www.Eco-nomicResins.com 

 

• How to remove epoxy resin? Use the best epoxy removal solvent.

•  How to clean resin? Specifically: How to clean Epoxy resin?

• How to remove epoxy resin from YOURSELF

• How to get epoxy off HANDS?

• How to get epoxy out of CLOTHING?

• How to get epoxy out of HAIR?

• How to clean epoxy from your WOODWORKING SHOP?

• How to clean SYRINGES used for epoxy resin?

• How to clean resin TOOLS?

• How to clean epoxy resin CUPS?

 

Ok, you’ve had your fun, and now it’s time to clean up epoxy, on yourself and in your woodworking shop.

You know this already, but the easiest way to “clean epoxy from your skin” is to avoid getting it on yourself in the first place!  Wear the nitrile rubber gloves and goggles recommended below! 

What follows is not just about, “How to remove epoxy resin most easily from yourself.” It’s truly important because the hardeners can be corrosive to skin and especially eyes. Repeated exposure of epoxy resins to your skin really can cause sensitization to the point of becoming allergic to epoxy resins. That is perhaps the MOST common problem from mishandling epoxy resins. IF and when you become allergic to epoxy resin, then - plain and simple - you won’t be able to work with epoxy anymore. PLEASE: Don’t assume you’ll be the exception. Take precautions first!  

 

  

But, OOPS! Epoxy resin got on you. Now what?

   

How to clean resin? How to get epoxy resin off hands? How to get epoxy out of hair? How to clean resin tools?

It’s actually…  EASY! Sometimes, questions asked by consumers are hard. Fortunately for everyone involved, the question of, “How to clean syringes used for epoxy resin?” and the like, is easy to both answer and do! Note that while “soap and water” are often recommended, epoxy is not soluble in water, so this is an extremely slow process. What you really need is a good epoxy solvent.

Epoxy Removal Solvent: Is Acetone a good epoxy solvent?

Acetone works well, but it’s not the best answer for, “What is a good epoxy removal solvent.” Not at all.   

 

1. Extremely Flammable: First of all, acetone is highly volatile (as is MEK), meaning it evaporates extremely fast. So what, you ask? Well, it’s also extremely flammable. So, the air around an open bottle of acetone (or MEK) will quickly become explosive. Any spark will set it off. (Both also have a strong smell.)
2. Acetone (and MEK) is expensive: $10-$20 per quart for example (Home Depot, Amazon), vs.$4-7/quart for 91% Isopropyl alcohol, our preferred epoxy removal solvent. In one gallon quantities and greater, 91% IPA even costs much less.
3. Acetone is also more toxic than our preferred epoxy solvent (91% Isopropyl alcohol): 

• Inhalation: Acetone can irritate the nose and throat. At high concentrations: can harm the nervous system. Symptoms may include headache, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and confusion. A severe exposure can cause unconsciousness.
• Skin Contact: Acetone may cause mild irritation. Can be absorbed through the skin. Our preferred epoxy removal solvent (91% IPA) is far less damaging to skin and is even used as a popular hand sanitizer in the Covid era.
• Eye Contact: EYE IRRITANT. Acetone causes moderate to severe eye irritation. Symptoms include sore, red eyes, and tearing. The vapor also irritates the eyes.

In summary, acetone is NOT a good epoxy removal solvent to clean up epoxy resin. 

91% IsoPropyl Alcohol Solvent (91% IPA): Best Epoxy Removal Solvent

The safest and best answer regarding, “How to clean resin,” or “How to clean syringes used for epoxy resin?” or “How to get epoxy resin off hands” and “How to get epoxy resin out of clothing” and the like is to use 91% Isopropyl alcohol. (The other 9% is water.)  

1. Less Expensive: You can buy 91% Isopropyl Alcohol at most drugstores, like CVS or Walgreens,  either online or in store. It’s also available at Amazon, Target and in Walmart. 91% isopropyl alcohol is what many hand disinfectants are made from. Hence, it must be fairly safe! 99% IPA also works but is harder to find, and more expensive. 70% IPA is less effective as it has too much water in it. 91% IPA is the best compromise between price/availability and performance as an epoxy removal solvent. One quart usually costs between $4-$7, with the best prices being from stores like Walgreens (vs. $10-$20/quart for Acetone).
2. While 91% IPA is also flammable it is less so than acetone. (Everything is relative – like family). 
   

Beware that while 91% IPA is less toxic than acetone, it is still toxic to drink. Make sure to store where children cannot access it. (Over 300 people a year die from IPA poisoning in the USA.) It’s an epoxy removal solvent. It's how to remove epoxy resin: It's NOT something to drink!

How to clean syringes used for epoxy resin?  Or, glassware, cups, plastic beakers, and the like, used with epoxy?

• While you clean resin cups etc., wear rubber gloves that are impervious to IPA and epoxy materials. We recommend nitrile rubber exam gloves, as sold on Amazon and in most hardware stores. It’s all too easy to get sticky epoxy resins all over yourself, and especially so when cleaning up! The 8 mil thick nitrile rubber gloves are preferrable to the 4-5 mil gloves, as they tear less and last much longer.
  
  
• You really don’t want to get the epoxy resin on your skin as many people can become sensitized to it over time (allergic). One should also wear goggles. Oh – and how do you remove uncured epoxy from the rubber gloves themselves?  Put a little epoxy removal solvent on a paper towel, and wipe them off. Then you can make these reusable gloves last quite a while (especially if you buy the 8 mil gloves). Good to go for next time!

 

• Get a polyethylene or polypropylene squeeze bottle and two polyethylene or glass cups, also widely available. Even used Cool-whip containers, and the like work fine! Put a little of the clean 91% IPA in the “clean” epoxy solvent cup, pull it up into the syringe several times, squirting it back out into another cup: that's your waste epoxy solvent cup.

