Improve your UV Resin Technique-- How to Avoid and How to Get a Rippling Effect

What Causes Rippling In UV Resin Artwork

During the curing process, some surface tension develops in the UV resin. The UV resin tries to sort these differences, leading to rippling effects on curing the UV resin.In some cases, the material transport of the UV resin leads to a disruption of the surface, leading to the wrinkled surface of the UV resin.

 

Ways to Avoid Wrinkled Surfaces with UV Resin

Here are some ways that we think you can avoid having wrinkled UV resin surfaces:

 

Apply The UV resins to the decoration

There’d be a time when you need to handle other decorations that have rough surfaces inside the sealing layer. The trick is to first apply UV Resin to the decorations because when UV with different densities mix, it could lead to wrinkles or inconsistent surface tension.

 

Take Your Time to Mix

Given that different resin densities will cause wrinkling, you must take the time to mix the UV resin properly when adding glitter or pigments.

Let it Cool

High temperatures also affect the surface tension of the UV resin, so it is crucial to allow it to completely cool down after you have finished curing it under the UV lamp.Then go on to your next layer

Be Mindful of the Heat

As much as one needs the UV lamp, the power of the lamp mustn't exceed 36 watts when it is being used to cure the UV resin. If the heat from the UV lamp is higher than that, it will cause the glue to react too fast. This leads to the release of extra heat, leading to wrinkles in the UV resin.

Have a Level Workstation

Unnecessary movement during the curing process can cause wrinkling of the UV resin. So it would be best if you worked on a level workstation like a flat balanced table. Such a table will prevent the UV resin from moving during the curing process. So operate on a flat table, do not move during curing.

How To Fix Wrinkled/Crinkled UV resin surfaces

Thankfully, you can fix wrinkled surfaces on your UV resin jewelry if you don’t like them.

Here are some of the steps to take:

1. Wipe the piece of UV resin jewelry with isopropyl alcohol(about 70%) and a paper towel.
2. After wiping it, leave it out to dry on a resin mat placed on a piece of foam covered in foil. This setup allows the piece of jewelry to dry correctly while allowing you to handle the jewelry right.
3. Once it is dry, apply a thicker kind of UV resin to the piece of jewelry.
4. Use a toothpick to even spread the UV resin to all parts of the jewelry until you are convinced that the resin has covered the ripples and wrinkles on the UV jewelry.
5. You might need to add another layer until the jewelry is completely covered. 
6. Run your heat gun over the piece of jewelry intermittently for a second or two.
7. Keep doing this until you can't find any bubbles on the UV jewelry
8. Put it out in the light to dry

At this point, if you followed the steps religiously, you won’t find any wrinkles or ripples on the piece of jewelry.

Most times, when your UV resin art undergoes a ripple effect, it is because of an error. In such situations, you are impressed with the wrinkled surface and who wouldn’t, given the resources invested in the project.However, there is something that you should know. You could deliberately create UV resin arts with wrinkled surfaces. The controlled wrinkle/rippling effect mostly turns out beautiful because you get to decide what goes where.Read on to find out how it is done! 

How to Create Wrinkled Surfaces in UV Resin Jewelry

Creating a wrinkled/crinkled surface in UV resin jewelry is not rocket science. It is essentially about adding texture into a UV resin piece before adding another layer of resin on top to lock the first texture into place. There are two methods of creating wrinkled surfaces with UV resin.

Method 1

1. Pour some of the best UV resin you can find into a mold of your choice. Be careful not to fill it up to the brim. So keep it about halfway full.

2. Use the heat gun at a low heat to remove any bubbles

3. Squeeze the cellophane to give it a rough texture 

4. Spread the squeezed cellophane until it takes the form of a square which you place on different parts of the mold

5. Use the cellophane to cover the edges and remove possible air bubbles that might hide between the UV resin and the edge.

There are several online resources that you can access to get more information on creating crinkled surfaces in UV resin jewelry. 

Method 2

A water rippling mold would be an easier way to complete your uv resin jewelry.  Click here to check it out.

Takeaway

Wrinkled jewelry resin is fast becoming a preferred form of UV jewelry because of its uniqueness. That said, not everyone fancies it.

That is why we provided some tips on avoiding it if you don't fancy wrinkled-faced UV jewelry. We also added some tips on how you could create custom wrinkled UV jewelry that sets you apart from others.

We hope you use the tips in this article to do some great things with your UV resin kit.