How to Keep Your Pets Safe Around 3D Printing Resin

You’re here to ensure the safety of your pets, whether it’s your kitty, puppy, chinchilla, parrot, you name it. But if you don’t own a 3D printer yet, you can read this other post first. Think about…uhhh…Max. Or Luna. You know, the $4,000 pure-bred whose lineage can be traced back through the Industrial Revolution, to the grudge of some countries (if a whiff of processed meat is found in their meal, they refuse to eat). Or Queen Zorya Utrennyaya, First of its Name, Seer of Foreign Entities Inside the Walls, the cat you found in a dumpster one day, going back home (you may have caught her eating what you took for vomit, once).

Regardless, it’s no secret that 3D printing resins require careful handling and disposal. Whether it’s liquid resin in the bottle or an uncured print fresh off the build plate, these materials should always be treated with caution. Before setting up a resin printer, it’s worth taking some time to understand the basic safety procedures involved.

Of course, your pets won’t be reading safety guides anytime soon. They don’t know what resin is, why a bottle should stay closed, or why that freshly printed miniature isn’t a chew toy. That responsibility falls on us.

The good news is that keeping your pets safe around resin printing isn’t complicated. It mostly comes down to a few good habits and a consistent setup that prevents small risks from adding up over time. In this guide, we’ll walk through the most important steps to help you create a safer environment for every member of your household, four-legged ones included.

WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT SAFETY PROCEDURES WITH RESIN 3D PRINTING? CLICK HERE!

Keep Them Out of Harm’s Reach

The basic principles for keeping your pets safe around resin printing are the same as those that keep you safe. Avoid direct contact with uncured resin, especially around sensitive areas such as the eyes, mouth, and nose. Likewise, try to minimize exposure to resin fumes.

While the vapors produced by most hobby-grade resins are generally considered more of an irritant than an acute hazard in well-ventilated spaces, there’s no reason to expose your pet’s lungs to them unnecessarily.

The simplest solution is to keep pets away from your printing area altogether. For dogs, placing your equipment on a countertop may be enough. Cats, birds, and other naturally curious creatures tend to be a bit more ambitious, so a dedicated room, cabinet, or enclosed workspace is often the safer option.

Ventilation Matters

Ventilation is another key part of the equation. Ideally, your printing space should have regular air exchange throughout the day, such as a garage, workshop, or shed. Active ventilation is even better. Those small carbon filters found inside many printers can help reduce odors, but they are not a replacement for proper airflow and should not be relied upon as the primary safety measure. When possible, exhausting air outdoors remains the gold standard.

Setting up an active ventilation system usually means installing an inline fan, some ducting, and spending a little quality time questioning your life choices while trying to fit everything together. Once it’s done, however, it’s one of the most effective upgrades you can make for both yourself and your pets.

The same level of care should apply to every aspect of the printing process. Keep resin bottles, IPA containers, gloves (nitrile, not latex), respirators, and safety glasses stored securely when not in use. Isopropyl alcohol is particularly important: it is highly toxic if ingested, so never leave open containers unattended. A curious cat only needs one successful attempt at a forbidden sip to create a very expensive trip to the veterinarian.

Take a look at this video from Evansville Raptor Con and see more about it!

After it’s done, you can store and organize your models, because, after all, your collection also needs to be kept safe from your pet, if you know what I mean.

Streamline Your Post-processing

A safe workspace isn’t just about ventilation and storage. The way you move prints through washing and curing matters too. A well-organized post-processing workflow reduces spills, contamination, and unnecessary exposure to uncured resin, for both you and your pets.

The Ideal Process

A good post-processing workflow is one of the easiest ways to reduce accidents—for both you and your pets. The basic sequence is simple: remove the print, wash it, cure it, and only then consider it safe to handle or display. The goal is to move each piece through these steps efficiently while minimizing the amount of time uncured resin is exposed.

Waste Management

Waste management deserves the same attention. Gloves, paper towels, and other materials contaminated with uncured resin should be treated as hazardous until fully cured. Before disposal, expose them to UV light or direct sunlight until the resin hardens. Once discarded, keep waste in a sealed container so your dog doesn’t decide that a resin-soaked paper towel is today’s favorite chew toy.

The Cleanup

When a print is finished, move it from the build plate to the washing station, using a brush if needed to remove residual resin. Once cleaned, allow the alcohol to evaporate completely before placing the model in the curing station.

After curing, the remaining cleanup is straightforward: wipe down the build plate if necessary, store your tools, dispose of waste properly, and put away your PPE. A tidy workspace not only makes the next print easier, but it also reduces the chances of your pet discovering something they were never supposed to investigate.

Your Work Station

As for the actual, physical configuration of that area, much can be learned from other people. This video from I Like to Make Stuff shows how a station like the one mentioned (with extra storage) is built with scrap pieces of wood in an afternoon. Skip to 9:20 and you’ll see how the whole piece functions well. Better yet, without the need for him to even move when dealing with 3D prints.

One extra tip for pet parents: check the area under your printer frequently. If your FEP vat develops a tiny puncture, resin can leak out slowly and hide under the machine. You might not notice it, but a curious pet sniffing around the “new machine” definitely will. There are countless ways to organize a safe resin printing workspace, from a simple desk setup to a fully dedicated hobby room. The key is keeping the workflow contained, organized, and easy to clean.

Find Less Harmful, Yet Imperfect Materials – If You Can Afford It

Honestly, it rarely will be worth it. There is no truly 100% safe uncured 3D printed resin. You might hear people suggest dental resin as a “safer” alternative, but that’s a bit of a misunderstanding. Uncured dental resin is still toxic to handle and just as bad for your pets as the regular stuff.

The term “biocompatible” only applies after the part has been perfectly cured under very specific, controlled conditions. It doesn’t reduce the risk of workspace contamination. For the price, you’re better off spending that money on better ventilation and containment. The real safety comes from your discipline and setup, not the type of resin in the vat.

It’s Not That Bad. Really.

I still haven’t met a person who claims that 3D printing is for everyone. It’s not as simple as using a microwave, yet if you’re disciplined, it’s perfectly manageable. Keep in mind that resin sensitization is cumulative—your body (and your pet’s) keeps a tally of every time you’re sloppy with safety. Being consistent is the key.

Although not as perilous as driving a car, 3D printing with resin is something to be taken heed of. In practice, it demands some extra setting up and, say, 10 minutes of active work in post-processing per printing cycle.

Gloves, mask, and apron on, remove print from bed and dump it into the alcohol solution. While it soaks a bit, wash and scrub your bed and resin container. Focus on your recent print, some light scrubbing here, then into the UV chamber. Close the lids on everything when you’re done, and you’ve successfully kept the “toxic zones” closed off from the rest of the house.

Final Thoughts

Well, considering this regards your safety or the safety of your loved little ones, it’s not too much in exchange for some great miniatures. Over time, these precautions become a natural part of dealing with the 3D printer. And it’ll feel odd not to do them.

A thankless job, you might think. But seeing your senior pet bustling with vitality is enough gratification for the discipline applied over hundreds of prints. I am fortunate to have this here. She’s still my kitty. Always will be. I make sure to let her know that on a daily basis, which may or may not contribute to her bitterness.

Last, but not least, you can read this other post about some cool props you could be printing right now.

Loot Studios can help you tell your story through highly detailed minis, statues, terrains, busts, and props. Sign up for Loot and choose your favorite bundles from our library of more than 130 options. You can also learn more about our printing and painting process by checking our YouTube Channel.