Best Resin For Beginners in 2024 | EASY + BEST RESULTS
If you are thinking of getting into epoxy resin or maybe you have done your research and you are ready to purchase your epoxy resin, but you are not sure which to get, we have some great advice for choosing the best resin if you are a beginner. Although, the epoxy resins we are recommending could be used by the professionals as well due to their quality.
These are easy to work with resins that resin artists all love working with.
There are many epoxy resin kits available that you can get online, but you can save money by putting together your own epoxy resin kit with our advice, along with the best resin to start off with.
There are many resin projects you will be able to create, with any of our recommended epoxy resins. Whether you are interested in making:
- epoxy resin jewelry
- resin coasters
- epoxy resin art
- preserving dried flowers or other materials
- custom tumblers
- resin tables/table tops
- serving trays
This is the place to start thinking about your own resin craft kit, starting with the resin itself.
From this article, you will be building your epoxy knowledge and finding the right resin tools and supplies, and we are going to start you off with the best epoxy resin for a beginner, as well as the resin safety gear to consider purchasing (which we highly recommend and will talk about a bit further down).
From there, you will build experience and discover what you like or don't like, and you can purchase further items from here, such as the colorants you want, your measuring cups and stir sticks, molds, sparkling confetti or key chains for your DIY projects. The possibilities with what you can create through this medium are truly endless.
So let's start at the beginning. Here are the best resins for beginners.
Best Resin For Beginners
Before we even start talking about the best epoxy resin for your DIY projects, we are first going to mentions something that often isn't talked about in the resin community, and that is resin safety.
Epoxy Resin Safety
When working with epoxy resin, it is crucial that you wear at the minimum the proper gloves for resin and a respirator.
Epoxy Resin Respirator
Check price of the respirator we use with resin here
Yes, there are many epoxy resins out there that claim to be "non-toxic", however, once they are mixed (epoxy resin is usually a 1:2 ratio) there is a chemical reaction that occurs, making essentially a new product, which you will need a respirator for.
Our biggest advice, is to always wear a respirator that is N95 or equivalent with organic filters.
This is the exact respirator I wear when working with epoxy resin (yes, that's me above. We also use it for cement mixing, tile cutting, and for so many other things around the house, and because the straps are adjustable, my husband wears it for his jobs as well).
You can read more about the best respirator for resin in our article, to do some further research.
Proper Disposable Gloves
You might also want to pick up a box of disposable gloves for your epoxy work.
Please note, that latex gloves will not work. Always go with a nitrile glove, these will create the proper barrier between your skin and the epoxy resin.
Check price of the proper nitrile gloves here (be sure to get your size: small, medium or large).
Now, let's talk epoxy resin.
We are only going to make this a small list of easy-to-work with resins, but if you have some really amazing resins you use that you think would be great for beginners as well, go ahead and leave us a message below and we will consider adding to the list! We grow by community, don't we?
Also, be sure to buy the real resins we mention if you want the results, there are a lot of knock offs out there.
Here's the list:
1. ArtResin Epoxy Resin
ArtResin is one of our favorite resins to work with. Why? It is totally multi-purpose as a non-deep casting resin and it has UV resistant formulations, so it is a brand of resin that is slow to yellow over time due to UV-exposure (all resins yellow over time, some just yellow faster and deeper in color).
ArtResin is:
- VOC-free
- Has no fumes
- Has no solvents
- Is non-flammable
- Is non-hazardous
- Is self-leveling
- Conforms to ASTM D4236 (Safe for Home Use when used in a well ventilated area)
ArtResin: Yellowing | UV Protection
According to ArtResin, their epoxy resin formulation is chemically engineered to offer the most efficient yellowing protection on the market.
Its' advanced stabilization additives provide superior, long-term clarity, which is something that is important to us as resin artists.
Over time, and especially if you are making a clear cast without any added colorants, it is just so discouraging to watch that beautiful piece you made turn yellow. This is one of the main reasons we enjoy working with ArtResin.
