What a disappointment I must be to people who end up here because they thought this was a crafting blog. What is this blog? Who the hell does this lying bitch think she is?
1. I love crafts. I sew, I make jewelry, I make buttons, I play with polymer clay, I play with resin, I decoupage, I paint, I need help.
2. This started out as a personal blog to keep in contact with friends and family. I chose the name CraftZombie because I have a bad habit of staying awake until the sun comes up. I lose track of time while crafting. This happens almost every single night. I could have named this blog CraftyNightOwlBitchWontGoToSleep. (By the way, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.)
3. I intended on making it more crafty, but still personal.
4. I intended to do crafty video tutorials on all kinds of topics.
5. I’m just too damn busy and I hate it. I never reached my blog goals.
So, in a pathetic effort to be crafty and helpful, I am going to give some resin advice.
I use http://www.statcounter.com to see what search terms people use to get to this blog. One recent Google.au search was for “how to avoid bubbles in easycast resin”. Here we go….
You can’t avoid bubbles in Easy Cast resin, or any other resin for that matter. It is a natural occurrence that happens during the mixing phase. You cannot get around it. But you CAN get rid of most of the bubbles, sometimes even all of them if it is your lucky day. How? Warm air. If you are broke, you will use method #1. If you have a few bucks, you will use method #2. Do not attempt method #3, it sucks.
1. blow air through a straw
2. use a heat gun (embossing gun)
3. use a blowdryer
Don’t attempt to use a blowdryer. I learned this lesson long ago when I first began my resin journey. Blowdryers BLOW air. You will splatter resin everywhere. I only mentioned it because I thought you might try to be sneaky after you read this, thinking “I already have a blowdryer. I don’t wanna buy a heat gun. I’ll just use my blowdryer.” If you use your blowdryer, I will knock on your door and slap you in the face. I will. And if you are a seasoned resin artist and you leave me a comment about how you use your blowdryer, I will also slap you in the face.
Blowing air with a straw is not as effective as the heat gun. The heat gun zaps them in a snap. It’s almost magical to watch. Most of the time you can get all of the bubbles. Sometimes there will be one stray bubble that shows up out of nowhere during your curing process and you just have no choice but to embrace it or throw the finished piece in the trash. You end up convincing yourself that it gives your piece “character”. But deep down, you really hate that fucking bubble.
How close do you hold the heat gun to the resin? You can actually get it pretty close. Just start off a little far away and slowly get closer. You start seeing bubbles popping. The closer you get, the more bubbles pop. But you don’t want to leave the heat gun on the resin for a long time because too much heat can cause problems. So can cold resin.
How much is this freakin’ heat gun thing? The cheapest ones I’ve seen retail for $19.99. I got mine for 40% off with a coupon. That was cheap enough for me, but maybe not for some. Steal a straw and start blowin’.
Oh, and don’t be afraid of resin. I remember how afraid I was the first time I unscrewed the caps, like I was a mad scientist and my kitchen was going to explode. Resin is your friend. Just follow its rules and it will treat you kindly. You can blow up your kitchen with something else.
Any questions?
P.S. Yes, blowdryer is not one word, its two.
Update 6/10/2010: Found a great tutorial for resin crafts here
January 24th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I really want to play with resin but I don’t think it’s easy to come by over here, alas.
January 25th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I love your blog, It’s got a funky fresh attitude
Thanks for sharing!
February 8th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Hi April and anyone desperate to get rid of those damn resin bubbles. Here is what I do: get heat gun and turn on and let it get hot, maybe 8 seconds, then right as you turn it off run it over your resin very close. This way you are using residual hot air as opposed to far- away-sort-of-hot-air. Another advantage to this is that you don’t have to worry about the resin splattering all over the place. Oh I can go on and on and on about resin but this tip will help get rid of most of the bubbles. Sorry, but I do not know how to get rid of “The Fucking Bubble”. Where it comes from is a mystery. What is so weird about that particular bubble is that it’s so F-ing big and random.
Good luck!
Sandra
February 9th, 2008 at 4:17 am
Great tip! Thanks Sandra!
January 11th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
You’re cute April. I’m glad you aren’t the June Cleaver type.
When I started with resin I lived in S. Florida. My work turned out beautiful. A few months ago I moved to the mid-west and now I have a horrible time with bubbles in my resin. I fuss over it with heat gun and tooth pick till it’s PERFECT! I cover it to set and when I come back BAM . . . . the dog gone bubble devils have struck. I definitely think that some people’s luck and some people’s failure comes from where they live and what the weather is like that day. I sure miss Florida, hurricanes and all.
