It is a great happiness to let your inspiration and creativity become a reality.
And epoxy resin can satisfy our needs to a great extent. All you need to do is pour the mixed epoxy resin into the mold. After waiting a while, the epoxy will cure, and you will have a beautiful finished product.
It seems very simple.
However, the truth can sometimes be a little different from the theory. There is no denying that every resin artist loves to create resin artwork without bubbles.
A flawless piece can reflect our thoughts. When you intend to pour the resin into the mold, only to find that something is mixed in that shouldn’t be there – air bubbles.
Because of the bubbles, your epoxy resin looks cloudy. When it cures, the finished resin art also has imperfections around the edges and inside. That makes you feel very bad and disappointed.
You must have encountered this situation and would love to know how to eliminate the bubbles that appear in their respective cases.
Don’t worry. This article gives you a comprehensive understanding of air bubbles and how to get rid of them easily.
What causes bubbles in resin?
To understand how to remove air bubbles, I think we need to know why epoxies create bubbles in the first place.
Many resin newbies may learn about the nature of epoxy by watching many videos when they are first introduced to it. I’m not saying this isn’t nice, but what is shown in the videos is usually rather one-sided.
You can see the authors of the videos effortlessly blending the resin and eliminating the air bubbles. It all looks natural, but they don’t tell you why they’re doing it.
Because they are making their own resin artwork, not your artwork. To make good resin artwork, you’ll have to learn more about epoxy resins and deal with air bubbles!
So how do air bubbles come about?
The truth is that bubbles can be created at every stage, from mixing the resin to finally waiting for it to cure. If you are making epoxy resin with bubbles, you should check if you have made the following mistakes.
Inaccurate proportioning
To make an epoxy resin, you must mix A resin and B hardener. However, if the ratio is incorrect, it is easy to create bubbles.
Different manufacturers offer epoxy resins with different ratios, and this is something you need to know before you use them. Usually, they will write the ratio in a more prominent place on the instructions so that you can easily find out.
Of course, the mixing ratio given by the manufacturer is the most ideal situation. The epoxy resin will react fully if you mix it according to its ratio.
If you remember the wrong mixing ratio, you have an incompletely reacted mixture of epoxy resin. Another situation is if there is a significant error in the mixing, you will also get an epoxy resin with many bubbles.
It is because the epoxy resin is not mixed according to the ratio, and the internal reaction is not complete. The mixed epoxy will attract the unreacted material, causing you to create bubbles very easily when mixing.
Irregular mixing
Do you know how to stir epoxy resin properly?
When you are stirring epoxy resin, are you not stirring in the same direction? Or are you consciously controlling the speed of mixing?
Have you tried to control the mixing time?
If you are not paying attention to the above points, there is a high probability that air bubbles will appear in your epoxy resin.
Whether you stir in the same direction or control the stirring speed, it avoids the same situation. Yes, that is less chance for the epoxy to come in contact with air.
Stirring is one of the most likely parts of making resin artwork that creates air bubbles. During this stage, the epoxy resin will inevitably come into contact with air. The air-swaddled epoxy resin will then absorb them and create bubbles within. Eventually, these air bubbles will fill every corner of your epoxy.
Filler unprocessed
Have you noticed some clips from some videos? When those video makers add fillers to epoxy, they dip them into extra resin first. Or coat them with a layer of resin.
When making epoxy resin, we add organic materials such as sequins, wood, parts with holes (like gears), leaves, and some dried flowers. These materials themselves absorb moisture and air in the environment. That causes them to carry air in with them even after they are covered with resin.
This carried air can form air bubbles in the epoxy resin. They may be difficult to detect while you are mixing the epoxy resin. But as the resin cures, they cling densely around the filler and ruin the entire piece.
Low temperature
It is something I think many resin lovers will relate to.
Typically, the ideal temperature for your workspace and resin process is 75-80 Kelvin or 24-30 degrees Celsius. That’s a slightly warmer environment than your room temperature.
In this environment, you will get some crystal clear, beautiful epoxy resin. However, if your studio is in a cold environment, it will make the epoxy resin very sticky and cloudy. If the resin is too cold, it can even clump together, making it difficult to use.
If you stir the resin in a consistently cold environment, it will turn into a milky, cloudy mixture. These cloudy impurities can create thousands of tiny bubbles that are very difficult to eliminate.
How to get rid of bubbles in resin?
To make epoxy resin crystal clear, you must be careful and patient. But the truth is that we all inevitably make some mistakes when making epoxy resin. Even resin artists with more than 10 years of experience making epoxy resin will sometimes encounter problems. The most common of these problems is air bubbles.