ArtResin: Pouring Ratio
This resin is a very easy to pour, 1:1 ratio by volume.
ArtResin: Finished Piece
ArtResin finishes very clear and glossy. It is easy to get the bubbles out with the proper heat gun for resin, and it showcases a mirror-like finish once it is dry.
What You Can Use ArtResin For
This resin, like we mentioned, is great for non-deep pours. It is best used on:
- Clear coating resin (on paintings and photographs)
- Use resin for making resin jewelry (necklaces, earrings, pendants and more jewelry making)
- Use resin for coasters
- In epoxy resin molds (silicone molds for resin jewelry and other items)
- Use resin on wood surfaces
- For cutting boards
- Over Cricut decals
- For tumblers
- It is great for doing beautiful lacing effects (ie, beach scenes)
- Great for encasing dried flowers
- Use on charcuterie boards
ArtResin: Coverage
Depending on what you want to make, here is an idea of what you need to buy for coverage (keeping in mind, the bigger volumes you purchase, the more money you save in terms of dollar per ounce):
The 32oz. kit covers 8 square feet
The 1 gallon kit covers 32 square feet
The 2 gallon kit covers 64 square feet
Conclusion | ArtResin For Beginners
ArtResin comes highly recommended by us as a great beginner resin to work with. It comes in a variety of sizes giving you lots of options, and they also have their own line of colorants called ResinTints so you can perfectly color the epoxy resin you are working with.
See the ArtResin ColorTints varieties here
2. Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast Epoxy Resin
Check price of the one we recommend right here
Alumilite is a brand of epoxy resin that is very easy to work with. We find it very similar to working with ArtResin with a few differences: the price and the odor.
Alumilite: The Price
Yes, Alumilite is a bit cheaper than ArtResin when comparing ounce to ounce in terms of dollar value, but there is one difference you will notice if you want to save some money, and that is the odor of the Alumilite.
Alumilite: Odor
Alumilite has a very strong smell. Of course, you won't notice this if you are wearing the proper respirator for resin and are working in a well-ventilated area; however, this smell has the tendency to travel throughout your home if you are working in a specific room. It may be because Alumilite is not a VOC-free resin.
So it is all up to you if you are choosing between the two brands. Save some money and have the strong odor, or spend a little bit more and work odor-free.
Alumilite: Yellowing | UV Protection
Alumilite is another brand of epoxy resin that has added UV resistant chemicals to their formulation so you have a delay in the yellowing process that occurs naturally over time.
Alumilite: Mixing Ratio
Again, like ArtResin, Alumilite is a verry easy to follow 1:1 mixing ratio by volume.
Alumilite: Finished piece
This epoxy resin dries to a very shiny, glossy finish and looks beautiful whether you are making jewelry or pouring into resin molds.
You just have to make sure you use your heat gun to get all of the bubbles out before it cures, like all epoxy resin pieces.
3. Craft Resin Epoxy Resin Kit
Craft Resin is a brand of epoxy resin that is a professional-grade and is easy to work with. This is a crystal clear, self-leveling formula that cures to a high gloss finish.
Craft Resin: Mixing Ratio
This is another brand of resin that is a 1:1 mixing ratio by volume.
Craft Resin is:
- Odorless
- Non-flammable
- Made with non-toxic materials
- VOC-free
- Solvent-free
- Scratch resistant
- Water resistant
- Self-leveling
- Heat resistant up to 95C
- UV resistant
Craft Resin: Odor
Craft Resin is a brand of epoxy resin that is odorless. Nevertheless, again, always wear your respirator whether your epoxy is odorless or not.
Craft Resin: Coverage
In determining how much you need, here is the coverage guidelines for Craft Resin:
The 34oz kit covers 10 square feet
The 1.06 Gallon kit covers 40 square feet
Craft Resin: Finished product
This epoxy dries crystal clear and has a high gloss finish. Another great product for your resin jewelry making and other epoxy resin crafts.
