UV resin vs epoxy
Updated: 23 October 2026
A bezel and a coaster mould cure in different ways. UV resin in this amazon.co.uk set is one liquid that stays workable until a UV lamp hits it. Craft epoxy is two parts you measure, mix, and leave for hours. Use UV resin when the piece is small, shallow, and open to light. Use epoxy when the piece is deeper than light can cure. The twelve UV bottles are on the [UV resin comparison](/hub/fillers-adhesives-and-sprays/uv-resin). They are not ranked again here. This is not a strength test. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
A bezel and a coaster mould cure in different ways. UV resin in this amazon.co.uk set is one liquid that stays workable until a UV lamp hits it. Craft epoxy is two parts you measure, mix, and leave for hours.
A bezel and a coaster mould cure in different ways. UV resin in this amazon.co.uk set is one liquid that stays workable until a UV lamp hits it. Craft epoxy is two parts you measure, mix, and leave for hours. Use UV resin when the piece is small, shallow, and open to light. Use epoxy when the piece is deeper than light can cure. The twelve UV bottles are on the UV resin comparison. They are not ranked again here. This is not a strength test. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Listed cure | Lamp | Water field | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  YIEHO YIEHO clear UV resin, 500 g | 1 minute | No | Not resistant | 9.2 | about £16.99 | View offer |
 Let's Resin Let's Resin UV resin, 500 g | 15 minutes | No | Water resistant | 8.2 | about £18.99 | View offer | |
| Best value |  Bsrezn Bsrezn UV resin, 400 g | Unreadable (3E+1) | No | Not resistant | 8.8 | about £13.99 | View offer |
On this page
Two different cures
UV resin does not get a hardener cup. The liquid a lamp reaches goes hard in minutes. Every product in the comparison is that one-part system. Two include a lamp: Bsrezn 6 W at £11.99 and Craft Resin 36 W at £16.99. A printed cure of 1 minute or 15 minutes is a thin-layer claim. Epoxy is mixed in a stated ratio, and the cure runs through the whole mass, including parts the light never sees. Craft Resin’s brand table puts craft epoxy at about 6 mm and UV resin in thin layers at about 1–3 minutes. Resin Studio puts epoxy on deeper work and UV resin on small shallow pieces. A UV lamp does not finish ordinary epoxy. Mouldd’s heat comment is a brand comment, not a lab result for this set.
When UV resin is the right tool
Choose UV resin for an open bezel, a dome on a stud, or a thin coat on polymer clay. Finish a small pair in an evening if the layers stay around 2–3 mm and you flip both faces into the light. A 6 W window is slow beyond a film. A 36 W lamp sits nearer Resin Studio’s 24–48 W hobby band, and neither kit states a BS 1363 plug. An opaque mould, a centimetre of resin, or a dense mica load leaves a wet centre. Almost every water line says not water resistant. Let’s Resin’s water-resistant field is not a wear test. Go Bespoke’s rule of thumb is that UV resin costs several times more per millilitre than epoxy. On 19 October 2026 this set was about £3–£4 per 100 g in the larger bottles and about £7.60–£9 per 100 g in the 100 g titles.
When epoxy is the right tool
Choose epoxy for a coaster, a tray, a deep mould, or any cast you cannot open to a lamp. An opaque silicone mould will not pass UV. You can seat an inclusion during the working window. Follow the ratio on the tin. A short mix, or a guessed 50:50, leaves epoxy soft, and a UV lamp does not repair it. You wait hours for a mass cure that does not care if the mould is clear. Camford points a thick moulded pendant the same way. This set has no strength test. YIEHO at £16.99 for 500 g can make sense as thin jewellery layers. It will not fill a coaster the light cannot cure. The how to use UV resin page is the wrong manual once you have mixed two parts.
Three mixes people get wrong
Pointing a UV lamp at two-part epoxy does not hurry it. Perles and Co’s UK tutorial says the lamp may yellow ordinary epoxy instead. Leave that mix for the time on the tin, and keep hardener out of a UV pour. A deep UV pour is the second mistake. YIEHO’s 1 minute field still means a thin clear layer, and Bsrezn’s 3E+1 field is not a usable time. Fill in layers around 2–3 mm, or move the job to epoxy. The third mistake is treating Adiwo’s £7.59 100 g title as the cheap option. The price per 100 g is high, and the model line is not a resin code. A thin UV coat can cap a bubble on epoxy that has already cured. It does not finish a wet deep pour.
Common questions
Which one do I use for a bezel?
UV resin, if the bezel is open and shallow enough to cure in layers of about 2–3 mm and you can light the back. You need a lamp. Epoxy is the better pour when the setting is deep, the colour is opaque, or you need time to seat a stone before anything goes hard. UV resin in this set is mostly listed as not water resistant, so a bezel you will soak is a separate problem neither star rating has settled. Tape, thin layers, and a flip are the UV sequence.
Which one do I use for a coaster or a deep mould?
Epoxy. A coaster is wider and deeper than a UV lamp cures in one go, and a deep mould often blocks the light. Craft Resin’s brand table associates craft epoxy with a few millimetres of mixed resin and UV resin with thin layers. Follow the epoxy ratio you bought. Do not fill the coaster with UV resin because a listing says one minute. You will get a skin, a soft middle, and a high spend per millilitre.
Do I mix UV resin?
No. The bottles in this comparison are one-part. You pour and cure with light. Mixing in a second liquid, including isopropyl alcohol, is not the cure. Epoxy is the system you measure and stir. Keep that habit on the epoxy tins only. If a UV bottle has a stick and cups in the box, they are for placing resin and inclusions, not for a two-part ratio.
Will my UV lamp cure epoxy?
No. Perles and Co’s UK note says a UV lamp does not speed ordinary two-part epoxy and may yellow it. Leave epoxy to its own clock. Use the lamp on UV resin layers you can see into. A 36 W lamp and a 6 W lamp are both the wrong tool for that epoxy mix. They differ from each other only on UV work, where coverage and watts change how fast a thin layer hardens.
Which one is cheaper for a large piece?
Epoxy. Go Bespoke’s rule of thumb is that UV resin costs several times more per millilitre. This set’s 100 g UV titles were about £7.60–£9 per 100 g on 19 October 2026, and the better large bottles about £3–£4 per 100 g. That rate is tolerable for charms and expensive for a tray that UV resin will not cure through anyway. A kit’s price includes a lamp, so do not divide it by resin mass and call it cheaper epoxy.
Can I use UV resin to coat a bubble in an epoxy piece?
Yes, as a thin clear coat after the epoxy has cured, if the lamp can reach that coat. It is a surface fix, not a second cure for a soft epoxy mix, and not a filler for a hole the depth of the mould. Wipe dust off first. If the epoxy is still wet, wait. Shining the UV lamp on wet epoxy to set the bubble is the mistake Perles and Co warns against, and it can yellow the surface without finishing the mix.
Is UV resin stronger, and what if the mould is opaque?
This set has no strength test. Brand comments on heat resistance are brand comments. Choose by cure path, not by a hardness bullet such as 80D. An opaque mould means epoxy, because UV light does not pass the wall. A clear shallow mould can still be UV resin if you demould or flip so every face is lit. If you cannot see the liquid, you cannot cure it with a lamp, however many minutes the listing prints.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts were taken from the listings on 19 October 2026.
- HSE, The GB CLP Regulation (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE, Consumers and workers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, General Product Safety Regulations 2005: Great Britain (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, Product safety advice for businesses (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Intertronics, UV curing and tack-free cures (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Resin Studio, epoxy resin or UV resin (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Craft Resin UK, UV resin (retrieved 19 October 2026)