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I recently ordered a couple 3d printed tanks from a seller on Etsy, the parts arrived in good condition and all but a few of the supports already removed however most of the parts are slightly sticky if you run your finger over them and some have a clear oily substance on them. Is this something I need to worry about for the models and what's the best way to remove it? Should I wash them in isopropyl alcohol or would water and soap work fine?

Since it's 3dp I wouldn't think it's a releasing agent like from a mold and I know if a print isn't cured properly it can be sticky but would that leave a oily residue? Plus the seller has good reviews on Etsy so I'd like to think that they didn't send me models that aren't fully cured but I don't know enough about 3d printing to tell!

Any help would be appreciated

Point 1) wash your hands, that’s resin and it’s not good for you. 2) I’ve had it occasionally if there’s a little bit of uncured residue below the surface (inside a hollow model, for example). It takes some time for it to seep to the surface, so not immediately apparent. Recommend you give it a good wipe down with IPA and then wash in warm soapy water.

I’ve also found that heat helps cure any last subsurface residue, so if you can use hot water without things getting bendy or distorted, do that.

1) Wash hands!
2) Place model on a windowledge and let the sun blast it for a day.
3) Wash hands again.


I wouldn't bother washing the model with IPA, its not really going to help after its had a major cure. It's simply not fully cured and "slight" sticky feeling is a sign that its not done curing. Leave the sun to do its work blasting it with UV light.

4) Complain to the seller because they should NOT be sending out sticky models.


Sadly many people think that 5 mins in a curing chamber is enough and don't leave models for a day to fully degas and finish settling curing wise

Oh I've already washed my hands! I do have a little bit of experience working with resin for molding so once I found it I washed my hands and it's been gloves ever since just in case.

The seller I bought from was about a month behind his delivery schedule because apparently he had a ton of orders and told me 3 times "it'll go out tomorrow". So honestly it's not surprising to find out that these where slightly rushed, it is disappointing though as they've got good reviews.

If I have a UV lamp can I use that over sun baking? Would it speed up the process at all?

 Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:
Oh I've already washed my hands! I do have a little bit of experience working with resin for molding so once I found it I washed my hands and it's been gloves ever since just in case.

The seller I bought from was about a month behind his delivery schedule because apparently he had a ton of orders and told me 3 times "it'll go out tomorrow". So honestly it's not surprising to find out that these where slightly rushed, it is disappointing though as they've got good reviews.

If I have a UV lamp can I use that over sun baking? Would it speed up the process at all?

UV lamp won't hurt to try, but UV itself comes in different wavelengths so the resin might or might not work faster with the lamp over the sun (which throws it all out)

 Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:
If I have a UV lamp can I use that over sun baking? Would it speed up the process at all?

UV lamps would work but it won't necessarily speed up the process. Sun baking is set it and forget it.

You don't want to rush the process as you can't fully see the extent of its under-cured-ness. Better to let the sun do it's thing for a few hours.

Worst case scenario, the resin may not have been properly shaken which could result in portions of the print unable to fully cure.

Well I went with ya'lls suggestion and set the pieces in the sun. Unfortunately I don't think I get enough direct sunlight in my apartment because 2 days later they still weren't set. So I just put them under my UV light and it did the trick, thanks ya'll!