It's no wonder that epoxy resins are one of the essential compounds in every textile fiber manufacturing, adhesives, wood crafting, and DIY industry. If you've ever worked or seen a fiber manufacturing factory, wood-crafting shop, or DIY designing, then you probably saw epoxy there.

Epoxy is one of the essential synthetic chemical compounds used in many fields. It's not wrong to say that epoxy is one of the most selling synthetic chemical compounds in the world. But, we are pretty sure that most of our readers are not aware of what epoxy or epoxy resin is and its real purpose.

That's why in this article, we've written an ultimate guide on everything you need to know about epoxy resins and how they work!

So let’s get into it:

What is Epoxy Resin?

Epoxy resin is also known as polyepoxide, a form of adhesive used on a commercial scale and for personal uses. Epoxies have a specifically high level of resistance and offer extreme levels of flexural strength. They are thermoset plastics formed when two chemicals, epichlorohydrin (ECH) and bisphenol-A (BPA), react.

Due to their extreme reliability and high resistance to corrosion, weather, water, fungus, they are the most popular type of commercial adhesives used in high-scale projects; we'll talk about it later in the article. Epoxy resins are not just used for commercial purposes. Its altered version is also used in DIY projects for designing and adhesive purposes.

Hardness of Epoxy

Now here comes the following problem. Since it's essential to keep the epoxy resin in liquid form due to its adhesive and customizable properties. The problem comes with how you can make it harder. Because it's obvious, you can't use the epoxy if it's not hardened.

Using oxygen or air to make it more complex doesn't seem to be a reliable option. Because if we use air to make it harder, the epoxy needs to be stored in an air-tight bottle to keep it in liquid form, that isn't possible. If a small leak of air exists in that bottle, you will waste all the epoxy. What's more, this idea is, of course, not possible in large-scale projects and will increase the buying cost of epoxy resins as well.

That's why a hardener is used in epoxy resins to make the liquid epoxy harder. A hardener, also known as "B Part," is used to make the epoxy harder and make the epoxy adhesive. The B part, in chemical language, it's a curing agent of epoxy. When mixed with epoxy, it reacts with it and makes the epoxy harder.

Uses of Epoxy Resins

Epoxy resins have a variety of applications. It all depends on how you utilize it and for what purposes you use it. First of all, commercial industries cover a large share of epoxies. For example, adhesives, PVCs, boats, synthetic commercial fiber products, sanitary tiles, and many other sectors use epoxy or art resins in their products. Below we've mentioned the in-depth uses of epoxies in these industries:

Epoxy Resin Kits in PVCs

A vast majority of PVC manufacturers use epoxy resins in the production of their PVC material. PVC is a type of plastic used in producing many products where there's the need for plastic. First of all, in these PVCs, epoxy is used to make the PVC product look shiny and gives them a glossy look.

Due to the nature of PVC, they are naturally matte finish. That's why epoxy is used to make them glossy according to the needs. Also, epoxy is used as a protective layer in PVC products to keep them protected from scratches and dullness.

Epoxy Resin Kits in Wood

Talking about epoxy uses? How can we forget wood-crafting? In wood-crafting, epoxy is used for two purposes. First of all, they are used as an adhesive to lock the wood in the joints. Since epoxy is highly resistant to nature, it's perfect to be used as adhesive in wood-crafting to keep the woodwork in its place. Secondly, transparent epoxy resin kits are used to make the wood look shiny. Since the un-reactive nature of epoxy with wood makes it perfect to be used as a shining compound in wood-crafting.

Epoxy Resin Kits in Textile Fiber Industries

A large share of epoxy resins is used in textile fibers. Textile fibers such as carbon fiber and fiberglass require epoxies to make them harder. Because, in their natural form, they are like a wooden mesh. To make them rigid for production, manufacturers use epoxy resins. Without epoxy resins, it's complicated to make them harder, and any other method will not make them strong as epoxies do.

Epoxy Resin Kits Flooring industry

First of all, not too many people use epoxy resins in their marble or tile flooring. The main reason behind not using epoxy resins is the money it costs. We know, a typical epoxy resin is pretty cheap in the market. But, the epoxy resin used in flooring is an altered form of epoxy, known as "crystal epoxy resin."

There's no doubt, crystal epoxies are pretty expensive, and epoxying one marla floor will cost you at least 200$-400$. In the flooring industry, epoxies are used to make your flooring look shiny, glossy, and as a protector of your floor (tiles, marbles, and chips).

Epoxy Resins in DIY

Unbelievably, a large number of epoxy markets are covered by the DIY industry. Since the popularity of the DIY sector in social media, the DIY industry has grown massively. Of course, without epoxy resins, your DIY project is incomplete. Because epoxy resins are used in almost every type of DIY, especially in those projects that you learn from social media.

They are not just used as an adhesive; in fact, epoxy is most commonly used as a decorative compound in DIY projects. However, the epoxy resin used in DIY projects isn't typical epoxy that people use in commercial purposes.

Below is the explanation:

What Kind of Epoxy Resin is Used in DIYs?

In DIY projects, you can't use standard commercial epoxy resins that are usually in brown. First of all, that brown epoxy resin kit looks very bad and ugly in look. We're pretty sure you don't want to make your DIY project look ugly that looks like a very old oxidized plastic compound. That's why an altered form of epoxy resin is used, known as "crystal epoxy resin."

A crystal epoxy is made from the same base, but it's altered so that it looks crystal clear like water. The manufacturers of crystal epoxies use some kinds of solvents and reactants to replace those chemicals used to make commercial epoxy resins. In this way, you get crystal clear transparent epoxy resins (ideal for DIYs).

Uses of Crystal Epoxy Resin Kits in DIY

Crystal epoxies have a variety of uses in DIY projects. First of all, they are usually used as an adhesive in DIY projects. We know, you might think, why only crystal epoxy resin as an adhesive in DIYs? The main reason lies behind the nature of epoxies. First of all, they are highly resistant to oxidation, easy to mold in your desire shape, firm hold, non-conductor of heat and electricity. All these natures of epoxy make it perfect to be used in DIY projects.

Moreover, crystal epoxy is also used as a shinner and protector in DIY projects. Because crystal epoxy is made in a way that, after hitting it, you can get a shiny and shiny look from it. That's why most of the people who create DIY decorating projects usually use crystal epoxy and grind it from a buffer to get a polished and excellent decoration piece.