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If your UV resin is still sticky after curing, please don’t panic — you haven’t ruined everything.
This is one of the most common questions I see in resin groups, and I’ve had it happen to myself more than once.
In my experience, sticky UV resin comes down to one or two things: Too much pigment … or something known as oxygen inhibition.
I learned the hard way that adding “just a bit more” pigment, to get that perfect colour, can actually stop the resin curing properly.
Oxygen Inhibition
Sometimes the piece feels firm underneath but slightly tacky on the surface. That’s often oxygen in the air preventing the very top layer from fully curing. When this happens, I pop my piece into a small container of water and cure again under my lamp. The water blocks the oxygen and usually solves the problem beautifully. If for some reason it does not work, what I have done myself is add another thin layer to piece and cure again under my UV light for a minimum 120 seconds.
Too Much Pigment Can Block UV Light
UV resin needs light to pass through it in order to cure properly. If the colour is too dense, the light simply can’t reach all of the resin.
- Liquid dyes are concentrated
- Mica powders can reflect light
- Dark colours cure slower
- Build colour in layers
How to Prevent Stickiness
- Use thin layers
- Add pigment gradually
- Cure longer for darker colours
- Keep your lamp close to the surface (without touching it)
- Don’t overfill molds
The UV Lamp & Resin I Use
Both my lamp and my resin I use are produced by LET’S RESIN that I purchase from Amazon. I have found this brand to be reliable when making my resin jewellery with UV resin or for coasters where I use epoxy resin. My lamp is two-sided, so that it cures both sides at once, which gives a more even curing.
Sticky resin is frustrating — but it’s rarely the end of a project. With a few small adjustments, most pieces can be saved.
If you’ve had other UV resin problems – Keep a look out for my future posts, as I am planning to cover various problems that arise when using UV resin.