5 Mistakes to Avoid when Making UV Resin Artwork

UV Resin is now more and more popular with everyone because of its durability and versatility. If UV resin is used correctly, the effect is exactly what you need. You will find DIY is very interesting and will make your life happier. When I was a beginner using resin, I made some mistakes, such as my handcrafts being sticky, soft, bubbles, etc. I felt sad and angry, what did I do wrong? I was a little confused. This can ruin or weaken the resin and give you undesirable results. At that time, I hoped there was an instructor who could emphasize some important things about resin to help me avoid problems. 

To help you avoid these mistakes, I have listed below 5 Mistakes to Avoid when Making UV Resin Artwork.

1. Curing problem

There are 3 situations about UV resin curing problems.

Problem 1 : Tacky UV Resin

The resin has begun curing but the surface is still sticky, just like the sticky side of the tape.

The UV resin is cured by ultraviolet rays, and different UV resins on the market may have different curing times. 

Please make sure to buy the best quality of UV resin. A high price is not necessarily high quality and low price does not necessarily mean bad quality. Some sellers of UV resin with good quality often use very low prices to gain a larger share of the market in the early stages. The expensive ones are not necessarily the best. Some are old sellers who have been selling for a long time. The quality may be average, but because they have been selling for a long time and have stable customers, the price is high and it’s the product that suits them best. 

So, when you receive a new UV resin, you need to read the instructions carefully. Please remember to buy a UV lamp to cure the resin, it can also be called a nail lamp. Please remember this! Be sure to buy a 36w! 36w! 36w!!! If you buy a 9w or 24w, it will be very hard to cure and it will be sticky. Don’t buy a cheap UV flashlight. Ultraviolet flashlights are just for fixing, not for curing.

Sun curing. The sun can indeed cure, but the curing time is very slow, so to improve your work efficiency, please remember to buy a 36w UV lamp.

You will have to scrape off all wet material as much as possible, sand off any dry-cured resin, and then pour another layer of coating on the entire object. Make sure to scrape off all uncured material; otherwise, the stickiness may eventually leak out under the new resin coat.

Some UV resins are difficult to cure to dark red, which is what I have encountered, so try to avoid using dark red for the color.

Problem 2 : Soft UV Resin

The resin is very soft and not hard enough. It can be hardened by using a transparent resin, but the dyed part is not hard enough.

You may have added too much colorant, do not add more than 6% of the resin volume.

If you encounter a soft resin that is difficult to cure, you can separate the soft resin and add a small amount of coloring agent to complete the work.

Problem 3 : Flowing UV resin

The metal frame is not flat, causing the UV resin to flow out. The frame or artwork is not perfectly level; it must be level in all directions; otherwise, the UV resin will flow out and it will be ugly. Please make sure you have a perfectly level workspace suitable for the work and make a 45-degree turn to identify the inclination. If you find a problem, use small shims to make it level. Don’t assume that your model is level when sitting on the floor because the floor may not be level!

2. Bubbles problem

Most UV resins on the market will have a small number of bubbles. I have tried many different brands, but they are unavoidable. Because when the UV resin is heated, the surface of the resin becomes thinner and bubbles are easily generated.

Ways to Eliminate Bubbles: 

1. Use warm water to eliminate UV resin bubbles. 
2. Use a lighter to bake them to eliminate UV resin bubbles. 
3. Blow through a straw on the surface to eliminate UV resin bubbles. 
4. Use a cutting torch to eliminate UV resin bubbles. 
5. Before curing a piece, run a toothpick through the center of the mold button just to make sure that the UV resin gets inside those areas. Run the toothpick around the outside of the piece to make sure any trapped air doesn’t create bubbles.
6. Using a barbecue lighter run it over the top of the piece. It can draw up any leftover bubbles or air that’s trapped in the piece. And that way can burst those UV resin bubbles.

3. Shrinkage problem

1. The first method is to use acetone and mod podge to deal with the UV resin shrinkage problem. Try to coat plastic charms with UV resin and also try to use a permanent marker, coating both sides with a layer of mod podge before using the UV resin. It seems to help to seal the marker. The mod podge method works great but mod podge can be finicky. I try to use the gloss sealer spray and it works great. Super easy, dries fast, and you can seal a bunch of charms at once.
2. Vacuuming the air of a particular material resin that is denser is only valid when there’s not enough air in the resin that would interfere with the value that you get, so the resin system must go back into the air.

4. Mold problem

1. Using a simple and small mold to start the UV resin.

If you are a new user, just start with a simple and small mold to begin using UV resin, or you will find it will be difficult and then you will give up. You need practice on simpler molds. And you’ll get early wins rather than big disappointments.

2. Using clear silicone molds to start UV resin 

UV resin is much different than epoxy resin because UV resin needs UV rays to cure and if the UV rays can’t penetrate through the mold there is no way that the UV resin is curing fully. However, by using the clear silicone molds the UV rays can penetrate all sides of the mold.

5. Other problems

1. How to Deal with Drips 

The best way to deal with drips is to prevent dripping from occurring in the first place. Use tape to cover the edges to prevent dripping. Before the UV resin is dry, you can also use a foam brush or wear gloves to wipe off any excess UV resin.

2. Clean cups

You can use baby wipes or water to clean the cups but make sure it’s cured enough before you pour new UV resin into the cups. Because UV resin hates water, it will be difficult to cure, so ensure you remove all water from your cup. Another way to clean the cup is by using alcohol because it evaporates so quickly. There are many alcohol brands sold on Amazon, you can find the perfect one. 

3. Moisture issue

For all your material, you need to ensure they are all completely dry and you need to seal it off. 

For humidity, if you are in a very humid place, then you must choose a UV resin that will not be affected by moisture. Or you can get rid of the material that you are putting in the UV resin or remove the humidity in the air.

If you are going to put a photograph in the UV resin, or whether it’s a painting, a necklace, or something else, you need to make sure to laminate it because if you just use paper and re-attach it, it will tear like wet paper. So, if you want to use photos, please make sure to laminate them together because I have done it before without laminating and the result is so sad.

That’s all my advice about how to avoid mistakes when Making UV Resin Artwork. 

I hope you have learned something as well. Thank you for reading this blog. I hope all the tips help you. If you have any questions I will try my best to answer them and help you to figure out any problems, you have. If this was helpful for you it may be helpful for someone else, so go ahead and share it with your friends.