News flash: Resin sticks to a lot of things. In fact, there aren’t many surfaces resin won’t stick to.
Ask anyone who’s made resin crafts. Drips of cured resin adhere easily to:
> hair
> carpet
> countertops
> favorite shoes
(yes, I’ve got personal experience with all of these scenarios)
And while it makes a pretty good glue,
Sometimes you need to know what surfaces resin won’t stick to.
Why?
Here are three reasons I can think of right away…
1. You need to know what protects your table while you’re using epoxy resin for art.
2. Knowing what resin doesn’t stick to helps get the resin to do some neat things. Like making resin beads.
3. It’s how you get an even edge on canvas art when you cover it with resin.
What surfaces won’t resin stick to?
Mold release
You want to use mold release to keep your epoxy resin from sticking to molds. Plus, it is excellent for prolonging the life of molds. It lets you demold resin jewelry and crafts without distorting and pulling at the mold. This causes warping and tearing that impact future castings you make with the mold.
⭐️ BONUS: Here are three reasons why I always use resin mold release.
Wax
Resin will not stick to it, whether it’s candle wax or lost-wax casting wax. The same goes for car and furniture wax. This is useful if you want to create a void in your resin charm or casting. Pour the resin around the wax and allow it to cure. Then pull the wax away. But be careful. If you use a fast-curing resin, it can melt the wax and make a mess.
Polyethylene plastics
Disposable plastic sheets for painting and sandwich bags both contain polyethylene. Epoxy resin will not stick to these, making them a great protector for your resin art and crafting area. They are also inexpensive. You can throw them away if you don’t want to clean them up after making your epoxy art.
Anything with a greasy surface
Anything that has a waxy, oily, or greasy coating, will not bond to resin. But remove the grease, and you’ll turn the surface from one that resin won’t stick to into surfaces resin will stick to.
Silicone
So, this is a little bit of a trick answer because silicone is a resin itself. But the good news is that other resins will not stick to it, which makes it perfect for resin molds. The exception to this is if you pour more silicone into the silicone mold. If you don’t use rubber to rubber mold release, the silicone will stick to itself, creating a large block of silicone. Whoops.
Painter’s tape or packing tape
This resin hack is useful for creating open-backed jewelry with resin. Once the resin cures, peel the tape away.
⭐️ BONUS: See why the tape is essential when making open-backed resin pendants.
💡 Pro tip: Use painters’ tape to mask off a surface. If the resin spills onto the tape, let it partially cure. Then peel away the tape. You can see the technique in this article on resin cheese board.
Wax paper, parchment paper, or freezer paper
When taped to a surface, leaving the waxy side up, the jewelry epoxy resin will cure but peel away from the surface.
⭐️ BONUS: Use extra resin and wax paper to create a glass vase with decorative accents.
Have you found other surfaces resin won’t stick to?
Confused about all the details you need to know about resin?
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Unpublished Blog Posts of Resin Obsession, LLC © 2023 Resin Obsession, LLC
FAQs
Resin does not stick well to waxy items including wax paper. Resin also does not stick to parchment paper, or the shiny side of freezer paper. You can use wax to create a void in your resin charm or casting if required. Pour the resin around the wax, and after cure you can pull the wax away.
What surface does resin not stick to? ›
Resin does not stick well to waxy items including wax paper. Resin also does not stick to parchment paper, or the shiny side of freezer paper. You can use wax to create a void in your resin charm or casting if required. Pour the resin around the wax, and after cure you can pull the wax away.
What doesn't stick to epoxy resin? ›
Epoxy will not stick to:
Polyethylene. Polypropylene. Nylon. Mylar.
What kind of tape will resin not stick to? ›
Painter's tape and sheathing tape are designed to be easily removable, and the bond between the tape and the surface it's applied to is not strong enough to support the weight of resin. Rubber has a natural resistance to adhesion, and resin will not stick to it.
How long does it take for resin obsession to cure? ›
Some epoxy formulas can be 90 percent cured in 24 hours, but a slow-curing epoxy will need at least three days to cure. And to get the hardest cure possible, you should give any epoxy resin seven days to cure.
Why isn't my resin sticking? ›
Anything that has a waxy, oily, or greasy coating, will not bond to resin. But remove the grease, and you'll turn the surface from one that resin won't stick to into surfaces resin will stick to.
What sticks resin to resin? ›
Superglue Even though resin is a type of plastic, glues used for plastic kits are not effective at sticking resin pieces together, a good superglue is required instead. Epoxy Glue For larger and heavier parts, a two-part epoxy can be used to provide a very strong bond.
What keeps epoxy from sticking? ›
Any materials that repel water will mean that the epoxy resin won't stick to it. Epoxy resin won't stick to silicone items, which is a great thing as you can then use silicone for measuring and mixing jugs that can then be easily cleaned.
What not to put in resin? ›
Unfortunately, any liquid, or items containing an element of moisture, may adversely trigger a chemical reaction, increasing the solidification process and turning white. Fresh food or plants. As mentioned before, these items contain moisture that can ruin the curing process.
Can you use vaseline as a mold release for resin? ›
Spirit with petroleum jelly
An average kind of resin mold release agent is to use petroleum jelly with spirit. To start the procedure, add a scope of petroleum jelly in a glass bottle. Then, add enough spirit to dip petroleum jelly in the bottle completely. Afterward, close the bottle lid and shake it.
Cyanoacrylate (CA) glue, often called super glue, is a popular adhesive. It is effective at bonding resin parts together and can set relatively quickly for a strong bond.
What tape can be used with resin? ›
Pro: No sticky residue on the backside of the cured resin.
Can you dry resin with a hair dryer? ›
Using a hair dryer to speed up the curing process is a popular method, but it is not without its drawbacks. The heat from the hair dryer can cause the resin to cure unevenly, leading to a weaker final product.
What happens if you cure resin too long? ›
Shrinkage and warping: As the resin continues to cure after printing, it can cause the print to shrink or warp, leading to dimensional inaccuracies.
Can I use a heat gun to cure epoxy faster? ›
You can do this with a heat gun or propane torch. But be careful. There can be 'too much of a good thing. ' Applying too much heat in one area can make that spot cure quickly.
What does ArtResin not stick to? ›
ArtResin epoxy resin does not adhere well to plastic such as vinyl, acrylic, plastic stir sticks or spreaders, plastic sandwich/grocery bags, silicone molds, and the non-sticky side of shiny tape.
What should you not use resin on? ›
Think about fruits and vegetables. Once put in resin, these elements will rot and turn into a disgusting result. It is pretty challenging to get rid of the whole moisture, so you must dehydrate them first and then add them into the resin.
What is resin resistant to? ›
Unlike glue which is typically made from natural materials such as gums, epoxy resin is a synthetic material intentionally formulated to resist moisture, heat, chemicals, and weather.
What surface can you lay resin on? ›
For a new non-permeable surface, existing tarmac or concrete are both absolutely fine as base materials, if they're in good condition.
News flash: Resin sticks to a lot of things. In fact, there aren’t many surfaces resin won’t stick to.