We often get questions from readers who ask, “How do I get rid of air bubbles in the mixing process” or “How do I get rid of air bubbles in the epoxy resin in the mold.” They will attach some pictures of the production process; the epoxy is really a mess.
In fact, there are many ways to get rid of air bubbles. As long as you know how, you can even use everyday items around yourself to eliminate air bubbles easily.
Below are our recommended ways to eliminate air bubbles.
Leave it for a while
Yes, you did not hear that wrong. Leaving it for a while is indeed an effective means of eliminating epoxy resin.
When you mix and stir your epoxy resin, air enters the liquid, and bubbles form. Usually, the bubbles created at this stage have two characteristics, they are small and numerous. It would be a huge undertaking to remove them one by one artificially. However, resting can solve them.
You may ask how this works. Well, it is straightforward.
We all know that when air is heated, it escapes upwards. When the epoxy resin is mixed, it releases heat, which heats the air bubbles. The air in the bubble is heated and escapes upwards. Eventually, they will leave the surface of the resin and escape into the air.
Generally, the resting time should be kept to 5 minutes or less, which works for most epoxy resins. However, many resin novices are overwhelmed at this stage. It is because they have not learned the correct measures and experience to practice this method.
When bubbles are still present in the epoxy after 5 minutes of standing, you should take another approach. Continuing to rest the epoxy is no better, and you may even miss the right time to pour.
Also, pay attention to the amount of epoxy you have. If you mix a lot of epoxy, we do not recommend using the resting method to eliminate bubbles. A large amount of heat it puts out will heat itself and cause it to cure earlier.
Hot water bath
That is an effortless but brilliant practice.
Putting the epoxy resin with air bubbles into warm water will give extra heat to the epoxy resin and the air bubbles. If the static method uses the exotherm of the epoxy resin itself to achieve the purpose of defoaming.
Then the water bath method gives additional heat to the epoxy resin and activates the acceleration button. There is no essential difference in the principle between the two.
You can get water with heat almost any time, which is the most significant convenience of the water bath method. Prepare a larger cup, pour in warm water, and put the cup with the epoxy resin in it.
To prevent water from getting into the epoxy, you need to keep the mouth of the epoxy cup above the level. Then, after that, just wait for the air bubbles to escape.
However, it is important to note that you need to control the temperature of the water. Generally speaking, the water temperature at 60 degrees is the most suitable. At this temperature, you don’t have to worry about it scalding your container. Because of the high temperature, you don’t have to worry about the epoxy resin curing too quickly.
Heat gun
This is a widespread practice: using a heat gun.
Many video makers use this method to eliminate air bubbles quickly.
Although there are many tools used for heating, the heat method is more technical and more challenging to operate. That’s why we put it in third.
Generally speaking, the most common tool for heating is a heat gun. A good heat gun can be used for both defoaming and fast curing.
However, the temperature provided by the heat gun is usually very high, so you have to take a pendulum motion. Stroke back and forth across the epoxy’s surface to ensure the epoxy is absorbing the right amount of heat. It will heat the air bubbles and allow them to pop out. But you want to make sure you do it quickly and don’t let the flame linger on the resin surface for too long. It only takes 1-3 seconds of heat exposure at a time. This process can be done 1 to 3 times and needs time to allow the epoxy resin to recool.
For this reason, a heat gun is better suited for use when pouring. The best results are achieved when you are using a flat mold. It is because flat molds usually have a larger surface, which is more suitable for the epoxy to absorb the heat.
Also, the proper thickness helps the bubble wrap to escape. If you use a heat gun while the epoxy is still in the container, it will be difficult for the bubbles to escape from the very thick epoxy even if they absorb heat.
A hairdryer can also be used to eliminate bubbles, but it is less effective than a heat gun. A hair dryer does not provide concentrated heat to a point, and you may need additional nozzles or modules to assist.
Heating pad
Compared to the heat gun, the benefit of the heating pad is that it can heat the bottom.
Some resin lovers have written to us asking what they can do if there are a lot of air bubbles on the bottom of the mold.
At this time, the heating pad can be effective and easy to operate.
Set the heating pad’s temperature at about 60 degrees and pour the epoxy in along the edge of the mold. When the epoxy has completely penetrated the mold, you should notice that some bubbles have started to float upward. Because of the heating pad, the bubbles will also continue to get heat at the bottom, which gives them plenty of incentive to escape.
Lighter
We don’t highly recommend using a lighter to get rid of the bubbles in the epoxy.
That is not to say that a lighter is ineffective, but because it is very unstable. Generally speaking, lighters are as effective as heat guns and hair dryers in that they heat the surface to break the bubbles.
