How to Remove Resin From Your Skin
Resin is a fascinating art. One that can get you zoned in for hours on end. And like many other arts and crafts, you can end up with a little… or a big mess! And end up with some epoxy resin on your skin.
Let’s think about a painter or baker for a second. You’re likely to find paint on a painter’s fingers, some icing on a baker’s apron, and a few more splatters here and there.
Resin is quite the same. But the big difference is that resin can irritate your skin and cause a reaction. This is why it’s important to wear the proper PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) when working with resin – to protect yourself from getting any epoxy resin on your skin.
The reality of the situation is that you will get some resin on your skin at some point in your creative journey. And we need to be clear that resin can be toxic before it’s fully cured.
Some people experience severe allergic reactions and others are lucky enough to wash the resin off and be on their merry way!
We’re going to share some options to answer your question “how to get epoxy off hands”. But seeing as prevention is better than cure, let’s look at how to avoid getting resin on your skin in the first place.
Important: Seek immediate medical attention if you get any resin in your eyes or if you ingest it.
First and Foremost – How to Avoid Getting Resin on Your Skin
- Wear proper protective equipment for working with resin. The basics are nitrile gloves and a respirator. Be sure to replace the filters of your respirator as required. And change your gloves as many times as you need to while working on your project – one project does not mean you need to use one pair of gloves only.
- Wear goggles. This will help to prevent the resin from making contact with your eyes. If you’re wearing a full-face respirator, then good for you!
- Long sleeves. This is an optional extra but you can never be too careful. Wear long-sleeved T-shirts, long pants and an apron. If you have long hair, we suggest you tie your hair up and keep it out of your face.
Even after doing all of the above, you might still get resin on your skin. We know! But stranger things have happened. Let’s look at how to get resin off skin.
How to Get Epoxy Resin off Your Hands
So you got some resin on your skin – now what?! Here are options to help you with how to remove epoxy from skin.
Wipe the Resin off With Baby Wipes
The first thing you should do is remove as much of the resin with a baby wipe. This won’t remove all of the resin but it’s a useful way to remove most of the resin from your skin. If you don’t have any baby wipes then you can use paper towels. Either way, you need to follow this up with one of the below methods.
Soap and Warm Water
If you’ve removed most of the resin with a baby wipe, then a good wash with warm soapy water will remove the rest of the resin from your skin. If you still feel a sticky residue on your skin, then apply some more soap and lightly scrub your skin with a pumice stone. The pumice stone acts as a scrub and will remove any excess resin from your skin.
Skin Exfoliant or Body Scrub
If you don’t have this type of product then you can quickly and easily make your own with some sugar or salt and a bit of moisturizer or liquid hand soap. How? Place a little blob of moisturizer or liquid hand soap on your skin, add some sugar or salt, and rub it on your skin in circular motions. After a minute or so of rubbing, wash your hands with warm soapy water and repeat if necessary.
Baking Soda and Liquid Soap
As you might know, baking soda is a miracle cleaner and was a must-have for every housewife before the market became saturated with chemical cleaners. And yes, it can remove resin from your skin too! Put some baking soda and a bit of liquid soap into your hands and rub it all over. After giving your hands a good scrub, rinse it with warm water and you’re good to go!
Responses From Other Resin Artists
We asked some of our fellow resin artists what their response would be to “how to clean resin off your hands” and what their go-to is when removing resin from their skin. Here’s what they had to say:
- Baby wipes all the time. If I have hand sanitizer lying around then that works too.
- Baby wipes or rubbing alcohol.
- Baby wipes for the win!
- I discovered that turpentine does the job instantly.
- Hand sanitizer with dishwashing liquid works well for me.
NB! These methods are what work for other resin artists. We do not recommend the use of solvents such as turpentine, acetone and thinners to remove resin from your skin because they’re not good for your skin and might cause the resin to be absorbed into your skin.
How to Get Epoxy Resin off Other Things
Besides your skin, you might get some resin spills on other things. Here’s what you can do.
How to Get Resin off Wood
You can wipe it clean with a baby wipe if the resin is still in a liquid form. If the resin has cured then you can either sand it off or pop it off using a sharp object. If you are struggling to remove cured resin then heating it a little could help.
How to Get Resin off Metal or Plastic
Resin will stick to metal and plastic but with a bit of pressure, the resin will pop loose. Again if the resin hasn’t cured yet, then you can use a baby wipe or a cloth and some acetone to clean it off. To remove cured resin you can pop it off using a knife or sharp object. Be careful!
Final Thoughts
Protect your skin and body from resin as far as possible. But as resin artists, we should accept spills as part of our resin life.
If you have any tried and tested methods to remove resin, then please share them with us in the comments below.
And if you enjoyed this article then please share it on social media with your friends and fellow resin artists.
