You stand a better chance of avoiding the yellowing problem that is associated with epoxy resins when you get the right one. For starters, this means you need to get one that is best suited for what you are using it for. Also, keeping the epoxy resin-coated product far from the reach of UV rays can help as well. More information on how to fix yellowed epoxy and a few other related subjects will be discussed here.
What Causes Epoxy Resin to Turn Yellow?
UV rays are one of the primary reasons why epoxy resin turns from its initial color to yellow. The worst form of yellow would be the brownish sort and this suggests that UV rays have had a profound effect on the resin.
UV ray has this effect because of the ability to make the polymers in the resin give in to degradation. When this happens, discoloration of the resin would eventually happen.
Other than discoloration, there are other adverse effects that exposure to UV rays can cause to epoxy resin. They include chalking, delamination, gloss loss, and cracking.
But even if you keep your epoxy resin out of the reach of UV rays, the discoloration is still bound to happen. You can choose to see this as the product giving in to expiration. However, it would take quite a while before this happens as long as you keep it out of the reach of UV rays.
How Do You Fix Yellowed Epoxy?
Some of the things that you can do to fix yellowed epoxy resin include:
Getting Top-Quality Epoxy Resin
You should be very deliberate about getting the right kind of epoxy resin product. The right one should not only have a UV stabilizer alone. In addition to this, it should also have a HAL stabilizer.
The latter is especially important in preventing and resisting the chances of the resin turning yellow earlier than expected. Using top-quality epoxy resin is especially important for those that use this resin for the making and preservation of artwork.
Keep Epoxy Resin Away from Sunlight
The rays of sunlight are known as UV rays. This ray will cause the resin to give in to discoloration quickly. So, keeping your epoxy resin away from sunlight will help a lot in avoiding this discoloration problem.
Use Yellowed Epoxy Resin Only for Specific Tasks
That an epoxy resin product has turned yellow does not mean that it has become useless. The expected chemical reactions that happen with epoxy resins in the right state will still happen with a discolored one. So, it can still be used.
However, you should only use it for a select few tasks. For example, it is not a good idea for people coating artwork to use it. This is especially if the artwork has white parts.
