Hello, welcome to Steve McDonald's arts and crafts.
And today I'm going to be talking about is tips and
tricks of using resin and all the things that you need to know.
Well, not all the things, but things that you need to know if and
when you're using resin.
And this is ideal for the beginner who's never use resin before.
And anyone that has been using resin for a long time as a
refresher, and you never know there might be something in
here you don't know about.
So the first thing I'm going to be talking about is storing resin.
I store my resin on a shelf.
Here.
I have it all put out exactly how I know I'm going to use it.
So I part A and Part B together, and I keep it in the shelf.
And this room at night is completely dark.
And during the day is completely dark, unless I have
the lights on, it's important to ensure that your resin is
not subjected to direct sunlight, even when it's in the
bottles, and always make sure that you keep the tops on your
resin bottles and don't cross them over either.
So don't put the top from part A on the bottle of Part B,
because it will set up and cure up.
You won't get the top off.
The other thing about this room is it never goes below about 60 degrees.
So it keeps the resin a consistent temperature all the time.
It does get warmer in the summer.
But during the winter, I never let my temperature of my resin
get really, really cold, because that can cause problems
with your resin as well.
So storing resin is really important.
Thing is, make sure that you use the right resin for the projects.
And as you can see here, I've got a lot of variety of
different resins, not all the same resin some's.
Deep past some's casting resin some's Art resin some jewelry
resin, PU resins, Epoxy resins UV resin.
Now I have got video on which resin you should use for which
project and it will save you a lot of time and lot of money as
well by making sure that you use the right resin for the right project.
And I will link that video at the end of this video as well.
So it's easy you to find tap on and familiarize yourself about that.
We're mixing your resin.
It's really important to ensure that you use accurate
measurements as well, because if not you, then you will have
problems with curing either curing far too quickly, or
never curing at all, or giving that really sticky glue
mush that is neither cured nor uncured.
Now, I use different resins, so some of them need measuring out, using measurements.
And the other thing that's important is to ensure that
your measurement are as accurate as possible in
whatever you're using.
And I've got different jug sizes of silicon jugs.
Now, these are really, really cheap.
Again I will link a whole toolkit in the description below that you can get hold of.
That is absolutely next to nothing.
And the other thing that I find is when I'm measuring my resin,
if I pour in here up to there of part A I sometimes because
of way that these silicon jugs are made, I find it really
difficult to read the mark.
So before I go ahead and mix the resin, I just take a
permanent marker like this.
And if it's say, for instance, it's a 1 to 50%
So you need 40 of part A, but only 20 of Part B.
Then I will mark on my jugs like that. That's 40 that's sixty
it on the outside.
And then when I'm pouring it, I can see the little it'll line.
And that gives it a really accurate measurement.
The other thing is, if you're weighing stuff always make
sure that you have a great pair of scales, tare, the jug, or
whatever your weighing it out in, and then use that to
ensure that you've got exactly the amount that it says on the
bottle for the manufacturer's instructions
don't go over or under.
We really don't want to be creating problems before we
even start with our resin, because it's vital that you get the
measurements right when you've mixed your resin up, unless
it's a really deep pour or slow cure resin, and you've mixed
up quite a lot ensure that you decant
to into smaller pots, to get the work time that you want with that.
If you put a large amount of resin in one pot and leave it
in there and keep pouring little bits here and there,
then that is going to cure up so quickly.
It's going to overheat, and it's going to ruin that resin.
You going to waste that resin.
So just decant out into smaller pots.
And that way you will get a lot longer work time with it.
It also prevents the resin from heating up and yellowing a
little bit, because resin that heats up too quickly, will go
yellow as well and pull away from the edges.
Now, if like me use a lot of silicone mold.
Then it's really important to take care of those silicon
molds if you want to get the best out of them.
Now, I absolutely love using molds.
I make my own, and I also buy them as well, and sometimes
they're really cheap.
Molds can be a little bit more vulnerable than others.
But actually, if you take good care of them, then you're going
to get a nice life out of them.
I always store my molds in these plastic bags.
I'll knock all the air out of them, and then I keep them nice
and tight, because that way it prevents them from drying out
as much as they would if they were just left in the open air.
Also, it's important to ensure that your molds are stored
flat and away from light, because you don't want the
sunlight to dry out your mold.
I keep these in a set of drawers, and I always ensure
that they are as flat as possible with the least amount
of air in them before I store them.
I always as well give them a really light coating of release
spray, because that keeps them from drying out really quickly.
It also nice and shiny, and it prolongs the life.
And also next time you use it, it your stuff is gonna pop out.
Really easily.
have got a whole video on how you can clean store and protect
all your molds.
And again, I will link that at the end of this video.
So if you want to check it out, if you haven't already seen it,
then you can check that one out.
Personal safety is a really big thing.
And it's so important.
And it's something that I talk about an offer like I have a
warning in my description, and I have a couple of videos on
how to protect yourself.
It is so important to protect yourself.
I personally am extremely allergic to resin, so have to
be very, very careful when I'm using resin.
