Dust Is the Enemy: Protecting Resin Art While It Cures

Resin cures slowly and the worry of dust or pet hair landing on your art before curing is constant. A speck that lands in it right after that last blast with the heat gun, is one you won't be getting out. You'd instead be covering it with paint pens or making the decision to sand it out. Here is my whole defense system to helping keep my resin crafts free of debris while curing.

The DIY dust cover stand

Resin can be a lot of things, but the one thing it's NOT is cheap. Im someone who invests in the best supplies and materials to make my creations come to life, and like most artists, I spend a lot of time working on them. I lean into the larger projects a lot so my working space can get up to 36"x48".

Working with such large art is an attractor to something difficult to control like dust. I found this out the hard way. I was starting on a my largest project ever and prepared for the worst by using air purifiers, Turning off fans and eliminating drafts. These are the top movers of debris in air, so I thought I was on top of my game.

I use to mount large sheets of cardboard overtop of my projects to protect them and learn that wasn't the best way to deal with dust because my dog's hair still ended up in it. I had tried to cover it with paint pens and didn't like the outcome and eventually ended up sanded it down and repairing a flood coat. Extra cost and time wasted. The was the last straw for me.

Then came the inspo to create a dust cover stand, and it was the best decision I made. Let's get into it...

And when dust wins anyway: the cleanup

After the piece cures, it inevitable that overtime there will be a little dust accumulation. To clean your art safely, I highly suggest using the Sprayway aerosol glass cleaner.

Total cost of the whole setup is less than one ruined pour. That is the math that matters: every protection habit in this studio exists because the unprotected version cost me a piece first.

More studio habits like this run through the classes, where you see them in real time instead of in summary.