Tips & How To’s

How to Mix Epoxy for Tumblers in Easy Steps

Tim Parry

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how to mix epoxy for tumblers

You've come to the right place if you want to learn how to mix epoxy for tumblers. Lovers of DIY projects enjoy the challenge of creating new things from scratch or beautifying existing things.

Applying the best epoxy for tumblers can be an easy task if you know how to mix the epoxy properly. Once you've applied your spray paint and glitter and plugged in your epoxy tumbler turner, you're ready to mix and apply the epoxy resin.

How to Mix and Apply Epoxy Resin to A DIY Glitter Tumbler

Step 1: Choose the Right Epoxy resin

Choose the best epoxy resin for your epoxy tumbler and ensure that it has the features you want. For example, you want to choose an epoxy resin that is food safe. This means that you won't get health issues after applying it to your stainless steel tumbler.

Although we recommend not applying the epoxy resin to the top rim of your stainless steel tumbler, it would still be wise to choose a food-safe epoxy resin. You can also check for FDA approval before you get started.

Another factor to consider is the ease of application. Once you've chosen the epoxy resin you want to use, it's time to set up the workstation.

Step 2: Set Up Your Work Station

It's very important that you choose a well-ventilated workspace for your epoxy resin tumbler project.

Another safety precaution is that you should wear protective gloves as you mix and apply your epoxy.

Step 3: Mix and Measure the Epoxy Resin

How to Mix Epoxy for Tumblers

For the purposes of this guide, we're going to be explaining the process using a 20 oz tumbler. Therefore, assuming you're using the same type of tumbler, you'll use 10 ml of epoxy resin to make your epoxy tumbler.

You'll need to pour 5 ml of A-side epoxy resin into a measuring cup and pour 5 ml of B-side resin into another measuring cup. You'll notice that the A-side epoxy resin is thicker than the B-side resin.

Take the measuring cup with the A-side resin and pour its contents into an empty mixing cup. Once you're satisfied that it's all there, slowly and carefully pour the 5 ml B-side epoxy resin into the A-side epoxy resin.

Use a clean popsicle stick to store these two parts together. Ensure that you stir slowly to avoid the formation of bubbles. You'll notice that in the beginning, the mixture will be cloudy. Continue stirring until it's clear.

You'll need to trust your intuition that the mixture is ready. Once you're sure it is, continue to the next step of the application.

Step 4: Apply the Epoxy Mixture

Turn on your tumbler spinner or cup spinner and let it spin very slowly. Then, slowly pour the epoxy resins from the mixing cup onto the tumbler. You can use a soft brush spread out the epoxy resin or your gloved hand.

Remember to have previously taped the top rim of your glitter tumbler before you start the application process. This applies whether you're using an insulated tumbler or a normal tumbler.

Continue pouring the epoxy resin and spreading it until you're satisfied. Once you're done, leave the cup turner to continue spinning for another 5-10 minutes.

Remember not to remove your gloves just yet because you'll need to remove the tape first. You want to remove the tape because you don't want the epoxy resin to dry over it and get it stuck.

You won't have to wait until the resin cures. You can leave the cup turner spinning for about 6-8 hours to allow the resin to completely cure and dry.

After this first time, making glitter tumblers complete with epoxy resin will be a walk in the park.

Step 5: Do Some Gentle Sanding

Once the 6-8 hours are over, you can remove the glitter tumbler from the cup turner and leave it to dry some more. Leaving it to continue drying is important because you might find that it's still sticky even after the resin cures.

Therefore, if you want your epoxy tumblers to lose their stickiness, you'll need to leave them to dry for a couple of hours. Once you're satisfied that the stickiness is gone, you can use 180-220 grit sandpaper to carefully sand down your glitter tumbler.

Don't worry if you see that our insulated tumbler is looking dull and scratched up. We'll fix that in a minute. But, first, sand the glitter tumbler until it's relatively smooth.

Use a cotton ball dipped in alcohol to wipe down your glitter tumbler once you're done sanding. Add a vinyl decal once you're done wiping your glitter tumbler.

Step 6: Add A Second Layer of Epoxy

The second layer on your epoxy tumbler is to seal the vinyl. Again, remember to tape the edges of the top and bottom and mix the two parts of vinyl as we did above.

You'll also need to leave the glitter tumblers to spin for 6-8 hours and let them dry after that. You'll be happy with your smooth and glittery tumbler once you're done.

The next time you're relaxing on your reading chair, you'll be sipping from your new epoxy resin tumbler.

Final Thoughts

We hope that this easy-to-follow guide on creating an epoxy tumbler was informational. Let us know what color of glitter, spray paint and spray adhesive you'll use to create your next epoxy tumbler.

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Tim Parry

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