Color for epoxy resin: is it possible to mix resin with acrylic paint, how to make it yourself at home

Available means

Gel food colors
You can use some available materials as paints for epoxy resin:

gel dyes for baking;
ink from gel and ballpoint pens;
watercolor paints with minimal dilution with water;
soap dyes;
eye shadow and nail powder;
dry food coloring;
printing inks;
automotive enamels;
alcohol solution of brilliant green;
potassium permanganate crystals;
crushed crayons and pencil leads.

The use of improvised materials as dyes does not always give a predictable result. Only professional colors give the desired effect - bright, beautiful and exactly matching the declared shade.

What is epoxy resin

It has the appearance of a transparent liquid, which contains a resin and a hardener. Once these two components are mixed, the composition gradually hardens into a clear-looking plastic.

Epoxy resin cannot be classified as an environmentally friendly product, but modern technologies make it possible to minimize the risk of its negative impact on human health. For this purpose, the maximum cleaning method is used. Despite the almost complete absence of odor, compared to construction analogues, jewelry epoxy resin still has negative properties.

Epoxy resin tables

Precautions must be observed in any case when working with this substance. The construction of crafts should take place in a well-ventilated area

Don't forget to wear gloves and try to prevent this substance from coming into contact with the cornea of your eyes. This can lead to serious negative consequences.

Tips for using colors

To prevent incorrect painting, it is important to follow the technology for mixing color and resin. Rules to follow:

Use compatible materials - gradually mix the hardener and pigment in a test portion; if there are no undesirable effects, you can switch to the main mass.
Make sure that there is no water in the paint, as it can ruin the resin product, give it a yellow tint or cause cracks.
The maximum weight of colors in an item is 7% of the total weight of the resin; if you add more, the item will turn out soft. Oil, nitro and alkyd paints can be added up to 10% of the total weight.

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You need to work quickly with epoxy resin to which color has been added. It hardens within a few tens of minutes. The smaller the product, the more active the process.

Safety regulations

When working with dyes, it is important to follow safety precautions:

many colors emit aggressive vapors during the polymerization process, you need to use a respirator and gloves;
It is advisable to ventilate the room during work;
if the composition gets on the skin, you need to clean it with alcohol and wash it with soap;
mix the solutions in disposable containers, which are then thrown away;
The ambient temperature should not be below 22 degrees and above 25.

Do not leave exposed paints unattended and do not allow pets or children to come into contact with them.

What is epoxy resin

It has the appearance of a transparent liquid, which contains a resin and a hardener. Once these two components are mixed, the composition gradually hardens into a clear-looking plastic.

Epoxy resin tables

Precautions must be observed in any case when working with this substance. The construction of crafts should take place in a well-ventilated area

Don't forget to wear gloves and try to prevent this substance from coming into contact with the cornea of your eyes. This can lead to serious negative consequences.

Popular manufacturers

Among the brands that have gained trust are American and European manufacturers, as well as several Russian products:

Poly Max Dream . The dyes are produced as a set, which includes: white, blue, green, pink and red fluorescent color.
Crystal . The company produces paints and accessories for painting, including for creating crafts from epoxy resin. In total, the collection includes 50 shades. Packaged in 10 and 30 g. Large jars cost from 290 rubles, and small jars from 100.
Polymer - O. _ The company produces concentrated paste-like colors. They are expensive - from 500 rubles per 50 g, but they are very economical in consumption. Some pastes contain fluorescent additives and phosphors. In the catalog you can find pearlescent pastes, as well as separate proposals for working with large areas - tins of paints of 1.6 kg.

MICA Rainbow . Budget Chinese paints in the form of pigment powder. Unlimited choice of colors and price from 50 rubles per package. Contains natural mica and is environmentally friendly.
Reactint . Innovative paints for plastic, polyurethane and epoxy resins. Available in concentrated liquid form. Very economical - 0.1% is enough to achieve rich color. The price of paints is quite affordable - 350 rubles for 15 g.
MG Epox Color M. Colors for liquid epoxy resin, packaged in 10 g bottles. Cost from 120 rubles. There are many shades, including pearlescent. Metallic is represented only in silver.
ArtLove . A popular brand that produces dyes for resins of its own production. Sold in 5 ml flasks, costs from 150 rubles. The color palette is blue, red, green, yellow and purple.
EpoximaxX . Specializes in the production of jewelry resins and dyes. Produces highly concentrated, odorless products. Can be used to create matte and transparent shades.
A relatively inexpensive dye for epoxy resin is “ Epoksikon ”. It is available in 10 g jars and costs from 120 rubles excluding discounts. There are compositions with mother of pearl. Environmentally friendly and clean material.

