[Katherine Swift]

Hi Rita,

I have not done anything like this, but here is how I would approach it.

It looks like the surface shown in the picture would have been the surface touching the petri dish. i.e. think about this while it is ‘flipped over’

The colors are not blending with the resin at all which makes me think they are oil based. Too thick and they wouldn’t flow, but if they had a water or solvent base, I would expect them to blend into the surrounding resin more.

I would try putting down a clear layer of resin first, then dropping in the colorant and rotating the dish. Put more clear resin on in a layer, then add more color. I don’t know how these colorants effect curing. Sounds like something to try.

Is this helpful at all?

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Devin,

In a short answer, yes. Any two part clear epoxy resin should work for your purpose. There are a couple of caveats though.

If the acrylic is flexible enough, it may cause the resin to crack or pop off. If I were doing to do this, I wouldn’t want the acrylic to be able to move.

If the acrylic is thin, the heat from the resin curing may cause it to warp depending on how much you use.

Does this help at all?

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Bill,

You can put swirls in resin, but I don’t know that I would use paint to do that. Paints attract moisture which may keep the resin from curing. What you can do though, is use paint (or something else) to color extra resin, then use that colored resin to create the swirls. You can see what I’m talking about in these videos from our youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InsHyvO0lNE&t=134s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-90Jpl_ZiPI

We have resin colorants in our shop that may work for you: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/colorants

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Kelly,

Low 70’s F is the best temperature for resin curing. You can warm your resin in a water bath before starting, which will help, but your room temperature is still going to be a problem.

Once your resin painting has cured to the soft cure point, yes, you can move it so it can continue curing for the full cure time.

This article might give you some ideas on things to try to bring up the temperature of your resin casting area: https://resinobsession.com/resin-resin-resin/resin-casting-in-cold-weather

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Ron,

In a short answer, yes, you can do this. Solvents like acetone and alcohol will thin resin once it’s mixed. Be sure to add no more than 1 part solvent to 10 parts mixed resin as it may inhibit curing. The problem with doing this though, is that the thinner you make the resin, the less likely it wants to stay on the surface of something. Think about the consistency of honey as it compares to vinegar. Honey is thicker and will coat something well, whereas the vinegar is thin consistency and won’t want to stay on the surface of something. If your surface is flat, you can likely get away with thinning the resin and having it stay on the surface, but if your surface has any curve to it, thinning will allow the resin to pull off and leave voids.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Sylvia,

It has been my experience that 75% of the time when resin cures sticky or didn’t cure all the way, it is either from inaccurate measuring or incomplete mixing. We have a few other suggestions on why your resin may be sticky in this article: https://resinobsession.com/resin-frequently-asked-questions/resin-troubleshooting-tips

If the surface of the resin is sticky (not gooey), then yes, you can apply another layer of resin to fix it.

You are also correct in that thinner layers of resin may have a harder time curing. That’s because the heat produced from the resin and hardener mixing together is sometimes not enough to cause it to cure when it is spread in a thin layer. Warm your resin ahead of time (here’s an article showing how to do that: https://resinobsession.com/resin-resin-resin/resin-casting-in-cold-weather) and make sure your room is in the low 70’s F to help with the curing.

[Katherine Swift]

Hmm. There a few troubleshooting items in this article that may help you: https://resinobsession.com/resin-frequently-asked-questions/resin-troubleshooting-tips

The other consideration is whatever you used to color that mix of resin is attracting moisture which is keeping your resin from curing.

If the area is simply sticky, you can recoat with a layer of clear resin. If it is gooey, you will need to scrape off as much as possible before recoating.

[Katherine Swift]

How long is the curing time of the resin you are using? I would suggest giving it a little more time to see if things get any better.

You can recoat with another layer of resin, but if things are still gooey, it’s not going to help much. 🙁

[Katherine Swift]

Hello Rob,

The second layer of resin should have adhered to the first layer of resin assuming you were mixing and pouring the same kind. If they didn’t, then there is something wrong with the curing.

Without knowing what kind/brand of resin you are using, I don’t know if it should be fully cured after 3 days. I would suggest contacting the manufacturer who should be able to give you that information. I can tell you, however, that if it should have cured by now, giving it extra time isn’t going to help.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Patty,

Your best options are colors that are specifically designed to color resin. These will give you consistent results every time and also ensure that your resin cures properly. Of course, there are other things that work well to color resin, but use caution as your curing may be affected. Here are some ideas:

https://resinobsession.com/resin-art/resin-painting-additives
https://resinobsession.com/resin-resin-resin/experimenting-with-resin-colors

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Judi,

I’m not sure what product you are referring to, but any clear-drying, white glue would work to seal the papers onto a tile. You could also use the resin gloss sealer spray as well. You can find it here: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/tools-and-supplies/products/castin-craft-gloss-resin-sealer-spray

I don’t have any experience using Art Resin on tiles for coasters, so I don’t know heat resistant they would be after curing. In general, coasters will do well with warm mugs, but not hot mugs (like straight from the microwave).

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Rachel,

I would suggest pouring in more layers. For example, you might want to pour your first third, let it start to cure, then pour your next third. Place the flowers in the middle third and allow it to start curing. Finish with your last third. You are right in that waiting for the resin to cure, then placing your flowers, makes it more likely you will introduce bubbles that will be hard to get out later.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Alice,

Casting resin beads is challenging! The best advice I can give you is to cast in the mold a few times to learn how much resin to pour. Resin will shrink a bit as it cures, so you want to overpour enough that it will become even after curing. If not, you will need to sand it to make it even.

Your other option is to use bead caps. With those, the ‘ugly’ ends are hidden under the caps, so no one has to know they aren’t even. 😉

Good luck!

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Karen,

A few comments here. (and we won’t judge for the spelling mistakes 🙂 )

Envirotex Lite will work for coating artwork. If it is old, however, that may be part of the reason why it didn’t cure.

If you did not mix the resin thoroughly enough, that is another reason why the resin didn’t cure.

Not mixing anything else into the resin simplifies things. i.e. there isn’t anything else in the resin that could be attracting moisture that could affect curing.

I don’t buy hardware store resins for projects so it’s hard for me to know whether or not it should have worked in this case. The most important thing you need for this project is a self-leveling resin. That is most easily found in a two-part epoxy resin that domes.

As for salvaging what you have, you are going to have to scrape every last bit of wet resin off this project. A baby wipe will help. If the resin is simply a little sticky, that will recoat okay. If it’s gooey, it has to go.

Recoat with another layer of resin. If it were me, I would use the Resin Obsession artwork resin:

https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/resin/resin-obsession-artwork-resin

A gallon is a lot of resin to mix together, especially for a newbie. You might want to break that up into a pint or so at a time to make sure you get a good mix. Some extra hand to help you with mixing might be good too.

Good luck!

[Katherine Swift]

@Dave, it’s normal for the surface exposed to air during polyester resin curing to remain tacky even after the resin underneath has cured hard. You will either need to sand off the surface or coat with a spray. This is the one I like to use: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/tools-and-supplies/products/castin-craft-gloss-resin-sealer-spray