Guest post by: Katherine Swift of Resin Obsession
The five most common mistakes beginners make with resin
Believe it or not, I was once a beginner with resin. So I’m sure you figured that out before now, but I tell you this because when I started with resin, boy did I make some mistakes. I only wish my teacher at the time had stressed some important things about resin to help avoid problems.
Okay, beginners, I’m trying to make up for how I was taught and don’t want you to experience the excitement of your first resin castings turn into sorrow and anger when you find a goopy, sticky, what did I do wrong, kind of a mess. Here are the five most common mistakes beginners make with resin.
1. You don’t read and follow the directions.
I get it. You want to get right to the fun stuff. Perhaps you saw a friend craft with resin or you saw a video on youtube. Come on, how hard can this be?
Yeah, it can be that hard.
Stop and read the directions that come with the resin kit before you ever open the containers. Does your resin mix 1 to 1? Should you mix by weight or by volume? How long does it take to cure? Once you have read the directions, be sure to follow them. Every resin is a little different and has instructions tailor-made to make sure you are successful. Besides, if things do go wrong, a lot of possibilities are eliminated by knowing you did everything exactly as the instructions stated.
2. Measure accurately.
A capful of this. A spoonful of that. I mean, you have seen other people do it in their tutorials. What’s the big deal?
Well, it probably isn’t a big deal …. unless you want to know your resin is going to cure every time.
If you are mixing large volumes of resin, being off by half a teaspoon probably isn’t going to be a dealbreaker. However, if you are mixing only a little bit to cast into a pendant, yeah, that half a teaspoon is going to be a big deal. I use measuring cups, every time. Not kidding. I know they can get expensive, but if you are careful, you can clean and reuse them. You can see how I like to clean them here:
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