Welcome!
The popularity of epoxy tents are making their way through the epoxy resin artist community as talks about resin safety are becoming more and more relevant.
What are the benefits of having an epoxy tent? What exactly is an epoxy tent? We are going to answer those epoxy resin questions for you and more.
If you are using resin to make resin jewelry, geode resin art and resin crafts, you should have the proper setup.
An epoxy tent is a sectioned off area of a room that is meant to keep fumes and VOC's centralized and safely contained within its walls. Epoxy tents are generally made using hydroponic grow tents and have a fan that exchanges fresh air with the epoxy-fume air, making it a safe working environment for epoxy resin artists.
Many resin artists like to set up their working area outside, where the abundance of fresh air keeps potentially dangerous resin fumes well-dispersed.
However, creating a safe, outdoor space to work with resin is not always an ideal option depending on the season, the weather, the availability of outdoor space for safety and so many other reasons that may compel an epoxy resin artist to bring their resin craft indoors.
If you are planning on working indoors with epoxy resin, then you need to consider a safe place to do so with proper ventilation, and/or while wearing the proper protective equipment, which we will talk more about below as well.
When considering buying a hydroponic grow tent to use exclusively as an epoxy tent for epoxy resin safety, you will want to think first about where you are going to put it. This will determine the size you can buy.
When selecting a grow tent to use as an epoxy tent, you will want to give yourself as much space as possible to move around somewhat comfortably while working with resin. BUT make sure that you are venting the fumes to an outside window for safety.
Have a look at the hydroponic growing tents on Amazon by Vivosun.
Describing this tent, Vivosun has this to say:
The top-quality 340g oxford is tear proof and double stitched for perfect light blocking; Lined with non-toxic PE material, [...] and the tent is supported by strong metal poles that are specially finished for smooth installation [...] [these] grow tents are easy to install even if you've never done something like this before: no tools needed!
If you check out the Vivosun store on Amazon through the link below, there are other sized epoxy tents available if you want something smaller, but this is the largest one they carry.
Check the price on Amazon here
After you purchase your grow tent to use as an epoxy tent, you are going to need a fan for proper epoxy ventilation.
Let's explore the topic of ventilation when using resin. There will always be fumes when you are working with any resin, even if it says it is non-toxic.
How much ventilation do you need when working with resin for it to be safe?
Even though you may not smell fumes and the product you are working with says it is a non-toxic resin, you still need proper ventilation with fresh air coming in and the fumes blowing out through a fan, and you want that fan blowing through the entire process from resin opening to pouring to curing.
These also have carbon filters and even a speed control, so this would be a good set up.
You will have to get some 4" ducting to vent the air from the fan to your window which will also be available on Amazon or at your local hardware store.
Make sure the ducting fits perfectly into your vent hole in the window so none of the fumes will exhaust into the room you are working in.
Send all those nasty fumes outside. You don't want any of those resin fumes lingering around.
FYI you can find some options for 4" ducting right here on Amazon.
If you are using a room in a house or your garage to do your epoxy work in, you will want to consider the size of the room in cubic feet (CF). Once that is determined, you will use that to decide on a fan that can adequately move enough air in and out of the room.
A fan is sized in "CFM" which is cubic feet per minute. This refers to the measure of air volume moved in/out of the room or enclosed area by the fan.
Let's explore the exact fan and grow tent mentioned in the above points.
The Vivosun fan from Amazon we mentioned above has a rating of 203 CFM.
Here is an example: The tent by Vivosun from Amazon mentioned above, in the largest size of 96"x48"x80" which, measured in feet is 8'x4'x6.8'. Multiplying these numbers together = 217.6 CF.
The general rule of thumb with epoxy resin is that the air should be exchanged at least 8 times per hour (of course, this depends on the product you are using, so be sure to read the MSDS, the SDS or label on your epoxy resin or refer to the manufacturers website to find this information).
If you need to phone the epoxy resin manufacturer, you can simply ask: "what is the recommendation for how many times per hour the air needs to be exchanged when using your product?".
Here is how you can figure out how many times the air will be exchanged with your grow tent or room in your house and your fan choice.
So the fan we mentioned above (203 CFM) would work in the grow tent, also mentioned above, in the largest size (217.6 CF).
Here is how to input these numbers into the formula above to figure out how many air changes per hour occur with the fan and tent I chose, as an example:
So that is a lot of air changes when we need an air exchange rate of at least 8 full exchanges of air per hour, you can be sure that your space is well-ventilated. with this epoxy tent and fan combo.
If you are putting the air fan in a window of a room, you will input the same calculations depending on the cubic feet of your room.
The other option or additions we would like to talk about, is the proper respirator to wear when working with epoxy.
Whether you decide to make an epoxy tent or not, we always highly recommend wearing a proper respirator for epoxy resin.
Here are the respirators that are for working with resin:
Check price of proper half face respirator for resin here
Check price of proper full face respirator for resin here
Check price of proper respirator for resin to wear with glasses here
When resin is mixed, it begins off-gassing and continues to off-gas during the curing process, which is typically about 72 hours time depending on the brand.
Even when the resin says it is a "non-toxic" brand, there is a chemical reaction that occurs when the resin is combined that results in fumes.
When looking for a respirator for epoxy resin safety, it must include the following:
You can read more about the proper respirator for resin safety here.
We hope you are leaving this article feeling well-informed on epoxy tents, air exchanges + ventilation and respirator safety when working with epoxy resin.
Here are some more helpful articles you may be interested in reading:
The Resin Supply Store on Amazon
Thanks, happy creating!
I’ve tried finding the answer to this question since I saw this article, but haven’t found one yet.
When working with a epoxy tent do you..
1. Work in one that your whole body and whole set up can work in? Like with the whole tent shut with you inside it to work?
2. Work outside of the tent, but your hands and set up (equipment can fit in) while using/letting the resin cure
3. Just use it let the resin cure?
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DIY Craft Club Admin
September 11, 2022
Hi Crystal,
The idea behind the epoxy tent is that you work inside of it if you have no other space to work where there is fresh air, and you have to work inside of your house. You should only work in the epoxy tent if you have fresh air ventilating in for you through a fan, and you have enough fresh air exchanges within the tent. The tent is meant to keep the air from circulating around your home. So you go in, get your air exchange fans going (fresh air in, epoxy air outside of the house) and you work in there. When you are done, you zip the tent up while your epoxy cures as it will off gas until it has fully cured. We also recommend wearing a proper respirator for resin as well, and we have an article on that topic here: https://diycraftclub.com/blogs/idea-room-1/best-respirator-for-resin
Hope that helps you!