 Hey everyone, Joanne from Art Resin here. Anyone who has worked with resin will tell you it is sticky. So I'm here today with our top tips for keeping your work surface, your tools, and yourself clean while working with resin. Let's get started. So everyone's heard the expression, it's all in the prep work. And the same is true when it comes to working with resin. So the first thing you're gonna wanna do is to wear an apron or old clothes to protect your clothes from resin drips. And that goes for your shoes as well. I can't tell you how many drips I've had on socks and shoes over the years. And the next thing you're gonna wanna do is to make sure you're wearing gloves anytime you're handling the resin bottles, you're pouring or you're cleaning up to prevent your hands from a sticky mess and from possible skin irritation as well. And the last thing is if you've got long hair like me, make sure you throw it up in a ponytail to make sure you keep your hair out of your resin and resin out of your hair. And that's what you need to get started. The next thing you wanna do is to protect your work surface from any resin drips or spills. So resin doesn't stick to plastic so a silicone mat works really well, but you can also use parchment paper and it works really nicely for small projects. We also like to use a shower curtain because it's inexpensive and it's nice and thick and sturdy and it can be reused again and again. Now, if you do a lot of resning like we do, you might wanna invest in one of these. A big old roll of plastic and this will last you for ages. And don't forget, keep a roll of paper towel and a spray bottle of alcohol close by in case of any accidents. From stir sticks to spreaders to measuring cups, plastic tools make clean up a breeze when you're working with epoxy resin and who doesn't love an easy clean up? Now you've got two choices when it comes to cleaning off your plastic tools. The first is to use paper towels to remove as much resin as you can and then spritz with denatured alcohol to remove any remaining traces of resin. Repeat these steps as often as necessary. When there's no more residue left, wash your tools in hot soapy water and allow to dry thoroughly before using them again. Or you can layer wet tools on a plastic surface overnight and allow the resin to cure. The next day the resin will peel right off. Now be aware that resin doesn't pull off of all types of plastic equally. It pulls off much easier from this bendable polypropylene type of plastic as opposed to this brittle acrylic type of plastic. The kind that would probably crack if you dropped it. Here, let me show you. So I've got a measuring cup here. This is polypropylene with some resin from yesterday and I'm just gonna show you how easily this pulls out. It's nice when it comes out in one pull which happens sometimes. Yeah, there you go. This is absolutely clean inside and I can use this right away. Okay, so here's the other one. This is this acrylic type of plastic. So it still peels off. It's a little bit harder than the other one and it's still all stuck inside. I don't know if you can see how shiny it is. It broke apart and there's a really thin film here and you really have to get a sharp tool and kind of dig it out. So if you wanna keep life easy, I'd really suggest using this softer bendable polypropylene type plastic for your measuring cups. Now the best way to keep your hands clean is to wear your gloves anytime you're handling resin. If you do accidentally get some on your skin though, you're gonna wanna remove it immediately. An exfoliant hand cleaner from the hardware store works really nicely but in a pinch, you can make a scrub using poppy seeds or salt and some liquid soap to remove the resin. Then rinse your hands well with hot water. And remember, never use alcohol or acetone or even vinegar to remove resin from your hands. It can break down the resin which allows your skin to absorb it and we don't want that. Now let's talk about how to clean up resin drips on the back of your piece. Now the best way to avoid them is to tape off your piece before you resin with a good quality painter's tape. As gravity pulls the resin down the sides, drips are gonna start to accumulate along the bottom of your piece. The tape is gonna catch these drips and once the resin's dried at the touch, you can pull the tape off and the drips right along with it. Now if you don't use tape and it's within the first 24 hours, you'll be able to flick them off with a utility knife. If it's after 24 hours, you can use a heat gun to soften the resin up and pop the drips off with a scraper. You can also use a sander or a dremel tool to get rid of drips. Just make sure you wear a mask so you don't breathe in the sanding residue. Now from time to time accidents happen and you might find yourself dealing with a resin spill. Now it's best to clean it up while it's still wet and before it cures. It's so much easier that way. You can use sand or even cat litter for really large spills, scraping up as much as you can and then cleaning up any remaining residue with acetone or alcohol spray. Now if you're dealing with a cured resin spill, you can try the heat gun and razor method and try and scrape it up and if you've got some really stubborn spots, you can try soaking it in acetone or alcohol but just be aware that that might damage whatever surface the resin is stuck to. So you've resin your piece and you've cleaned up and now you might find yourself with a little bit of leftover resin and hardener that you don't have any use for. But what do you do with it? Well first of all, don't pour it down the drain. Otherwise you're gonna find that you have to call your plumber. In fact, don't dispose of it in the liquid state at all. The best thing to do is to let the resin and the hardener cure together to form a solid and then you can just toss it out in the trash. Another option is to drain your resin and hardener into newer bottles. So you can either stack the bottles one on top of each other or if you feel more comfortable, you can use a funnel. Either way, once the bottles are drained and they're empty, you can put them straight into the recycling. But the fun doesn't have to stop there. We've got lots of tips on our website on how to use up leftover resin. So remember, anytime you're working with epoxy resin, it's easy to keep your tools clean, your work surface clean and yourself clean with a few easy steps. We hope you've enjoyed this video. Don't forget to hit subscribe and if you have any questions or any tips you'd like to share, please leave them in the comments below. We'll see you next time.