Why is my epoxy fish-eyeing or pulling away, and how do I fix it?

If UltraClear Bar & Table Top Epoxy fish-eyes, beads up, puddles or pulls away from parts of a surface as you apply it, something on that surface is incompatible and the epoxy can't bond to it. The usual culprits are silicone, oil-based stain and unknown old finishes.

Silicone: epoxy does not bond to silicone caulk or grout, or to the silicone used in acrylic pour paintings. Remove it completely with a caulk remover, then clean with acetone, using a plastic scraper or stiff scrub pad on sticky or oily spots. Test a small amount of epoxy on the cleaned area; if it pulls away again, clean again. Re-caulk with latex acrylic caulk, which epoxy adheres to. For an acrylic pour painting, clean with denatured alcohol or acetone, sand lightly with 320 grit, wipe, let dry, then seal with a thin coat of Mod Podge (https://www.bestbartopepoxy.com/collections/tools-supplies/products/mod-podge) before pouring. Test first.

Oil-based stain: epoxy repels from oil-based stain. Seal it with a minimum of 3 coats of oil-based polyurethane and let it dry 24 hours before the seal coat. Any spot where the epoxy pools or pushes away didn't get enough poly.

Unknown or water-based finishes: epoxy is compatible with water-based paint, but if it fish-eyes anyway, clean off all the epoxy you poured (or sand to bare wood), apply 3 coats of oil-based polyurethane, let it dry at least 24 hours, then seal coat as normal.

Never pour the flood coat over spots that fish-eyed; they'll fish-eye again or delaminate.