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ELEGOO Water Washable Resin

ELEGOO Water Washable Resin

By ELEGOO · 3D Printing Accessories & Scanners · 3D Printing · More from ELEGOO

  • 1 kg/bottle
  • 2 kg/bottle
  • Hardness 84 D
  • Viscosity 150-200 mPa·s (25°C)
  • Liquid density 1.100 g/cm³

Price not listed

New
Used, refurbished, open-box

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Problems, parts and running costs

Summary

The original ELEGOO water-washable resin is a 405 nm UV photopolymer for LCD/MSLA/DLP printers, normally sold in 1 kg bottles, that cleans uncured residue with water instead of isopropyl alcohol. Check your printer, version and waste handling before buying: it is not the V2.0, 8K or ABS-Like formulas, and contaminated wash water must not go down household drains.

Strengths

  • Water cleanup instead of bulk IPA for the routine initial wash, avoiding a large solvent purchase, though the resulting contaminated water becomes managed waste.
  • Fine display detail: the maker advertises smooth detail and low shrinkage for LCD/DLP machines, and the independent reviewer recorded good-looking initial surfaces before later swelling or cracking on some pieces.
  • Some owners report good long-term results: a 2022 thread includes a user calling ELEGOO water-washable their go-to resin, and 2024 users report successful two-year-old display pieces, though not all identify the exact formula.
  • Low entry price in the official U.S. store at $24.99 per 1 kg, with no IPA purchase required for the routine initial wash. A single 1 kg purchase lands near $39.99 before tax once the $15 shipping fee applies.
  • Multiple basic and translucent color options, though optical density and curing depth differ by shade.

Weaknesses

  • Post-cure cracking and swelling of hollow pieces: in a June 2020 test, a 1.5 mm-wall hollow model started swelling within hours and cracked by the next day, a second model developed visible cracks, and a 2 mm-wall model did not crack in that limited run but showed other print defects. ELEGOO support reportedly suggested 4 mm walls and better interior washing, drying and curing. The test used a 500 mL sample and must not be generalized as proof all 2026 V1 bottles fail.
  • Owner cracking and brittle appendages: an October 2020 owner reported thin character parts cracking over days, and a December 2024 Mars 2 owner reported splitting on a larger hollow print, with advice to enlarge drain and vent holes and wash and cure cavities. These are individual incidents with confounding settings, geometry and curing time.
  • Brittleness under load: an October 2024 resinprinting discussion rated ELEGOO’s older water-washable weaker than Anycubic and SUNLU ABS-like water-wash offerings in the poster’s own tests; a 2020 owner described high stiffness with poor flexibility in movable joints. No controlled comparison of a 2026 current bottle was supplied.
  • Print sensitivity: historic tests showed artifacts or unsupported narrow features, a visibly successful build can still fail later if liquid remains trapped, and uncured resin sealed in a hollow print can continue reacting or exert pressure and crack a part. Provide effective drain and air vent holes and thoroughly rinse, dry and cure internally; printing solid is sometimes a simpler risk reduction. No exact cross-machine print-success percentage is justified.
  • Odor and chemical hazard: the maker promotes a cleaner process while the 2020 tester found its smell worse than other samples, and neither impression provides a laboratory VOC value. Direct contact can irritate and sensitize skin and damage eyes, and aqueous waste carries uncured resin that must not be discharged to a sink, gutter or storm drain.
  • No reports found for a valid large-sample ELEGOO V1 2026 crack frequency, brittleness rate, bottle leakage rate or shelf-life failure rate.

Verified specifications

Printer compatibilityELEGOO lists Mars, Saturn and Jupiter LCD printers and claims general LCD/MSLA/DLP compatibility; the retail listing identifies a 405 nm exposure system. This is resin for resin printers, not 1.75 mm FDM filament.
Bottle sizes1 kg, 2 kg and bulk packs (5 kg, 10 kg); several pigments including ceramic grey, black, white, beige, mint, clear and tinted variants.
SDSELEGOO’s Water Washable Photopolymer Resin SDS, prepared April 2022 with an SGS service cover, reports H318 serious eye damage, H315 skin irritation, H317 allergic skin reaction and H412 long-lasting aquatic harm under EU CLP. The cover states it is prepared from supplier-provided composition, not an independent SGS test.
Shelf life and storagethe 2020 sample packaging claimed one-year shelf life; the 2022 SDS says keep the container tightly sealed. The current 1 kg U.S. retail page does not provide a batch-specific guaranteed expiration or temperature limit.
No "non-toxic" exemptionwater washability describes the cleaning solvent, not safe skin contact, food safety, aquatic disposal, children’s toy certification, electrical insulation or structural performance.
Full research notes and sources

