How to Prep Your Surface For Resin
So your Drippy kit has arrived and you're filled with inspiration on what to resin! Cheeseboards, paintings, coasters, oh my! But you can't just launch into resin art with reckless abandon - there are a few things you can do to prep your canvas of choice before you start, which will make your life easier and your resin art look profesh.
The most popular surface of choice for first-time DIY resiners is a cheeseboard, however ensuring you have properly prepared your board can make or break a resin art design. The first thing you need to do is get an idea of where you want your resin design to be on the board. Once you have a bit of a plan, give the area you want to coat in resin a bit of a sand. It is quite common for cheeseboards/cutting boards to be finished with an oil-based varnish, and resin doesn't like to stick evenly to oil-based things. By sanding the board, this will ensure the resin coats evenly and dries smooth. If you want your resin to flow over the sides of the board, make sure you sand those too.
Next thing you want to do to your board is to tape up the underside of the board to make clean up a breeze once the resin has cured. Using regular old tape, cover the back of the board where the resin might drip or you might touch it with your resin-covered gloves. Then when your board is all cured, you can just whip off the tape and all the resin drips on the underside will come right off! If you still have any pesky resin patches stuck to the underside of the board, you can use a heat gun and a craft knife to slice these right off.
Most resin art cheeseboards feature a design that covers a portion of the board; the best way to get this effect is to just be strategic with where you pour your resin, rather than taping off the board where you want the resin to stop. However if you really really want your resin design to stop in a straight line rather than an organic looking edge, ensure you remove the tape border before the resin is fully cured - about 3 hrs into the curing time.
If you'll be creating resin art on other smooth surfaces such as plastic or glass, it's a good idea to give these surfaces a little buff with some sandpaper too just for good measure. Other surfaces such as a wooden art board, unfinished wood or MDF don't need much prep work and are ready for resin right away.
If you have decided to do a second coat of resin over your work, it's also a good idea to give the first layer a sand before you pour your second layer, to make sure you don't end up with any pits or an uneven surface.
As always, we are here to help! If you have any questions on how best to prep your chosen surface or any general DIY resin art questions, get in touch with us at contactdrippyart@gmail.com or DM us on Instagram - @make_drippy