You want to know if you can dry epoxy with a hair dryer. You have heard from your friends and family that it would be a waste of time, but you are not convinced. You are determined to do whatever it takes in order to find the answer for yourself.
You have tried doing research online and you have visited sites such as Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers, Google, and Bing, but still nothing seems to be working.
It is important for you to know if drying epoxy with a hair dryer will work or not because it is something that could save your life in the future when it comes down the road.
Can you dry epoxy with a hair dryer?
While you can’t use a hairdryer to cure epoxy, you can use it to speed up the curing process by helping the resin and hardener mix more evenly and removing bubbles.
You’ll want to keep your hair dryer at a low or medium heat setting and hold it far enough away from the surface that you don’t inadvertently damage it with direct heat. It’s best to work on small sections at a time—no larger than 12 inches across.
Table of Contents
Can you use a hair dryer to dry epoxy?
No! You cannot speed up the curing process of epoxy resin by applying heat. At best, nothing will happen. At worst, you might cause the epoxy to bubble and shrink or discolor. Don’t waste your time!
Is there any way to make epoxy dry faster?
Epoxy takes a long time to dry, but there are ways to speed up the process! The following methods can be used to make epoxy dry faster:
- Use a hair dryer or heat gun to blow hot air over your project.
- Place your piece under a heat lamp. Do not use a light bulb as the glass could become heated and shatter, causing injury.
- Heat in a toaster oven (not microwave) at low temperatures (200-250F). Be careful not to exceed 250F. Higher temperatures may cause discoloration or yellowing of the finish. Do not place flammable objects inside your oven!
- Place your piece under UV lighting for accelerated curing time. Keep it out of direct sunlight as this will cause embrittlement and brittleness due to photo degradation over time.
What temperature does epoxy need to cure?
The minimum temperature at which epoxy will cure is 65 degrees Fahrenheit. For the quickest cure time, it’s best to keep the epoxy between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The warmer the epoxy, the faster it will set up (and vice versa).
If you find yourself in a situation where you need your project completed quickly, there are a few tricks you can use to heat up your resin so that it cures faster.
First, try using warm water or pouring it on a warm surface to raise the temperature of your resin. You can also use an electric heating pad or even a hairdryer to gently apply heat and speed up curing time.
Just be sure not to apply too much heat – if your resin starts smoking, that means that it has gotten too hot!
Why is my resin not curing?
- It’s too cold. Epoxy cures by means of a chemical reaction, and it needs to reach certain temperatures in order to initiate the reaction, but it can’t get too hot either (see below). If you live in a colder climate like I do here in Canada, your house may not be warm enough for the epoxy to cure properly. To avoid this problem, keep your epoxy away from drafts and cold spots (near windows or doors) and store your project somewhere warm. A temperature-controlled room is ideal.
- It’s too hot. On the other side of things, high temperatures can prevent your epoxy from curing as well. The hotter it gets, the faster the chemical reaction will occur which is why resin hardens so quickly on really hot days! However, if it’s so hot that no air is moving and there are no cool spots in the room where some resin can be removed and set aside to slow down the reaction…well then you could end up with something that never cures at all! To avoid this issue make sure that air movement isn’t blocked by anything such as fans or open windows and doors; even just moving around yourself will help create some airflow which can help prevent overheating from happening in confined spaces like closets or rooms without ventilation systems installed yet.
How long does it take 2 part epoxy to dry?
When it comes to epoxy curing time, the temperature, humidity, and the ratio of epoxy to hardener used are all factors in determining how long it will take 2 part epoxy to dry.
The curing time is generally 24 to 72 hours at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. However, a 100% solids epoxy can take up to a week or more to cure at room temperature (70°F).
The reason that air temperature affects the curing time of 2-part epoxies is that their curing process is exothermic (heat-producing).
Air temperature also affects the rate of evaporation of any water present in the mix. When water evaporates from an epoxy mixture it increases its viscosity and slows down its cure rate.
Will epoxy resin harden without hardener?
It’s important to remember that resin will not cure without hardener. Now, if you didn’t add enough hardener to the resin, it may cure slowly or not at all. If you don’t add any hardener, it will never cure.
If your uncured epoxy gets too hot while curing, it may become gummy or runny. This can happen from exposure to direct sunlight or from being placed on a hot surface such as a car dashboard during the summer months.
The best way to avoid this is to store and work with epoxy in a cool place, away from direct sunlight and heat sources such as radiators, space heaters and stoves.
Can you cure epoxy in the oven?
Curing epoxy resin in the oven is definitely possible, but double-check the instructions on your epoxy first. Some resins can’t be cured in an oven, so make sure yours is one of the ones that can. You also want to make sure you keep it below 200 degrees F. This will help ensure that your resin won’t melt or bubble as it cures. Some epoxies are ok with curing in temperatures up to 250 degrees F, but again, always check first!
Can you use a hair dryer instead of a heat gun?
Nope! The benefits of using a heat gun over a hair dryer are the same as those mentioned above for curing epoxy with a heat gun instead of an oven: It heats slowly and evenly across your project and doesn’t have any “cool spots” like those near an exhaust fan or at the edges of your project where air flows out from under it when curing on top of a countertop or table.
Heat guns also have adjustable temperature settings which allow them to heat up better than hair dryers do; hairdryers just blow hot air at whatever temperature they happen to be set for (usually very high) without being able to adjust how hot that air gets based on what’s right next door (e.g., if there’s another piece of wood nearby).
Conclusion
To sum it up, you should use a paintbrush with epoxy because that is what it was designed for. A hair dryer will not work as well as a paintbrush, so don’t use one.
It’s okay to dry some of the moisture out first with a hairdryer, but let most of the moisture evaporate before you begin putting on layers of epoxy.
If you want to keep your project from getting ruined, follow these instructions. Your board will look great when it’s finished!