    

• With repeated rinsing in clean epoxy solvent (91% IPA), the uncured epoxy and hardener in the syringe or cup will dissolve into the epoxy removal solvent. To make sure all the uncured epoxy is removed, you can remove the plunger from the syringe. Then squirt a little epoxy solvent from the squeeze bottle into the shaft of the syringe, dumping it into the waste cup. Likewise, you can squirt off the plunger and barrel with a final 91% IPA rinse, and wipe it clean. Paper towels work well to clean up any uncured epoxy on the workbench. A paper towel wet with epoxy removal solvent will finish the job.  
  
  
• If the epoxy has started to gel or is very thick, you can use a nylon brush (or a paper towel soaked in epoxy removal solvent) that fits the barrel of the syringe to help clean it out. If the epoxy has set-up and glued the barrel to the syringe, you’ll need to throw it out.
  
  
• How to dispose of resin? You can just set the waste cup and any paper towels with epoxy removal solvent (91% IPA) on them outside for a day or so for the epoxy removal solvent to evaporate (where no children or animals have access to avoid accidental poisoning), and when dry (though sticky with resin), then simply dispose of the plastic and paper in the trash. If you have uncured liquid epoxy that you want to dispose of, the best way is to first add hardener (in the correct ratios) to solidify it. Then it can be put in the normal trash.

How to get epoxy out of clothing? How to get epoxy out of hair? How to get epoxy off skin? 

• If the epoxy resin is not yet fully cured, then you can slightly wet a paper towel with epoxy removal solvent (91% IPA), and wearing nitrile gloves, wipe it from your skin, hair, or clothing (taking the clothing off first.)
• In the end, the choice of epoxy solvent to use is up to you: 91% Isopropyl alcohol is strongly preferred, but Acetone or MEK will also work as an epoxy solvent. Maybe you simply have one on hand, and not the other.

That’s all there is to it! Unless your epoxy resin has fully cured…

How to clean CURED epoxy? Can you dissolve CURED epoxy?

• How to clean cured epoxy out of cups? 

• How to clean resin tools? 

• How to get epoxy out of clothing?

• If the epoxy resin has already fully hardened, then be aware that benign epoxy removal solvents will no longer remove it. That’s because cured epoxy resin has a 3-dimensional crosslinking network. For this reason, cured epoxy will not melt, either. Cured epoxy is also hard to remove because it adheres to most substrates extremely well. 
  
  
• We are NOT going to recommend hot concentrated sulfuric acid, as some sites do! That’s ridiculously dangerous for a workshop or small business.  Nor will we recommend using methylene chloride: it's a very aggressive solvent, often used to strip furniture coatings. However, it’s also a known carcinogen. No thank you!
  
  
• If fully cured, you may be able to pick off, or sand off some of the hard resin. 
  
  
• If cured epoxy resin is on a substrate like glass or metal that will not melt or burn, you can try heating it with a hot air gun. If it’s only on a small spot, then a woodburning tool or a soldering gun can be used to just heat that area. The cured epoxy will not melt, but it will soften when hot. When softened, and while wearing heat protective gloves, you can carefully try to scrape it off with a sharp edged instrument, like a knife or even a screwdriver.  
  
  
• If the above approaches do not work, you’ll either have to live with the hardened epoxy on clothing and the like, or throw it out. Likewise with hair though sometimes a shower and shampoo will help loosen it up. It’s worth a first try. But, if you still can’t pick off the cured resin, you’ll just have to cut out the hair with cured epoxy. Otherwise, it’s “the 100-year perm!”

• There's a very good reason to use polyethylene cups, syringes, and molds when working with epoxy resins.  Cured epoxy sticks very poorly to polyethylene (like HDPE)! Even when cured, it can usually be rubbed off HDPE with a towel, if any remains on it to begin with. This avoids the problem in the first place.

We hope you found this information useful.

We also think you’ll also find Clear Deep Pour PRO EPOXY and PRO HARDENER to be the lowest priced, best performing deep pour epoxy in the USA.

Deep Pour River Table Epoxy Resins: 

If you want to learn about the highest performance epoxy resin for thick-casting applications like River Tables, which also happens to be the lowest priced, check out Clear Deep-Pour PRO EPOXY and PRO HARDENER, at www.Eco-nomicResins.com. It sells for $59.99/gallon in 4 gallon kits:     This is 44% lower than the average delivered price of thick-casting epoxy resin sold in this quantity for River Tables ($107/gallon delivered), i.e. almost HALF the price!  Our mixed epoxy formulation is 100% reactive;  has the lowest viscosity for fastest bubble rise and degassing;  you can pour up to 4 inches at one time (vs. 0.5 to 3 inches for most others); has the best UV Absorber and HALS  combo; and is an ultra clear epoxy resin!  It’s an unbeatable combination of Best Performance and Lowest Price!

Don’t take our word for it:  SEE FOR YOURSELF!  CHECK FOR YOURSELF! DECIDE FOR YOURSELF!  Check out the “2023 Epoxy Resin Online Buyers Guide for Woodworkers.”

The Buyers Guide compares over 40 Deep Pour epoxy resin formulations, in one huge table, and over 50 Tabletop/Bar top/Art Resin/Doming Resin epoxy formulations in another table. It also lists the “Top Four” for each: Deep Pour Epoxy, and Tabletop Coating Epoxy.   All the information, including delivered prices, and key performance parameters comes straight from the formulators websites – along with the links to their webpages.  See for yourself.  Check for yourself.  Decide for yourself.  Simple!

And now - you also know the best way to clean it up!