So a recent discussion on yellow resin made me think of this & I checked back on it and was shocked to see how extremely this spilt resin had yellowed in only 1 months’ time being out in the UV exposure full time.. and in my opinion it has gotten quite brittle already too.
This spill happened on Friday, April 29, 2011. The resin overflowed off to the side of the newspaper put down to prevent this exact aesthetic disaster (we say “this is why we don’t have nice things” around here a lot – mostly after I do brilliant sloppy things like this!). ANYHOW -> Unreal how yellow it is already. I’m hoping it will become brittle enough soon to chip off after a rain storm like today. Resin over porous wood is the strongest bond known to man… lol! (No but short of cutting into the wood it’s not coming out just yet). Right now it gets full sunlight for over half the day.
Compare it too to the other widget castings made that same day with the same resin pour. Those little buggers are white as snow kept inside.
And off to the right is the base of a resin that’s 7 years old and has been out in the open inside a room. Indirect sunlight of varied degrees but primarily off to the darker sides of rooms/shelves. That’s the most yellowed artist resin casting I own (now). AND I’ve had older ones and they weren’t as brittle too so again, follow the wisdom of Douglas Adams here and DON’T PANIC!
I encourage you to zoom in and see my scratching, there’s also a crack there that recently formed, I presume because the wood has bounce when we step on the step & the resin doesn’t. It’s a superficial crack but I was able to flake off around it with my fingernail. So you tell me, that says more brittle in my mind – I certainly can’t scratch off any resin like that on the little widgets that were inside. Bear in mind of course this is STRONG withering sunlight BUT it’s also been just less than a month. Well, ok, we've also had a couple of days that reached over 95degrees here & that porch gets HOT.. Still, my bet is on the big ball of blazing gases in the sky being powerful enough to be the #1 suspect in degrading that unprotected material.
Most sources say that the resin is every bit as strong despite the yellowing – I’m not willing to risk my resins yellow by storing the unpainted ones in sunny areas. HOWEVER, I would NOT personally reject buying/painting a resin myself just because it’s yellowed – I need to be SO CLEAR on that. Please do NOT mistake me there. I’d just clean it well first, quite abrasively (heavy on the ajax scrubbing) and would primer it asap. But my post here is to help spread the word to please care for your resins, primer them and keep them in places where they hopefully won't get yellowed or, more commonly an issue, heat up badly & warp over time. They're stronger than many plastics by far, and less biodegradable too. But few art materials are perfect. Resin's kryptonite is the sun. :)
Art out of sunlight is a great rule of thumb actually. Many kinds are UV and temperature/humidity resistant too. But well to make a broad sweeping generalization; That’s just ..well the nature of thoughtful art ownership mostly! :) There’s also the added step that hobby artist resin owners can take of getting their resins prepped and primered. The primer coating then helps to prevent UV damage. Painting of course is the icing on the cake! ;)
Well I guess my PSA on how to properly care for and love your resins is over and out here. :) If I ever manage to save these back steps from this disgrace by flaking that off (it's REALLY on there still mind you!), I'll be sure to share that! ;)
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