EPOXY RESINS | COMPARISON
These are our top choices for best epoxy resin if you are a beginner. We chose these really for their versatility, ease of use (in measuring, mixing and pouring) and their finishes, which are all crystal clear and glossy.
Compare price of each brand we recommend here in the same general sizes:
How To Build Your Own Resin Starter Kit
Here are the other epoxy resin supplies we recommend grabbing as a beginner resin artist, in addition to your epoxy resin and your respirator and gloves.
With these epoxy resin art kit supplies, you can make up your own resin kits for beginners. These would be perfect if you are looking for DIY epoxy resin kits:
Resin Start Kit Items (will link to the ones we recommend):
Silicone Mixing Cups (These are great because the resin can cure in them and you can easily peel it out for reusing)
Wooden stir sticks
Mica powder (for coloring epoxy resin - more opaque/pearl finishes)
Alcohol inks (for coloring epoxy resin - more clear finishes)
Dried flowers
Crafting heat gun (you'll use this to apply heat to get out air bubbles after you pour)
A small, silicone resin mold (even if you don't plan on pouring into molds, we recommend grabbing a small silicone mold for resin so you can put any excess epoxy resin drips into it. There will always be leftover epoxy resin from your projects.)
Keep in mind, most resin kits will put together a general assortment of epoxy resin, resin colorants, stir sticks and mixing cups. So most resin kits won't have those colors or things you might want.
Putting Together A Resin Kit For Yourself
It is easy to build your own resin craft kit or starter kits for your basic starting off supplies and build it from there. That is what we recommend doing to make up the best resin kit for you, personally.
The best resin kits are ones that are tailored to the resin artist, so although there are many resin kits out there, building a resin starter kit for yourself is what we recommend doing.
And if you are not sure about resin colorants, you can read more in our article about the best resin colorants, but know we recommend having the primary colors, as well as a good white and a good gold to start.
It is also nice to get some different kinds of colorants (a few alcohol inks, some mica powders, etc) to see how they work in the resin. The colorants are quite inexpensive compared to your other resin craft kit supplies, so go ahead and get a few varieties to see how they look.
Also, we'll say that if you are buying ArtResin, their ResinTints take the guesswork out of choosing those colorants.
Check price of ResinTints here
So after you build your epoxy resin art kit and you have tried playing with your epoxy resin, you may venture out to try a doming resin to use in jewelry making (it works really well for pendants) and UV resin for certain projects.
There are a number of things to try, and it all depends where your epoxy resin interests take you!
Read about which resin is best for a table top here.
We hope you found this epoxy resin article useful in discovering the best resin for starting out!
Remember, whichever resin type you decide to try for your resin projects (epoxy resin, UV resin, casting resin, doming resin or whichever resin craft kit you decide to go with) they will typically come as a two part resin and hardener (the hardener being the curing agent) and they will each have their own instructions and curing time.
Just be sure to thoroughly read your brand of resin's instructions fully and understand the process before beginning. And have fun! yes, mistakes will be made, and that is ok because you will be learning from them and will create beautiful pieces of resin art.
Your epoxy resin art projects will only get better with time and experience, as anyone creating art knows, and all we can say is have fun through the process.
We have many other articles you can read to learn more about resin, here are some other resources from our website for you to learn about:
Resin + Beginners
Resin How To's
Resin Supplies & Purchasing Advice
Best Resin For Your Project
USE RESIN SAFELY
No matter what type of resin you decide to use, always use personal protective equipment (PPE). Take time to carefully go over safety data sheets before making anything with resin, and make sure you have the proper gloves on (not latex) and the right respirator for resin protection.
Here are the exact gloves we always use
This is the respirator we use and recommend for resin work
Read more about resin safety here
And please remember, even if your epoxy resin of choice is "VOC-free, odor free" and/or "non toxic", please always wear the proper respirator for epoxy resin.
Here is the BEST respirator mask for epoxy resin: this Full Face Organic Vapor Respirator checks off all of the boxes for resin safety, and comes with
- free 30 day returns
- a 1 year factory warranty
- free US shipping and free shipping on international orders
Here it is:
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