How to Polish Resin

This article was co-authored by Michelle Driscoll, MPH. Michelle Driscoll is the Owner of Mulberry Maids, which is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. With five years of experience, her business specializes in cleaning homes and small offices. She holds a Masters in Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health. Additionally, Mulberry Maids has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 95% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status.

This article has been viewed 272,439 times.

If you have a piece of jewelry or a table made of resin and it’s looking a little dull or scratchy, it may be time for you to give it a polish. Polishing resin is the best way to return your resin to the type of brilliant shine it had when it was first made. Fortunately, polishing resin is a pretty straightforward process that just involves cleaning, sanding, and applying a polishing compound to your resin piece.

Part 1 of 2:

Cleaning and Sanding Your Resin

• If you’re working with a small piece of resin and it isn’t terribly dirty, you can also simply dip it in the soapy water to clean it.

• Wet sanding your resin will give you a much smoother finish than dry sanding and will also minimize the amount of dust created by the sanding process.
• Wear a mask or respirator while you sand so you don’t inhale any airborne particles.
• Be sure to use wet or wet/dry sandpaper instead of ordinary sandpaper. Wet sandpaper is specifically designed to hold up when wet, whereas ordinary sandpaper or dry-only sandpaper won’t work as well when it’s wet.

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• Make sure all of the surfaces and divots are sanded before moving onto the next highest grit.
• If you want to achieve an even smoother finish, you can also sand your resin with 2000 grit sandpaper. However, in most instances, you don’t need to go this far in order to get your resin smooth enough to polish.

• You can do a simple visual scan to check for any leftover scratches. If you see any, go back and continue sanding your resin until they’re gone.
• Wet the resin with water to make it easier to see any scratches you missed.

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Part 2 of 2:

Applying the Polishing Compound

• For example, products like Turtle Wax Polishing Compound are also labelled as being effective at removing scratches from resin. You can buy this type of product at most home improvement stores.
• You can also use an automobile polishing compound.

Use a microfiber cloth to rub the compound into a small piece of resin. Use firm pressure while moving the cloth in circular motions to polish the resin piece. Pay particular attention to any visible scratches and apply extra pressure to these areas. [6] X Research source

• You can buy a buffing wheel or polishing tool at most home improvement stores and automobile parts stores.

• If there’s any haze or compound left on your resin piece after you’ve finished polishing it, use a separate, clean microfiber cloth to wipe it off.

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References

1. ↑https://www.signaturehardware.com/lc_how_to-clean-and-remove-scratches-from-resin
2. ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-T-xWZlJEY#t=34s
3. ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-T-xWZlJEY#t=01m15s
4. ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oVtmJhh_Ss#t=02m48s
5. ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oVtmJhh_Ss#t=03m15s
6. ↑https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Polishing-Clear-Resin-for-a-Transparent-Finish?language=en_US
7. ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-T-xWZlJEY#t=04m02s
8. ↑https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Polishing-Clear-Resin-for-a-Transparent-Finish?language=en_US

About This Article

Co-authored by:
Founder, Mulberry Maids

This article was co-authored by Michelle Driscoll, MPH. Michelle Driscoll is the Owner of Mulberry Maids, which is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. With five years of experience, her business specializes in cleaning homes and small offices. She holds a Masters in Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health. Additionally, Mulberry Maids has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. This article has been viewed 272,439 times.

178 votes – 95%
Co-authors: 6
Updated: June 28, 2023
Views: 272,439
Categories: Furniture Care

To polish resin, all you need is sandpaper and some polishing compound. First, clean your piece with soap and water to make sure there’s no debris or dirt on it. Then, wet sand your resin to remove any scratches by either wetting the object or a 400-grit piece of sandpaper and working over the entire surface 2 to 3 times. Repeat the sanding process with increasingly finer grit paper. For example, you might start with a 600-grit sandpaper, then move to an 800, 1000, and finally 1500-grit to get the smoothest finish possible. When you’re done sanding your resin, dry it off with a towel to remove any grit or dust and apply a polishing compound across its surface. Use a microfiber cloth to rub the compound into small pieces, or a buffing wheel or polishing tool for larger items. To learn how to get rid of any haze on your resin piece after you’ve finished polishing it, keep reading!