I didn't used to be, but I've kind of become quite sensitive to it.
And now I get contact dermatitis really, really bad.
If I'm not careful.
Now, I do have a little bit of it on my head there and that must be where
I'm inadvertently touch my head just briefly washed it off.
And now I have to use a steroid cream on it.
But this is the mask that I use is full face.
Mask is really easy to put on.
It's very comfortable, but that's why I do voice over
whenever I'm pouring my resin.
It's got three Micron vapor and chemical filters on it.
They're not expensive, but it is worth every penny.
I don't get any eye problems now, or anything like that.
Additionally, I always wear nitrile gloves, and I sometimes
wear them more than once if they're not damaged, and they
work really well.
I also have an industrial fan there in my room that really
does suck out any of the fumes.
And I leave that running until the resin is completely cured.
I also have another fan, which is there.
Now I can reverse that fan.
It wasn't expensive, but I can turn it.
So it reverses and blows in, or I can turn it to shuts off
completely and closes down.
If you're not in a situation where you can have a fan going
like that to extract out of your room.
The my recommendation is to ensure that you're working in a
well-ventilated area with windows open, no animals or
anything like that.
And the door shut so that any fumes can't get around the rest
of the house and also have a fan, a normal fan behind you
that is blowing the fumes away from you and towards the window.
And that will really, really help.
personal safety really important.
Again, I have a video on it is linked in the description below
take care of yourself.
People. There are lots of different powders that you can use in your resin.
And as you've probably seen in some of my videos, I have a
whole playlist on experiments where I've used Epsom, salt
bicarbonate soda, a lot of different things to get different effects.
The most common ones are mica powders Glitters, pigments.
But I also use things like marble, dust love the effect
that gives I use aluminium powder, and I make my own pigments as well
I do have videos on everything that I'm talking about today,
and they are easily found because I love the way that Titanium-oxide-
dioxide creates a beautiful white.
It'll make it absolutely does create a beautiful white.
Now, if you're using something that's dry like a dry powder,
it doesn't really matter how much you put in it.
I mean, I've used sand in mine, and I've used a hundred percent
sand to the 100% resin.
I've used loads of mica powder in it.
It really made a paste.
It doesn't matter as long as it's a completely dry
ingredient, you're not going to have any problem with it.
If it's made and used for resin, so feel comfortable adding a
little extra bit of pigment, little extra bit of glitter or
Mica powder, no problem.
But the pot life of resin, which means how long it will
stay in the pot until it's cured up or not.
You'd be able to use it anymore varies depending on which resin
you're using, which I've mentioned a little bit earlier.
As an example
Blah, Blah Blah as an example, the pot life for polyurethane
resin against the pot life for, say, a jewelry resin is very very different.
Now the jewelry resin.
I will probably get a pot life of about 35 minutes as long as
it's not too deep in the pot where the polyurethane resin, I
will probably only get a pot life of about between four and
five minutes at the most.
So make sure that you read the instructions on your
resin and are aware of how much time you have to use your
resin up and how deep it should be kept in the pot, because you
don't want to be wasting a load of resin like 500 grams of
resin, because it's cured up really, really quickly.
Silicone mats are an absolute, vital part of resin, I believe,
or working with resin.
They not only keep your work area clean, but they are really
easy to wipe down if you get anything on them, and easy to
keep playing.
Now, what I do is, I clean up my resin on my silicone mats
every week, because I have quite a few I store them
in cut out drain pipe as you can see here, roll them up and
store them.
And then when I've cleaned them up and I've got all the bits
off them that I know I can get off, I then pop them in the
washing machine.
Now, I'm not recommending this.
This is just what I do.
I pop them on a wash of about 40 degrees with some soap
with some washing powder in there and put them on for about an hour.
And then I hang them on the line.
They're normally dry within about an hour.
It's silicon, and that brings them up lovely and clean.
But I always go over with baby wipe first like this.
And I always pull off any bits of resin that stuck to it.
Now, if there's any bits, but I can't get off like there's a
little bit there, I will just use a bit of tape first. Like this.
bit of sticky tape push that down, and that will pull that off,
and then it'll attach it to the tape.
And that just saves your mats becoming really dirty and contaminating.
Anything that you're using these as well are dirt cheap,
and there is a toolkit, that you can get which I will link in
the description below that comes with silicone mats,
mixing jugs, sticks, pipette, all the things you need, and it
is really, really cheap, Great Value.
So I will link that in the description below, I just
like to say a quick thank you to all my members whose names
are coming up now.
Thank you for your support.
I hope you're enjoying the live streams that we do on how to
set up your own business, how to sell your arts and crafts,
and we will be moving over soon to a new series on livestreams,
and I will let you know what that's about soon.
Never use a torch on silicone molds.
However, you are tempted, never use one.
And the reason is a torch will be far hotter than any other,
or anything that you could do with silicon.
It will burn the silicon, and you are really likely to meld
your resin onto your silicon and then destroy the mold and
ruin the project that you're using.
I always use a long-necked lighter like this, and these
are fairly readily available.
