Craft Resin is a clear substance, which is great if you’re covering your artwork with it or creating a clear resin piece to showcase beautiful flowers in for example. If colour in your resin project is what you’re after, then you’ll need to add something to it.
Whichever colour that you choose there is a rule to remember when adding colours to epoxy resin and that is to not exceed 6% colourant to the total volume of the Craft Resin mix - For example if you have a resin mix of resin and hardener that is 150ml in total, don’t add any more than 9ml of a colour to this mix.
As most of the colours that can be used with resin give you very vibrant colours when using not a lot of colourant, exceeding 6% is quite difficult, but it’s just something to be aware of.
So what are some of the options you have too colour your resin…
Mica Powders:
To start with you could use Craft Resin Mica Powders. Craft Resin Mica Powder sets come in packets of 30 colours, giving you a great choice of colours to choose from including some glow in the dark colours too.
Mica Powders are just that, they are very fine powders that can create really vibrant colours, or more subtle colours in your resin depending on the amount you add into you resin mix. The great thing about Mica Powders is that you can start adding it in in the tiniest amount, and then build it up and add a bit more if you want the colour more vivid.
Please remember not to exceed the 6% bracket though!
You can either add your Mica Powders into your resin when mixing it together with the hardener, or you can delicately paint or dust the Mica Powders over your resin mold. When the resin is then poured into the mold and it has cured you’ll be left with a really great colour effect.
We’re not going to delve into all the colour effects you can create with your epoxy resin projects, if you have seen a certain colouring technique being used with Mica Powders or any of the others then research this further and have fun experimenting to recreate this effect.
You can use Mica Powders for other projects other than resin related ones, our Mica Powders are cosmetic grade which means they are safe for use on the skin and for use in make up. You can colour lipsticks, blushes, eye shadows and even nail varnish with Mica.
If you are creating soap dyes, colouring candles or bath bombs with mica Powders, you’ll need to also add in polysorbate 80 into the mix to give incredible results.
You can take a look at our Mica Powder sets in more detail on our website:
Acrylic Paints:
Acrylic paints are fine for use with Craft Resin, however it can reduce the glossiness of your resin project and therefore give a less shiny effect to your work. For some people this effect will work really well, but for others who want that glass like effect to their work it may not.
Alcohol Inks:
You can also use alcohol inks to colour your epoxy resin creations and you can create some really great effects using alcohol inks like the petri dish art many people use it for. It can create really vibrant and beautiful colours in your work and as such is a very popular option.
You do need to be careful when using alcohol inks in your resin projects to then NOT use a heat torch on your work. Alcohol is flammable, so although it would get rid of bubbles, it could also remove your eyebrows and do even more damage than that!
Instead use a alcohol spray to get rid of any bubbles that may occur on your curing project, warm your resin and hardener in sealed bottles in a sink of warm water before use and be extra gentle when mixing your resin to avoid bubbles forming in the first place.
Not only can it affect the flammable nature of Craft Resin, but using a lot of alcohol ink in your project can also effect Craft Resins toxicity too, so please also make sure when you are working with these that your room is well ventilated and you also wear a respirator.
Before we go we need to make you aware NOT to use oil paints with Craft Resin, they do not mix together well and will make your resin mix extremely difficult to work with.
You can cover your oil painted artwork in Craft Resin, however use a sealant like Mod Podge as a base layer first, allow this to dry and then add the resin over this, that way no resin and oil paint will mix together causing issues.
Team Craft Resin
