7 Things I Hate That Resin Artists Say
I’m usually a laid-back fellow, but some things really get me steamed. Fake news and inaccurate information are a big one, especially when they cost people money or endanger their health.
Here are 7 things that I regularly see on YouTube that get my blood boiling:
1. Alcohol inks don't fade
So many artists use alcohol inks, and I have to say, they do look beautiful in resin. But what they don't tell you is that alcohol inks will fade, regardless of what resin you use or if you put a UV protection in it.
They're not colour-fast at all.
I did a whole video demonstrating this, and if you want to check that out, click here.
The coaster on the left was kept in the dark, the coaster on the right was left in the sun.
Do you think you or your customers would be disappointed if you paid good money just for that to happen?
However, that said, the Let’s Resin alcohol inks are far more colourfast than most. When I use alcohol inks in resin these are the ones that I always go for.
What we must remember is that alcohol inks were made for illustrative purposes to give vibrant colours and shading to illustrations and pictures that are going to be copied and reproduced. They were never intended to be used for art work or crafts with long-term colourfast requirements.
2. All resins are the same
It's so not true. There are so many different types of resin out there. There's polyurethane, polyester, five-minute epoxy, slow cure, thick resins, thin resins, one-to-one, and two-to-one resins. All resins do different things.
Additionally, there are lots of different manufacturers of resin who produce their resin for different purposes. Many of these are not suitable for the crafting market, they are designed for industrial projects. The resin companies that I recommend I am confident that they produce high quality products that are specifically designed for the crafter.
Deep-pour resin
I use a deep-pour resin when filling up a mould or something that needs to be poured deeper than about one and a half centimetres (1/2”). The reason is that it cures slowly, and when it cures slowly, you won’t get flash-curing cracking and spoiling your project. You will find that this type of resin typically takes between 48 and 72 hours to cure. Not using a deep-pour resin can seriously affect the results of your projects. This can range from distortion of your project as seen above, rapid overheating causing problems with anything you have put into the resin and damage to moulds.
Four-hour demould resin
If I'm doing a picture pour, I'll use a thicker resin, such as a four-hour demould resin. It's nice and thick and not likely to pour over the edges. Brilliant for doming as well.
One-to-one, high UV protect resin
If I'm just doing normal resin work, filling small moulds, making jewellery and that sort of thing, I use a one-to-on high UV protect resin.
Make sure you use the right resin for the right project, and you'll get great results.
3. Use a blow-torch to get rid of bubbles on a silicon mould
This is absolutely terrible advice, and it irritates me.
I always say to use a long-neck lighter in every video I make.
The reason is that although silicon is heat resistant, so that you can put it in the oven, it is not designed for extreme temperatures. Silicone moulds can usually withstand temperatures of around 300°C/570°F (Wikipedia) for extended periods.
But a blow-torch can reach between 1430°C/2610°F to 2200°C/4000°F (Wikipedia)
A long-necked lighter reaches approximately 538°C/1000°F (firesafetysupport.com) and will not damage the mould during the short time needed to burst bubbles.
A torch can cause your resin and mould to overheat, and they’ll stick together; I’m sure many of you have had that experience because I know how I have. It destroys the mould, and if its an expensive mould, you're gonna cry, I would cry.
So don’t listen to all these resin artists who say to use a torch; never use a torch on silicon moulds.
If there is no silicon involved such as a picture pour, that’s fine, and, of course, I use it for that.
4. Never add more than 5-10% of something into the resin
This is true for liquids and damp materials like resin pigments, resin colours, acrylic paint, and all that stuff; because they contain water, they affect the resin’s consistency, and therefore they will affect the cure.
But if it's a dry product, for instance, sand, salt, glass, etc. it’s fine to add as much as you like.
If you want to include a dry product, like mica powder (you don't wanna be putting loads of mica powder in because you're just wasting it because once you've got the colour, you've got the colour), sand, or anything dry, you'll be fine.
So it really annoys me when they say never put more than that much in.
5. You must buy a pressure pot
This one's a doozy, and it's expensive.
Now, if you're a crafter and you're making small pieces, and you mix your resin up properly, you don't need to invest $300 or £300 on a pressure pot.
They are nice to have, and I do have one. If I'm making something that's quite large with a resin that's going to cure fairly quickly, I will pop it in my pressure pot. But usually, I use it a few times a year, no more, and they're really expensive. If you still feel you want one here are a couple of links to products on Amazon:
6. It’s fine to put fresh flowers into resin
Oh my God, this annoys me so much. You cannot put fresh flowers in resin and expect them to look nice within a week. It just isn't going to happen.
Firstly, those flowers will start to break up after a little while.
Secondly, they’ll probably rot because there's bacteria and moisture in there.
They're just going to look horrible.
There are lots of videos out there that say, “Yeah, you can do it”, and they do look beautiful in the video because that's probably been shot that same day.
But you go back to it a week later, it's gonna look awful, and again, if you're selling your stuff, people will be really unhappy.
You don't want unhappy customers; you want great repeat customers.
7. It’s okay to do resin without PPE
This is the absolutely most important one, which drives me mad.
Now, at the bare minimum, you need eye protection, a good mask that filters out any vapours, and nitrile gloves.
I'm a victim of this bad advice. When I first used resin many years ago, I wasn't given this advice. I didn't wear any PPE and was fine for about two years. After two years, I started to feel really unwell, and I started to feel fluey. My skin got contact dermatitis really bad, and my hands cracked. I had to use steroids to clear it up.
It's because I developed an allergic reaction to resin, and as a result, I became really sensitive to it, and I'm still sensitive to it.
I now have an amazing extractor fan in my resin studio, and I don't do any other arts and crafts in that studio.
My pets aren't allowed in the resin studio, and I never mix or use resin without a full mask, which I change the filters on quite often, and they've also got carbon filters attached to them.
But how many videos have you watched where the person isn't wearing any eye protection, they're not wearing a mask, or they're doing it all without gloves?
It’s so dangerous.
Always work in a well-ventilated room, always wear PPE, and always change your clothes when you go in the house and shower. That’s what I do because the fumes can stick to your clothes and skin.
I made a video on this a couple of years ago; it’s the worst-performing video I’ve ever made. People are just not interested in it and it’s because they take it for granted that they will be okay. This is called Optimism Bias (Wikipedia).
People see so many resin artists on YouTube who are coming across as professional and knowledgeable but aren't using PPE, so they don't realise or think that they need it. But you do, right from the very beginning.
Please, please, please, if you don't do anything else from this post, for me, wear PPE.
Read more about PPE on this blog post
I love resin; I love making stuff; I love selling it; I make a decent living out of it, but my health is far more important.