I will link them in the description below, I think I
get about three or four for about four pounds.
So they're very, very cheap, and you can refill them, and
they work brilliantly.
That flame is nowhere near as hot as that flame.
And as a result, it won't burn your mold, and its really, really
going to increase the lifetime and the use of your molds.
I just like to say a quick thank you to all the people
that bought me a coffee last month.
Thank you very much.
And your names are on my coffee board.
And if you'd like to buy me a coffee this month and help
support this Channel and allow me to buy all the bits and
pieces that I need to film and to make resin stuff with the
link to that is in the description below, and you'll
also get your
name on my coffee board. Do..Do..Doo.. and be famous
So if you're making something that is a little bit deeper
than normal, and actually you don't have a casting resin, or
you don't have a deep casting resin, then you can pour in
different layers.
Now, when you're pouring in layers, you are likely to get
the layered effect.
So it will look, and you will be able to see the layers as
you've poured it.
Now how one way to avoid that being so prominent is to pour
your layers before that previous layer is fully cured.
So it's kind of like in that firm gel state and that will
help you prevent getting and seeing all those separate layers.
If you're doing a clear piece.
If you're doing a piece with lots of colors and that in it,
it really doesn't matter.
And you want that nice sharp layered finish.
But that's just one of my tips that I think is really, really useful.
If you're pouring something that's quite large, never use
anything that is wet like a fresh flower or anything that
isn't dried in your resin, because it is going to
rot there still be bacteria in there, and it will rot, and it
is going to look awful.
I did do a video of a time-lapse of a fresh flower in resin.
And if you check that out, that you will see is absolutely awful.
You would be devastated if you gave it to somebody.
So always use dried ingredients.
If you want to use flowers, dry them first, and then pop them
in your resin.
You will find that it will work a lot better and you'll get a
beautiful result also resin doesn't work or react very well in
contact with water, and it can cause it to get like a cloudy effect to it.
If you want a shiny finish to your products when you're
casting in mold, then ensure that.
The mold that you are casting it has a shiny surface, if not,
you won't get a shiny finish.
These are two Costa molds that I've got.
And this one has got quite a dull finish to it.
There's a little bit of shine round it, but it's nowhere near
as a shiny as this one.
Therefore, this will produce a dull casting, and this one will
produce a nice glossy casting.
Now, there are ways that you can overcome that after the
casting has been done.
again I do have a video on that?
But it's best to avoid dull molds.
Now, I know of no way at the moment that you can polish a
mold or bring that shine back.
That's why it's important to follow the tip that I talked
about earlier about how to store your molds.
It will keep them shinier for a lot longer.
Also, a lot of heat will make the molds go a little bit dull and
leaving resin in them for too long after its cured will also
create a dull mold a lot quicker.
So ensure that your molds are glossy before you cast in them.
If you want a glossy finish, I know I've talked about quite
a few tips here and tricks and things that are important, and
they are I'm sure there's some that I've missed out.
So if I miss some out that you think are really important,
then let me know in the comments below, because other
people will read that as well.
And it's a great, great way of sharing good practice and great
experiences with developing and using resin.
My last tip is cover molds and things.
When you have finished your pouring to stop dust and flies and
other bits and pieces Landing in it and ruining it.
I use these, which are food covering.
I found these to be brilliant.
I have a few of these.
I will again link them in the description below, and they
work really, really well, and they're quite large.
But if you haven't got these, then cover them with a clean
box or something that is Tupperware to ensure that nothing is
going to get in them.
Now my bonus tip is a lot of people say I use alcohol, and I
use it in a mister.
And I misted it over the top of my mold to get rid of bubbles.
Now that will get rid of bubbles, and it gets rid of
bubbles really well.
I never use it in my studio.
Firstly, Isopropyl alcohol is very bad for you if it's breathed in.
So if you're spraying it in your studio or work area
ensure, you're wearing a mask and you've got great extraction.
The other thing is, if at any time you've sprayed it, and
there's a fine mist of alcohol that you're not even aware of,
it is very flammable.
So don't go using a lighter until you're completely clear
of ensuring that, because I know people that have gotten
difficulty over this in the past.
The other thing is, lifetime of your molds dramatically.
Alcohol absolutely strips the surface off and gets rid of the
gloss, and make them really quite dull quite quickly.
But it's up to you.
A lot of people use that method.
I don't personally well, I hope you've enjoyed this video.
I've enjoyed making it.
I love sharing my experience and the knowledge that I have,
and I love learning from other people as well.
So don't forget to leave your comment in the description.
If you've got some tips that you think will be really useful
for me and for other people, reading them. Everything that
I've talked about today, I will put links to in the description below.
So if you want to get hold of it, it's really easy to get
hold of along with the links to the videos that I've mentioned
as well that I've already made.
I will link those in the description, as well as putting
the cards at the end of this video.
Don't forget to BOOP that like button.
It really does help this video get out there, and it allows
more people to learn and understand the important things
about resin, and the tips and tricks take care.
Enjoy your resin, Bye.