Resin for beginners – the basics
Are you a resin beginner? Are you wondering where to start or would like to know how to minimise mistakes? Our blog gives you some of the top tips for starting out with epoxy resin.
Top tips for epoxy resin beginners:
– Choose your kit carefully
Resin crafting can be expensive. You don’t need to jump in and buy everything right away. Start small and then once you’ve decided if it’s the hobby for you, you can grow your kit collection.
Take a look at our essential kit guide here.
– Know which resin you need for your project
There’s a huge number of resins on the market. You can get craft resin, deep pour resin, fast cure resin, UV resin. Our blog talks you through how to choose the right resin for your project.
– Know your resin terminology
From Amine Blush to VOC’s, read our resin terminology blog to find out what some of the resin language means. This will help you better understand when watching and reading tutorials.
– Understand resin safety
Next, it’s really important to understand that epoxy resin is a chemical and should be handled with care. Each resin brand will come with their own safety instructions but, you can find out how to ensure you protect your health and home when using epoxy resin in our blog: ‘Should I use protective equipment when working with Resin?’.
– Set up your workspace
As mentioned, epoxy resin is a chemical and requires safe handling. You should ALWAYS work away from children and pets. You ideally want to be in a very well ventilated environment or use a purifier like this on from Resiners (read the blog to get 15% off).
Resin can be sticky and messy. Always protect your work space with a covering that can be easily cleaned like silicone mats or can be discarded like saran wrap / cling film.
By making sure you have everything you need to hand before you start working, you’re less likely to knock things over and will know you have enough space for your project.
Make sure you have enough flat space (if it’s not flat your project will cure unevenly) to let your pieces cure. Remember to keep them away from children and pets. We like to use food covers to protect our curing pieces from dust.
– Start with a small project
Resin can be expensive and mistakes frustrating. Start with a small project like keyrings (see our tutorial blog here) where you can experiment with colours and textures and get used to working with resin while only using small amounts.
– Understand how to reduce bubbles
Finally, bubbles can be one of the most frustrating parts of working with resin. They can ruin a beautiful project. Learn how to reduce bubbles in epoxy resin by reading our blog.
Most importantly of all – make sure you have fun! Experiment and find your own style. Epoxy resin can be really exciting and rewarding to work with. Join our resin community on Facebook to share your resin journey with others.
