Polished Rocks with High Gloss Resin Spray–No Rock Tumbler Needed!
Hi Resin Crafters, it’s Natalie from Doodlecraft sharing a quick resin craft. Polished rocks are shiny and smooth and can be made without expensive rock tumblers and supplies! I love collecting rocks and typically end up carrying pounds of rocks around on hikes and trips because I love them so much. My husband thinks I’m crazy! Shiny wet rocks always look so amazing until they dry and become dull. Polished rocks are the best way to keep that shine permanently!
Making polished rocks just takes a few supplies:
- Envirotex Resin Spray Sealer
- Smooth rocks (these were curated near the ocean, so they are round and smooth)
- Disposable work surface like a cardboard box

Place the dry rocks in a shallow cardboard box or on another disposable work surface and take them outdoors.
Then shake the High Gloss Spray can for about 30 seconds. Then hold the can about 6-8 inches away from the rocks and spray them with a gentle mist.
Let the resin spray dry and then repeat again. Then let the rocks dry and turn the rocks over. Spray the other side of the rocks and repeat a second coat.
Now the rocks are especially shiny and perfectly polished!

By using already smooth rocks, the shiny finish completes the polished look. Just the way the rocks look with waves splashing over them.
Look at this amazing before and after side by side, the rocks are uniquely bright and vivid! Display them in a pretty dish or adorning a small garden.
Awesome, right? Perfect resin craft for those pockets full of rocks after a trip to the beach or river!
Natalie Shaw is a Craft/DIY blogger at Doodlecraftblog.com. She loves sci-fi, fantasy and video game geekery and that comes out in many of her projects. She posts budget conscious DIY’s, crafts, jewelry, kid friendly projects, upcycled treasures and other fun on her blog 5 days a week.
Thanks! I have been wanting to do something like this. I’ll get some spray and go for it on our next road trip!
I have several small totes of rocks that I purchased as gems and crystals. So many did not even have a shine to them. I would not get rid of them. I also have a small collection of rocks that I have found just walking around my yard and the neighborhood and I think they would be very pretty all shiny. I do wire wrapping and I cannot wrap the ones that are not shiny with that finished look. Thanks so very much for this information. As soon as I can, I am going to get busy shining my stones and rocks up. Then I will be able to continue wire wrapping them. Great idea and thanks again-Loretta
these look beautiful, does the spray hold up if they rocks are outside in teh weather?
Just like anything in direct sun, there will be some wear over time. But yes, this has worked better for my rocks than any other finish. I keep my rocks outside year round and re-spray them in the late Spring, after all the snow melts. 🙂
I collect a lot of rocks from the beach, especially red and green ones. Sadly they are too large for my rock tumbler. This is a great idea for them. Now I can display them in my garden without having to wet thwm just to see their true color.
Do you use anything on the rocks or spray them completely dry? I was thinking of rubbing mineral oil on my rocks before spraying them with the epoxy you recommended and seeing if it increases the shine… Any thoughts? Beautiful rocks btw 😍
Hello! They need to be dry or the resin spray will not adhere.