9 BEST Safety Tips When Using Epoxy Resin [2021]

Epoxy resin and all resin is fun to use, enjoyable to work with and is a great hobby. Resin safety should be the top priority of any resin artist though, and here are your quick resin safety tips for keeping yourself and your family safe when working with resin.

In order to use resin safely, you must properly protect your body from resin exposure by wearing the right kind of gloves and the proper respirator mask with organic vapor filters to protect your face and lungs.

Many resin artists are using resin without realizing the potential dangers that could arise from working with it without the right safety gear and personal protective equipment. We are here to share that info with you so you can continue to use epoxy resin and all resin safely.

RESIN SAFETY

Here is what you can do to protect yourself and be safe when working with resin:

1. WEAR A RESPIRATOR TO PROTECT YOUR LUNGS

For resin safety, wear a respirator. We can't stress this resin safety tip enough. 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 resin safety, it must include the following:

• The respirator for resin must be N95 or N95 equivalent
• The respirator for resin must have organic filters
• The respirator for resin should be adjustable and fit properly
• The respirator for resin can be a half face respirator, covering only the mouth and nose to protect the lungs, or a full face respirator to also protect the eyes
• If wearing glasses, find a respirator for resin that is made to fit properly over glasses.

You can read more about the proper respirator for resin safety here.

This is the resin respirator we use:

Check price of proper half face respirator for resin here

Check price of proper full face respirator for resin here (this is the exact one we are wearing in the video from Pinterest above)

Check price of proper respirator for resin to wear with glasses here

2. WEAR NITRILE GLOVES TO PROTECT YOUR HANDS

Proper safety gloves to wear when working with resin are nitrile or vinyl. Latex gloves are meant for medical practice and protect hands from viruses and bacteria, and are not made for chemical interactions.

3. HAVE GOOD VENTILATION IN YOUR ROOM FOR RESIN SAFETY

Many resin artists work with resin outside for safety. If you are working with resin indoors, you need to make sure there is proper air flow where there is fresh air coming out, and the old air going outside.

4. CONTINUE TO SAFELY VENTILATE AIR WHILE RESIN CURES

Each resin brand will have a different off gassing time and cure time. Read the directions and safety precautions included. Or go to the companies website for the safety data sheets.

• Typically, full resin cure time is around 72 hours
• During resin curing time, there is still resin in the air and to maintain resin safety, you will want to continue to safely ventilate the air until the resin piece or pieces are fully cured.

5. DON'T MIX RESIN WITH OTHER CHEMICALS IF IT GETS ON YOUR SKIN

In the case where some resin accidently gets on your skin, do not try getting it off with alcohol, paint thinner or any other chemicals. Instead, try this safe, natural recipe to get resin safely off of skin:

• Pour about 1 tbsp. baking soda right into your hand
• Don't add any water
• Pour about 1 tbsp. of dish soap onto the baking soda
• Scrub your hands together over a sink
• Rinse your hands. Repeat if necessary

6. USE RESIN-ONLY DESIGNATED TOOLS

To keep safely resin from spreading to different tools and risk unanticipated exposure to skin, dedicate certain tools to resin only.

7. FOLLOW THE MIXING INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR RESIN CONTAINER

• Different brands and types of resin will tell you how much resin to mix and at what ratio.
• If you need to mix more resin than the brand suggests, then do it in batches. Mixing too much resin at a time could result in chemical reactions and the resin could heat up too much.

8. DO NOT USE RESIN AROUND CHILDREN AND KEEP IT SAFELY AWAY FROM CHILDREN

Resin should not be used around children. Some people are very allergic to resin and when exposed to uncured resin can get hives and swollen eyes. Keep resin away from children at all times. And keep projects that are still curing somewhere where they can not get knocked over or played with. Resin is extremely sticky and will not come out of hair or off of skin easily.

9. KEEP RESIN AWAY FROM PETS

Store resin up and away from pets at all times. This is especially important during the resin curing process because it's very sticky. Keep projects in a separate room where your pets will not be climbing or possibly knocking over your pieces. It's not fair to animals that get resin in their hair or eyes because of lack of safety when working with resin.

To learn more about resin safety, you can read our entire resin safety article here where we talk about each point in detail.

More helpful resources:

The Ultimate Resin E-Book

The Resin Supply Store on Amazon

Here is a Pin for your resin Pinterest board, be sure to save it to remember these resin safety tips.

We hope you learned a lot about resin safety and that you continue to create your beautiful resin pieces in a safe way.

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