How to Make Epoxy Resin Dry Faster?

There are scenarios when you wished epoxy resin could dry faster. You tried several measures to speed up the curing but some procedures didn’t work as expected. 

As a general rule, epoxy resin dries faster in a hot environment. This means that working on a warmer room and letting it cure there will encourage the resin to cure quicker. Take note, however, that you need to keep the room temperature constant for the first 24 hours. A sudden drop of temperature can cause issues like the formation of dimples or fish eyes in the resin. 

If you really need to get your artwork finish ASAP, there are safe and effective ways to cure the resin faster. Here are some dos and don’ts in curing the resin quicker!

DO:

•   Increase the room temperature to 75-85 ºF/24-30ºC where the craft is curing. The temperature determines the curing time: the warmer the temperature, the faster the curing happens, and vice versa.
•   Place a space heater or heat lamp near the item.

DON’T:

•   Don’t cheat the resin mixture by adding more hardener than what is needed. Artist Resin needs a 1:1 resin to hardener ratio. An increase in hardener will not make the curing process quicker. Instead, it will create bigger problems like an uncured resin and a sticky surface which can only be resolved by re-doing the coating.
•   Don’t use another brand of hardener to substitute Counter Culture DIY Artist Resin. Other brands might promise you quicker curing but that will not work when paired with our product. Our resin always comes in pairs which are effective together; interchanging one for another brand will just give you a headache later on!
•   Don’t use any extra agent promoting quicker curing to the Counter Culture DIY Artist Resin mixture. Our product is not designed to adhere to any additional agents.

Curing Time Explained

While we are developing our product, curing time is one of our priorities. We want to create a safe epoxy resin that protects and beautifies the artwork yet cures faster as well. However, we also want to address the most common issue of resin artists, which is the yellowing of the resin. Because of this, we decided to lessen the additive that speeds-up curing (which is called accelerator). An accelerator is an agent which is typically yellow in color so if we use more of it, it can make the product yellowish rather than water-clear, which we offer right now.

For us, the quality of the coating for your artwork is non-negotiable, and an additional curing time doesn’t usually hurt. Counter Culture DIY Artist Resin is 95% cured within 24 hours, and 100% cured after 72 hours. After 24 hours, the piece can be used or can be applied with a second coating if necessary. If the craft will be packed and shipped, a 72-hour curing period is advised as that extra 5% of hardness prepares the item for heavy duty requirements.