October 30th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Thanks for the advice on resin…those bubbles drive me nuts. By the way, you are hilarious and should write a craft book and include all of that humor. I would buy it!
November 12th, 2009 at 11:57 am
omg! the straw worked but even better than that is the way you write!
November 27th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Love the tips, your writing style, honest and clear (irony considering I’m looking for ways to clear my resin)….new to this and worked fine in the workshop, now at home and can see how sensitive to heat the product is to bubble content – hoping for the best, going out to get the heat gun !!thanks..
December 8th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Hi
I am a model kit manufacturer, and I am producing/casting figures to compliment my kits. But those air-bubbles are just a nightmare as they are appearing in it’s nose and chin, anywhere else and it’s repairable.
(Heat Gun)= is this like one you use that strips paint off woodwork?
Please help.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Dear April
I’m from the UK and I love your blog about resin. What tickled me in particular was the part about you being terrified of the resin at first. It had me giggling because I made up my first batch of bio-resin experiments (using a silicone ice cube tray). I was so scared of doing it I was actually a bit shakey and so rushed that all the little cubes were extremely bubbly because I ended up whipping the mixture. The next day I rushed out first thing in the morning to buy a heat gun. I got home, read the instructions and realised that resin is flamable. I made a new batch – this time in a sheet form – and didn’t use the heat gun for fear of burning down the house! When the resin had finally cured it was pretty bubbly-free on the outside edges, but the centre of the sheet was like a bubble party. I stupidly tried to pop the bubbles with a needle some hours after first pouring the resin into its container. I think that was my downfall. Tomorrow I am going to make another sheet, use my heat gun and have my dad supervise to make sure I set nothing on fire.
I love your writing style too. Very funny. Best wishes to you from across the pond.
Sophie x
February 12th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Hi April!
I’m from Jakarta-Indonesia. Thank you very much for your useful [and way too hilarious] tips on removing those F-ing bubbles!
Do you think mixing the resin on a hot sunny day will help? If so, i’ll definitely do a “ResinBathing” day on my backyard..
‘Cause it can get to 100F on almost every day!
Rini.
April 2nd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Hey,
I’m new to the resin game and am sure you could all run circles around my resin knowledge, but I have heard of one other way. It is more expensive than the other two and I have not yet used it myself, but the staff at my school (Art Institute of Chicago) say it works perfectly. My details will be limited for now but I’ll do my best to get back here with specifics. Essentially you get a Pressure cooker and a small air-compressor and connect them. The impending pressure that builds in the pot should force out any unwanted bubbles. Has anyone tried this before? Again I will be trying it within the week myself and will report back. Thanks, Devon
April 14th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Its not heat that pops those annoying little gas bubbles its CO2, hence why it works to breathe on it but its not suggested because the gas vapors from those little bubbles are toxic.
Try using a propane torch, turn the flame on low and run it across and watch the bubbles just disappear in its path. Again its the CO2 produced not the heat so don’t immerse your product in fire or you could do more damage lol. I’ve personally done this and it works well, you just have to be thorough.
I’ve also heard that for large projects you can use dry ice and put it in a bowl of water and hold the bowl above it and let the CO2 gas sink to the project. I’ve never done this but plan on trying it soon.
April 28th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
OK, so The way the pressure method works is by connecting an air compressor to what is called a paint pot. I believe this product should be available in some hardware stores, if not I’m sure there are plenty online. The pot looks like an over-sized, heavy-duty pressure cooker. You use the air compressor to bring the psi in the pot up to about 60 (check Smooth-On’s website for specifics). The pressure forces the bubbles out of the resin with out forcing the liquid out of the mold. Smooth-On sells a prefab kit, but it’s more expensive than the DIY version. Either way, if you’re serious about this stuff it is likely worth the investment. Hope this helps.
June 16th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Thank goodness I found out that it is not something I have been doing wrong with the freaking resin. I tried the blowdryer. Ugh. Don’t slap me! Will definitely buy an inexpensive heat gun. Next problem – how can I even out the pour? I am using the resin on small blocks of painted wood. After it dries I then notice that there are not only bubbles but slight indentations in the piece that I did not previously see. Thanks
July 11th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
You can also even out the pour with the heat gun. Once it is poured, move in close on the piece with the heat gun and it will move the resin around the piece. There is an art to this though and you will have to practice a few times to find out how to move the resin around without completely removing it from your piece.
July 19th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
“But deep down, you really hate that fucking bubble.” True, true, true. Finally a crafter I can relate too. Thanks for the post. Will be getting a heat gun today. Tried the blowdryer (before I read this) and don’t worry, I did my own face-palm.