But a lighter has an open flame, so we don’t recommend it. If you overheat the resin with a flame, it may not allow your resin to cure fully. When you overheat or overuse the flame, the surface of the epoxy resin will develop a grainy, sticky texture instead of a smooth, slick surface. Also, it may damage your mold.
How to remove bubbles from resin without a heat gun?
While a heat gun is a common means of eliminating air bubbles, not everyone likes it. Likewise, more people don’t like using a lighter for the reasons we mentioned above.
In fact, some resin lovers also ask us how to get rid of bubbles without using a heat gun. Or how to get bubbles out of resin without a torch.
In fact, after reading the above, you should already know the answer. The water bath method is usually the best choice if you don’t use a heat gun because it is very convenient and practical.
And when you have air bubbles in the mold, you can use a heating pad. It will deliver heat to the epoxy in the mold from the bottom, thus allowing the air bubbles to escape.
So, besides the above two, is there a simpler and more convenient way?
Of course, there is. Besides warm water and a heating pad, you can also use the following tools to get rid of air bubbles.
Toothpick
The easiest way is to use a toothpick. It can be used to remove air bubbles from the mold. Again, toothpicks work best when the object is a flat mold.
Straws
Use a readily available straw. You can use it to blow through some obvious air bubbles.
Plastic Dropper
You can use a plastic dropper to get rid of those stubborn bubbles.
A typical scenario is a few tiny bubbles where neither a toothpick nor a straw will work. These tiny bubbles are so slippery that a toothpick can’t poke into them. And because of their surface tension, the straw won’t even blow through them.
That’s when you have to use a plastic dropper. When you use a plastic dropper, you are not separating the bubbles from the epoxy resin. Instead, you remove the bubbles along with the resin around them and suck them into the plastic dropper.
It is a quick way to see results but creates additional waste. But rest assured, as long as you aim the pipette at the bubble and control the force, you will only waste a very small amount of resin. But the results will undoubtedly be fantastic.
How to prevent bubbles in resin?
In fact, when you’re making epoxy, always be on the lookout for air bubbles. Arguably, the best way to eliminate air bubbles is to stop them from being created.
When you are aware of this, you can avoid bubbles during the making process and save the trouble of eliminating them.
So, how can we organize the creation of bubbles?
Avoid using low quality epoxy resin
Sometimes you may encounter such a problem. No bubbles are produced when mixing, but many tiny bubbles can still be found in the finished product. In this case, your epoxy resin may have some problems.
When buying epoxy resins, avoid those that are low quality or not suitable for your current climate. These can usually be identified in user reviews.
Pay attention to the temperature and humidity of the environment
Various studies have shown that temperature and humidity affect the quality of epoxy resins. When the humidity is too high (above 75%), your epoxy will not even cure well.
Make sure you mix the resin at a suitable temperature, usually slightly above room temperature of 24 to 30 degrees Celsius. If you operate in this environment, you can effectively avoid the deterioration of the epoxy resin.
Warm water bath before mixing
The viscosity of the resin will change depending on the temperature. The lower the temperature, the more dense the resin becomes. And the viscosity of the curing agent does not change with temperature.
Therefore, mixing resin and curing agent directly when the resin is still viscous will create many bubbles. Some of the bubbles may disappear slowly with time, but many small bubbles are still left.
Therefore, we can reduce the viscosity of the resin with a warm water bath to avoid bubbles during mixing.
The procedure is the same as the water bath defoaming method. First, prepare a container of warm water at 55 to 60 degrees Celsius. The advantage of doing this is to heat the inside of the container. Because if the hot and cold are not uniform, it will also produce bubbles. Then put Aresin and B hardener into the container and stir. After stirring, you can see that the bubbles are much less.
Tips
Here are some other ways to stop air bubbles from forming.
1. Ensure that the container used to mix the resin or the mold in which it is poured is also warm. Temperature differences create surface tension. That makes bubbles form when pouring resin. You can use a heating pad or a heat gun briefly on the outside of the container or mold to give them warmth.
2. If you are adding fillers to resin artwork, ensure they are adequately dried and sealed before putting them into the resin. And dip them into other resins to squeeze out the air before putting them into the epoxy resin.
3. Before completely filling the mold, roll the resin around the mold to make sure the resin covers every corner. This will prevent bubbles from forming around the edges or corners and will help break surface tension.
Summary
I believe that you already have the only way to eliminate many bubbles by the above.
It is important to know that bubbles in epoxy are not terrible. You can find many ways to make them shiny again.
The key is to keep trying and never give up, and your epoxy will surely respond to you.
The art of epoxy is always evolving and progressing, and we should keep up with the times. So let’s keep going!