Day-to-day annoyances

  • “Water-washable” is not “finished at printer exit.” A dedicated dirty-water container, a cleaner-water rinse, thorough drying and interior exposure may be required; water does not cure or neutralize dissolved resin.
  • Wastewater management can be more awkward than IPA: collect contaminated water in labeled containers, allow resin solids to be isolated and cured by safe permitted methods, and consult local hazardous-waste rules. UV exposure of visibly clean water does not prove dissolved acrylates were eliminated.
  • Large hollow busts and statues need careful opening placement, wash access and interior cure; historic 1.5-2 mm wall prints had trouble, while the quoted support suggestion of 4 mm walls reduces the savings from hollowing. That guidance is context-specific, not an engineered minimum.
  • Fragile thin weapons, antennas and snap features can break during support removal or handling; a stronger alternative formula may be a better material even if cleanup uses IPA.
  • Price surprise on one bottle: the official $15 shipping fee for carts under $50 raises a single $24.99 purchase to $39.99 before tax. Two bottles at $49.98 before shipping fall $0.02 short of $50, so the projected cart total is $64.98 before tax absent promotion. Three bottles at $74.97 should clear the free-shipping threshold on ordinary qualifying orders.
  • Different generations sit on the same shelf: original, V2.0, 8K and water-washable ABS-like listings may be adjacent with different exposure and strength claims. Do not buy an 8K bottle expecting identical 2020 label specs.

U.S.

  • ELEGOO official U.S., original water-washable V1: $24.99 per 1 kg; selector also advertises $79.99 for 5 kg ($16.00 per kg, rounding) and $159.99 for 10 kg ($16.00 per kg). Bottle color and warehouse stock may affect the cart.
  • Under the official $15 shipping policy for orders under $50, 1 kg lands near $39.99 before tax if purchased alone; 5 kg should qualify for free mainland U.S. standard shipping.
  • Global ELEGOO site shows $29.99 for 1 kg original in a separate region interface; do not use it over the live U.S. direct $24.99.
  • Walmart Business, 1 kg ceramic grey original ELEGOO 405 nm item, displayed $18.99 but was out of stock with delivery and pickup unavailable on the checked snapshot. This is an unavailable listing, not a confirmed $18.99 buy.
  • ELEGOO V2.0 (distinct improved product): manufacturer U.S. $22.99 per 1 kg. At the lower direct sticker price, compare V2.0 rather than automatically paying $24.99 for V1.
  • ELEGOO Standard Resin V2.0 (not water-washable) is $19.99 per 1 kg in the official U.S. store; solvent and wastewater handling differ.
  • Buyer threshold for original V1: $20 to $22 per kg before shipping with an authentic fresh lot and reasonable delivered cost would be a good promotional target, though that is not a current in-stock observation. At $24 to $25 nominal it is defensible if water washing is needed and the order already qualifies for free delivery. At $30 or more delivered for a single kg, stronger ABS-like ELEGOO V3.0 at $17.99 or water-wash Anycubic 2.0 at $25.99 may offer a clearer use-case match. These are comparisons, not statistically calculated historic prices.
  • No verified year-long U.S. street-price average, third-party in-stock normal retail alternative with exact color and lot, or actual Walmart sold-price record: no reports found.

Parts and consumables

  • ELEGOO original water-washable resin, 1 kg: consumed by every printed part plus supports, failed prints and cleaning residue. Official price $24.99 per kg, with a 5 kg $79.99 multi-bottle bundle if selected and shippable. Replenish as consumed, mindful of bottle expiry; the historic review cited one-year shelf life but current bottle labels supersede it.
  • Dedicated water wash containers or basin and rinse water: ordinary clean water, not included with the bottle. Rinse-water volume depends on container and work; after use it becomes resin-contaminated and must be contained for appropriate local disposal. No valid universal cost per wash or liters per print was found.
  • Filter or funnel and light-proof bottle: used to return clean, filterable uncured resin to its original opaque container when appropriate; do not mix contaminated wash water back into the resin or pour particles onto build surfaces. Exact brand-specific ELEGOO funnel-filter price and mandatory replacement interval were not established.
  • FEP/PFA/nFEP release film and vat: printer-model parts, not included with any resin bottle. Replace a film after puncture, visible deep scratch or poor peel function, per the printer maker’s manual. Universal part number and price across Mars, Saturn and Jupiter models: no reports found.
  • UV post-curing station or compatible 405 nm cure method: separate tool and electricity expense; the maker does not include an automatic cure station with a 1 kg resin purchase. Cure duration depends on geometry, wavelength, lamp power and pigment. Do not claim the source’s 3-5 min works universally.
  • IPA: not required for the normal water-wash step of this formula; it is not guaranteed harmless or interchangeable with every UV wash station component. Avoid assuming water-based convenience eliminates the need for proper waste storage or ventilation.

