How to make a Cast Glow in the Dark Object with Resin

With the 2018 holiday season just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to make glow in the dark holiday ornaments. We found a cute metal reindeer that we used as a master to make our mold and then cast the mold with resin mixed with our glow in the dark powder to create our unique decorations. These ornaments can be used indoors or even outdoors and hold up well to extreme weather conditions.

Through a process of trial and error, we streamlined the process of making a mold and casting the object. We have divided the process into two segments; the first is how to make your mold and the second is how to mix and cast the glow in the dark resin object.

Everything you need to make your own molds and glow casts is available for sale here at Techno Glow.

Mixing and Work Time

Knead the two putties in your hand until they are completely blended and no swirls are visible. This MUST be completed in approximately 45 – 60 seconds. Quickly roll the putty into a ball making sure to press while rolling so that there are no creases. It is extremely important to eliminate all of the creases otherwise they will be visible in your mold and will transfer to your cast object marring the surface.

The putty is now ready to be applied to your master. Lay the master flat on your workspace. Beginning at the highest point of the master, lay the putty ball on the master and begin to roll it around. Rolling the putty in this way ensures that the putty is pressed into every detail of the master and that there are no air bubbles. You must work quickly as the open time of the putty is from 2 – 3 minutes from the moment that you begin mixing it together; this means that you now have 1 – 2 minutes to cover your master. Continue applying the putty by rolling it onto the master until you have achieved the correct depth of your mold. Please note that warming the material even just in your hands prior to mixing SHORTENS the work and mold times, as does a humid and warm environment. We would advise handling the material as little as possible prior to mixing it.

Curing Time

What You Will Need For Casting Your Mold

Resin or Epoxy – we used the Amazing White Casting resin, as the set-up time is only 10 minutes and we couldn’t wait to see the final result of our glow in the dark reindeer. Techno Glow now also offers FastCast that works exactly the same. As with the putty, please make sure that the product is stored and used out of the reach of children.

Any Mold – for this demonstartion we will use the reindeer mold we made in the previous step.

Glow Powder – all of our glow powders at Techno Glow works great in most resin epoxy products. Make sure you also check out our resin epoxy dyes and fluorescent uv powders for tinting resin epoxy.

Clean Work Surface – make sure that porous materials such as carpeting and clothing are protected from potential spills.

Optional Products – graduated measuring cups (no styrofoam); a scale; stir sticks; utility knife, self-healing cutting mat. We also recommend having a rotary tool on hand for cleaning the mold edges.

Mixing

Most resins comes in two parts, side “A” and side “B” that are mixed together in equal parts. There are some other resin products that get mixed at other ratios. We used white casting resin because the set-up time is only 10 minutes. However, resin and epoxies also comes in clear, which takes 24 hours to cure. We would highly recommend using the clear resin for a better and brighter glow.

The resin manufacturer recommends mixing at least ½ an ounce (14.174 grams) of each side to ensure that you have a proper mix ratio and that the resin will cure properly. For example, the preferred method of mixing is to pour side “A” into side “B”, which reduces the amount of air introduced into the mixture. If you were to mix only ¼ of an ounce of each side of the product, the residue left in the “A” cup would be enough to throw off the mix ratio and would affect the resin’s ability to cure. This level of precision is less critical in batches of resin over ½ an ounce.

For our glow-in-the-dark reindeer we estimated that we needed 10 grams (0.35 ounces) of side “A”, 10 grams of side “B”, and 5 grams of glow in the dark powder. As we used less than the manufacturer’s recommended amount of the casting resin, our first reindeer was extremely slow to cure. We would definitely recommend mixing a minimum of ½ an ounce of each side of the product in order to avoid a similar problem.

Measure equal amounts of side “A” and side “B” into separate cups. Add the glow in the dark powder into side “A” and stir it vigorously with a stir stick. Make sure that the cup is large enough so that you can stir without the materials spilling over the side of the cup.

Pouring

Once your have thoroughly mixed side “A” with your choice of glow in the dark powder, pour it gently and slowly into side “B”. Smooth sided, flat bottom cups are best for effective mixing. The mixed resin becomes hot and sticky to the touch so it is crucial that you allow enough space in the mixing cup to avoid spillage. DO NOT USE STYROFOAM!

After you have poured all three components together, stir vigorously for approximately 15 – 25 seconds. Make sure that the stir stick is in contact with the bottom of the cup as this reduces the amount of air that is introduced into the resin. It also helps to distribute settling glow powder.

Tilt your mold sideways as if you were pouring a beverage into a glass, and slowly pour the resin into the cavity of your mold. This will help prevent unwanted air bubbles from forming.

The resin is ready to be removed from the mold in 5 – 15 minutes depending on the mass/volume of the material that is being cast. Our final reindeer was ready in just 10 minutes!

After removing the cured cast from the mold, trim off any small excess pieces with a utility knife on a self-healing cutting mask. If you do not have a self healing cut matt, perhaps you have an old unused cutting board. For a completely smooth finish, touch up those areas with a small rotary tool.

Lessons Learned

Overall, we were delighted with how easy it was to use glow in the dark powder with resin epoxy to create our own simple but unique holiday ornament. We think our glow in the dark reindeer looks great hanging in the window! In fact we love him so much we will soon have an entire herd as we have been making them in different colors. The glow in the dark christmas tree is now hanging permanent in the guest bedroom. It almost looks like one of those tree shaped car fresheners. People just love it glowing all night long.

There are so many things that you can make with glow in the dark powder, and resins. Use your imagination and have fun creating your own ideas. We would love for you to post your pictures on instgram and tag us with #technoglow.