the separate jugs up to the same level, then check with your eyesight to make sure they are even.
We know that you can get scales that measure in volume, however we cannot guarantee how accurate these are and so wouldn’t recommend using them.
4 - How do I stop bubbles appearing?
First of all Craft Resin does state on its packaging that it is bubble free*, this means that is can be bubble free when you follow the guidance and use the correct techniques. Many artists achieve completely bubble free finishes to their work because they follow our guidance.
There are 4 main reasons why bubbles appear, and understanding these is the key to understanding how to get rid of them:
- Cold resin temperatures.
- Pouring too thick at once.
- Mixing too fast.
- Your project is releasing trapped air (projects with natural additives in like flowers can do this).
To create bubble free work you need to do the opposite of the above. Read our bubble free blog to understand how to do this with the issues above:
Some bubbles will always appear on the surface of your work once you have poured it, these can easily be removed using a heat gun/heat torch. Of course we have a blog on this too:
Using A Heat Torch To Remove Bubbles Blog
5 - Why is my project not curing?
1. You haven’t left it long enough - Craft Resin’s cure time is about 24 hours (depending on the thickness of your project). This is the time the resin and hardener mix goes through the chemical reaction to form a solid.6 - How do I get the 10% discount to work from my QR code in my kit?
After 24 hours it still might not be completely solid, and can be slightly flexible. But at this point it should be hard enough to remove your project from its mold and possibly even hang any art work that’s been covered by resin on the wall.
The curing process will continue over the next 2 days when the project has been resting for 72 hours. Depending on the thickness of your project, you should be able to package your project and send it out to your customers after this point, although some people do like to wait a little while longer just to make sure.
2. The temperature of your curing area needs to be warmer - The ideal temperature to work with Craft Resin’s epoxy resin is between 21-24C or 70-75F. This not only needs to be the temperature while working with the resin, but also during the first 24 hours of the curing stage too, possibly even longer if creating in layers.
The warmer the temperature, the faster your work cures.
3. You didn’t measure or mix the resin/hardener correctly - If the amount of resin and hardener isn’t exact, then this can stop your work from curing.
Equally if you haven’t mixed for long enough then the resin and hardener won’t start heating up and the chemical reaction that causes the project to harden won’t start. Mix for a minimum of 3 minutes, but anywhere between 3-5 minutes.
4. You scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing container when you pour - No matter how well you think you have mixed the edges of the resin mix in your mixing jugs or the very bottom of the jugs, it is very rare that it has been mixed for over the 3 minute mark. Because of this we always say don’t scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing containers to get every last drop out when you pour it into your mold.
If you do and unmixed resin does get into your mold it can end up not curing, either in sticky spots or your whole project.
6 - Can I cancel/skip/change my subscription?
You have full control over your subscription when you buy your resin order through that option. You can make changes to your subscription yourself, or contact our team with notice before you need these changes in place and we can make them for you. Please give at least 3 working days before your next subscription is due to ask us to cancel for you.
To make changes yourself simply, register in the top blue bar (three lines on your mobile device) on our website. Once you have registered, you can then click log in. Once logged in you will be able to see your subscription at the tip of the page. When you click on it you can make any changes you need to.
7 - Is Craft Resin Heat Resistant?
Craft Resin can be perfect for use on projects such as coasters because of the epoxy resins heat resistance. When Craft Resin is fully cured, after 21 days, the resin projects can withstand temperatures of 200F/93C.
When your fully cured epoxy resin project reaches these temperatures it can become flexible, but it will harden up again when cooler. If your project does become flexible, please leave it on a flat even surface to cool, if not it can harden up in a strange shape depending on what it has been resting on when hot and then cooled again.
Please note, regardless of what you choose to colour your epoxy resin mix with, do not exceed 6% colorant to the total amount of Craft Resin, this will throw the delicate balance required for the chemical reaction to occur and your work to cure, and will make the guaranteed heat resistance void.
8 - Is Craft Resin safe for food/drinks?
Once Craft Resin is cured, and has fully hardened, your resin project can be used safely as a food contact surface.
Craft Resin has been tested by a third party for leaching and migration across worldwide standards and passed all testing: When you use Craft Resin as directed, the fully cured resin will not leach any substances into food that comes into contact with it.
9 - How long have I got to use Craft Resin before it cures?
When you mix resin and hardener together you only have a limited amount of time to use it in it's liquid state before it goes through a chemical reaction and then hardens. This time is called the working time, or pot life.
For regular amounts of resin and hardener mixed together you have about 45 minutes working time, this will depend how much resin and hardener you are mixing together and temperatures in your working environment. If you have warmed your resin and hardener in a warm sink before use, this will decrease the working time by about another 10-15 minutes.
For best results make sure that your work area is set up and you have everything you need around you so that once the resin and hardener are mixed together you can start working with them straight away.
There are also lots of other questions we get asked that are more project specific questions. Epoxy Resin is an extremely versatile substance and can be used in many ways, in many projects to create many different effects.
We have lots more guidance in our Blog/Learn sections on our website that can help if you do have any queries at all that you can’t find the information for, and we also have our fabulous Facebook Community Group too. The group is full of so many different resin artists who create different projects in different ways all the time. If you have a questions then this group is a great place to start as people who have had similar issues, or questions to yourself will be able to share their experiences and guidance on what worked for them.
Please don’t feel too shy to ask a question into the group, our members are very friendly and love to help others grow in their resin journeys.
Team Craft Resin