Running costs

No subscription or proprietary app is needed to consume this resin. Material consumption, waste capture and post-cure effort dominate variable expense, and the printer, heating/UV station and ventilation have separate capital and electricity costs.

Material-only annual scenario at the listed $24.99 per kg, ignoring shipping, tax, parts and water disposal:

  • 1 kg per year: $24.99.
  • 5 kg per year: $124.95 if bought one kilogram at a time; $79.99 when the direct 5 kg bundle remains available ($15.998 per kg).
  • 10 kg per year: $249.90 in individual 1 kg units; $159.99 via the 10 kg bulk selector.

These are consumption scenarios, not measured typical home-user use rates. A 100 g printed object plus its supports would nominally use $2.50 at $24.99 per kg, excluding spill and failed-print waste; material cost is higher if extra supports and purge are needed, lower when bought at 5 kg pricing. Final resin consumption must be estimated from the sliced model’s mass and leftover usable liquid, not from the part’s external dimensions or the 1 kg bottle’s apparent volume.

UV station, ventilation and water-management operating costs: no reports found of independently measured U.S. annual costs specific to this resin. Charging for IPA every month would be misleading because the base workflow is water washing, yet assuming wastewater disposal always costs $0 is similarly unjustified.

Support and warranty

  • Official ELEGOO U.S. warranty table explicitly says “Filaments/Resin … No warranty.” The product banner advertising “Up To 1-Year Warranty” applies to qualifying printer categories and parts, not a guarantee that liquid resin retains toughness, chemical stability or print success for a full year.
  • U.S. returns: ELEGOO’s 14-day policy generally permits unopened or new returns with customer-paid outbound and return costs and a 5% restocking fee, open-box unused returns with a 15% restocking fee, and does not permit used non-defective items to return by change of mind. Defective or transit-damaged orders require support approval and evidence, with separate quality-related remedies. Verify whether an opened chemical bottle is eligible.
  • Shipping and delivery: official U.S. shipping for 48 contiguous states and DC, 3-7 business days after in-stock dispatch, $15 for carts under $50 and free at $50 and above; the site excludes direct resin shipping to Hawaii and several other regions. This is a shipping policy, not proof of current inventory for every pigment.
  • Representative support performance: national replacement-claim approval percentages, verified delivery damage rates, average response time, official batch recall statistics: no reports found.

Alternatives

  1. ELEGOO Water-Washable Resin V2.0 at $22.99 per 1 kg official U.S. in October 2026. Distinct resin formulation: recalibrate exposure and never blindly transfer the old 84 D and shrinkage numbers. Same resin-contaminated wash-water handling requirement. No independent matched controlled aging study proving V2 totally eliminates cracking was found.
  2. ELEGOO ABS-Like Resin V3.0 (alcohol-wash) at $17.99 per 1 kg official U.S. in October 2026. The brand markets greater toughness, impact resistance and structural performance; better for thin details under mechanical stress, parts handled roughly and brackets, if the user accepts its own post-processing liquid, ventilation and disposal needs. It is not water-washable, so the $7 difference in resin price does not include IPA or appropriate solvent cost.
  3. Anycubic Water-Wash Resin 2.0 at $25.99 per 1 kg direct Anycubic U.S.-facing store in the checked selection. Another water-cleanable formulation; the maker markets crack resistance and more resilient finished parts. Better to trial when original ELEGOO has been too brittle but avoiding IPA remains important. Do not claim comparative superior toughness without independently tested, color and geometry matched samples, and check shipping and returns.

Which model this is

This page covers the original ELEGOO Water-Washable Photopolymer Resin, the ordinary water-washable formula, not the separately sold Water-Washable V2.0, 8K Water-Washable, 8K Water-Washable ABS-Like, or alcohol-wash ABS-Like V3.0. Different versions can have different mechanical and exposure properties. The official U.S. store lists original V1 at $24.99 per 1 kg, with 2 kg and bulk packs also offered, in several pigments. Match the exact version, color and lot on the bottle label before relying on any published spec.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Parts and stores:

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