How to paint epoxy resin at home

There are many types of dyes: liquid, bulk, pearlescent, transparent, pastel, neon, luminous, for the petri technique, pop-up and so on. And each species has a variety of colors and shades. But such jars are not cheap. For each tube of such color pleasure you will have to pay an average of 100 to 400 rubles.

So you also need to buy it, select it, order it, wait... And we had an idea, what if we try to color the resin with something at hand?

Dyes for epoxy resin

Are we starting an experiment? Are you with us?

Below we will tell you in detail and show how we did it and what came out of it!

And at the end of the article there will be a short video about how it happened.

We would like to say right away that this is only an experiment. To work with resin, it is necessary to use special dyes.

So, first we need to figure out what, in theory, can color the resin. Our goal is to do this using products that you definitely have at home!

This is what we will try to mix with epoxy resin and see the result

Iodine, Zelenka, Potassium permanganate, Fukortsin
Activated carbon
Paprika, Turmeric, Ginger
Ballpoint pen ink
Acrylic paint, Alcohol ink

Homemade dyes

Let’s not delay and tell you briefly about what happened.

Mix iodine with epoxy resin

When mixed with epoxy resin, iodine gives a beautiful red color, however, it lasts only a few hours, then begins to turn white. By the time it hardens, it acquires a dense white-milky hue.

Iodine with epoxy resin

A mixture of brilliant green and epoxy resin

Of course, we expected a beautiful emerald color and what a surprise we were when, just a couple of seconds after adding brilliant green to the epoxy resin, it became a light lilac color. But the green stuff didn’t stop surprising us. After 2 hours it became a magical sky blue color. The color was truly perfect and we even rejoiced at our “discovery” for a while, until it began to turn green and turned into a light green color. This, of course, upset us, but we were also pleased with the color. But in the morning we could expect anything, but not white. Actually, when the composition hardened, we got a white color over a large area and a white color with a barely noticeable lilac tint on a small form.

Zelenka with epoxy resin

IMPORTANT! The mold with a small area of filling was not damaged, but the shape of the cup holder turned green. This is most likely due to the type of silicone, but it is necessary to take this into account.

Potassium permanganate and epoxy resin

Yes, of course, we hoped that it would dissolve (naive)... but we also liked the effect. When added to the epoxy resin, metallic-black particles of potassium permanganate settled to the bottom and became a kind of “carpet.” I think this effect can be useful for certain ideas.

Adding potassium permanganate to epoxy resin

Fukortsin and epoxy resin

Well, he just didn’t disappoint. We expected a fuchsia color, mixed it, and got it. Frozen in the same shade. In general, apart from the smell of paint that it is endowed with, I don’t see any downsides. BUT work with it in a separate room and wearing a mask! It is important!

Fukortsin and epoxy resin

What happens if you mix epoxy resin and activated carbon?

If you need to get a charcoal effect, use charcoal =) It turned out beautiful. But remember, any porous material, when added to epoxy resin, releases air and, as a result, produces bubbles. To avoid this, varnish or fill it with a small amount of resin and let it dry, and then fill it completely. But we liked these bubbles, they look impressive. I think it would look good for the effect of rocks and sea foam.

Activated carbon in epoxy resin

Add spices to epoxy resin. Paprika, turmeric, ginger

When you mix spices with epoxy resin, you get a very unusual dense texture. This also produces bubbles, which appear again and again even when using a burner, but in addition to color, we get the effect of sand. Paprika gave a bright red color, ginger - golden, turmeric - red-orange, more red, which also really surprised me.

Ballpoint pen ink and epoxy

Having seen enough videos on the Internet where blue ink turns red, we wanted to repeat it. But a miracle did not happen, either we took an old pen and the ink was already a bit dry, or not all inks give such an effect. In general, our ink did not dissolve completely, it gave a pleasant light purple color, the epoxy remained transparent, despite the color.

Ink in epoxy resin

Acrylic paint and alcohol ink

Quite banal dyes for resin. Acrylic gave a dense color, ink - transparent. The colors were quite predictable, so we think there is no point in painting.

Alcohol ink with epoxy resin

Conclusion

From what we tried, we will definitely use activated carbon, perhaps spices, potassium permanganate and different types of paints (you can paint not only acrylic, but also, for example, oil). We probably don’t recommend using iodine, brilliant green and fucorcin, iodine and brilliant green because of the color, fucorcin because of the smell, it’s too heavy.

But still, it is more correct and better to buy special dyes for epoxy resin, the choice on the market is huge and you don’t risk it, after all, epoxy resin is a complex chemical element and it should be mixed with special dyes.