The summers are upon us, and the temperature is rising by the minute. This undoubtedly poses a significant challenge for resin artists, who suddenly find their resin curing and hardening at a lightning-fast pace.
In this article, we go over best practices, hacks and systems so you can control your resin best through these super hot months!
Be mindful of the reduced pot life
It is inevitable that your resin will have a reduced pot life in the summer months. With the average temperature during summers rising every year, the pot life for the resin is also reducing. Normally, with ultra-clear, we have around 2 hours of pot life in a mug, but recently at our river table workshops, we noticed that the resin had begun to harden within 20 minutes!
Summers means you will have to work faster, and quick finish the pours before the resin hardens. Be mindful of this pot life, do not dilly dally with your art!
Try finding a moderately insulated room
Find a room/area that does not get direct heat, and is cooler than the rest of your surroundings. We obviously don’t recommend using resin in an air conditioned room, as already mentioned in our safety with resin blog. However, finding a room that is away from harsh and direct sunlight can make a huge difference.
Large fans, and cross ventilation also help greatly in making sure the room stays cool, and stop the resin from hardening too fast.
Use containers with a higher surface area to mix your resin
This is slightly complex, so we love to explain this with a simple analogy. When we drink tea, and place it in a saucer, it cools down much faster. However, in a cup, more heat is stored. Resin works the same way, adding too much resin in a cup, will cause the lower molecules to heat up faster and therefore begin hardening in the mug. The heat in the bottom of the mug, generated by the resin plus the external heat, will cause the heat to transfer, harden, generate more hear and harden before! In a saucer, which is basically a structure with a wider base and flatter surface, your resin is likely to have a longer pot life.
When in doubt ask, which container would my tea cool the fastest in?
Use a cold water bath
It may also make sense to use a cold water bath. This means before starting place your packed resin bottles in slightly cold water before beginning to mix. However, be careful, resin and water aren’t the best of friends, so make sure to dry off!
The point of this article is, that we must not get intimidated by the idea of creating resin art in the summer. Yes, it can harden fast but it also means cure times are shorter! We do have to be a little extra mindful, and work a little faster and smarter!
If you have any other tips for making resin easier to work with during the hot summer months, especially in a tropical country like India, do put it down in the comments so we can help each other bring out the best artist in us.
Happy summer, happy crafting!
