Description: PLA+ is the enhanced version of PLA. It is mostly the same, with a few slight differences. Both materials use roughly the same print settings, but PLA+ tends to have slightly better surface quality, color, or mechanical properties.

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PLA vs PLA+/Plus Filament: The Differences

Consists of: Unlike PLA, which is generally made from corn starch or sugar cane, PLA+ throws in some extra plastics, additives or pigments that help to improve on some of PLA’s weaknesses (think issues like moisture absorption or brittleness).

Special property: Unfortunately, there is no standard formulation for distinguishing between PLA and PLA+ and the differences vary between manufacturers. Take eSun’s PLA+, which, according to the manufacturer, is extracted and purified from corn grain, boasts high rigidity, transparency, and glossiness, and is twice as tough as standard PLA with no cracking problem. However, generally speaking, when you buy PLA+ filament over standard PLA, you can expect it to be stronger, less brittle, more durable, and better for layer adhesion.

PLA+ (Plus) Filament

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Description: Silk-like PLA is a supremely funky entry. Many filament makers offer it, but two that have built a reputation for colorful blends of it are Amolen and Polyalchemy, who make quite possibly the prettiest, smoothest and shiniest PLA filaments going.

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3D Printer Filament Storage: 8 Ways to Store Filament

Consists of: Polylactic acid

Special property: It looks fabulous, and is easy to print.

Silk-like PLA

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Description: This could also be classified as a color variation, but it’s got a little extra pizzazz and will make your prints gloriously shiny.

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Is PLA Food Safe? – The Truth

Consists of: Polylactic acid and glitter particles

Special property: It’s sparkly! It’s magical!

Glitter PLA Filament

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Description: LW-PLA, or lightweight PLA, is created by ColorFabb and designed so you can print lightweight, low-density PLA parts. The way it works is when the filament is heated to about 230 °C, it begins to foam and increase its volume by up to three times. This means you can print lightweight parts and use less filament. It’s great for applications like printing drones, props, and RC planes.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and some secret ingredients from ColorFabb

Special property: As you can guess from the name, LW-PLA is super lightweight, but it also is very efficient – prints require less of it because of a foaming technology – and it also offers great matte-looking surface quality.

ColorFabb LW-PLA

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Description: Not sure what your favorite color is? This material changes its color depending on its environment. There are two types of color-changing PLA filament. The first kind is heat sensitive, and the other one is UV sensitive.

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PLA Smoothing: Beginner's Guide to Smoothing 3D Prints

Consists of: Polylactic acid and light-sensitive particles

Special properties: As the name suggests, this filament changes color.

Color Changing PLA Filament

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Description: Wood PLA blends will make your prints look like they’re made of, well, wood. By sandpapering your prints down a bit, you’ll be able to give them nice, smooth surfaces with visible grain patterns from the wood fiber.

Consists of: Wood PLA is made by combining polylactic acid and fibers of different types of wood, including willow, bamboo, cork, cedar, and more.

Special property: Looks, smells, and feels like wood. Plus you can get it in almost any kind of wood imaginable.

Wood Filament

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Description: In the best case this material is stretchy and rubber-like. It’s best suited for objects that need to bend and stretch to fit into spaces or around other objects. Phone cases and kids’ toys are good examples. In the worst case, it’s merely less brittle than pure polylactic acid.

You have to read the product description carefully and do several test prints to know exactly what you’re getting. In most cases, the manufacturers don’t tell you what they have added to get it flexible. If you aren’t attached to PLA, you should also take a look at TPE/TPU based filament types instead.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and additives

Special property: It’s rubbery and bendable.

Flexible PLA Filament

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Description: Technically this is a color variation (because these filaments don’t need sunlight to reveal their colors, nor do they glow in the dark), but we’re making an exception because they’re so bright.

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The Perfect PLA Print & Bed Temperature

Consists of: Polylactic acid and fluorescent pigments

Special property: As the name suggests, this PLA filament’s special property is its fluorescence.

Fluorescent PLA Filament

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Description: The carbon fibers contained in this PLA filament make your printed object very rigid, which makes it an excellent choice for RC hobbyists and components that need to be extra strong. However, the carbon fibers, will, over time, wear out the inside of your nozzle causing unexpected costs. It is recommended you use a hardened steel nozzle.

Consists of: A blend of polylactic acid and carbon fibers

Special property: This filament is much more rigid than standard PLA.

Carbon Fiber PLA Filament

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Description: Do you like the characteristics of ABS, but want a biodegradable material? This PLA filament contains polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), which is environmentally friendly and malleable like ABS. Unlike ABS, however, this PLA filament does not have a warping problem.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoate

Special property: It’s a lot like ABS, but it’s biodegradable and doesn’t have warping problems.

PLA/PHA Filament

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Description: Do you need a mysterious object for Halloween? Then this is probably the right filament for you. It contains highly concentrated phosphorescent pigments to allow this material to charge during the daytime and glow magnificently in the dark. It also is known to be an abrasive material, so better check your 3D printer nozzle.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and phosphorescent pigments

Special property: That’s right: Your prints will glow in the dark!

Glow-In-The-Dark PLA Filament

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Description: If your 3D printing project requires some electrical wiring, rather than running wires through your build, you can just print them. This PLA filament is a mixture of polylactic acid and usually some form of carbon – mostly graphene. It’s no substitute to a regular PCB, though.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and carbon

Special property: This filament conducts electricity.

Conductive PLA Filament

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Description: The advantages of this PLA filament are high strength combined with low shrinkage and low warping. It’s aimed towards more industrial applications, but anyone can print with this material. Many companies sell their versions of it, for example, it’s marketed as In-PLA by Taulman. If you’re looking for a strong material that is not too tricky to print you should also consider PETG.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and an unknown polymer

Special property: It’s high strength and needs to be printed at high temperatures.

High Strength PLA Filament

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Description: This material can be exposed to much higher temperatures than pure PLA and it’s much tougher. That’s thanks to the addition of minerals which crystallizes when the material has been heat-treated after printing. Heat-treatment can be done in hot water or an oven. Please refer to the manufacturer for precise instructions.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and minerals

Special property: This filament is resistant to higher temperatures, but it’s not an easy material to 3D print with.

High Temperature PLA Filament

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Description: It’s permeable to light, but not transparent like a window pane. This feature is great for objects you would like to light up, for example, light shades. Another cool application would be to 3D print your favorite action figures and light them up on display with LED lights. Even if this PLA filament sometimes is marketed as clear or transparent, it is merely translucent.

Consists of: Polylactic acid

Special property: It’s translucent.

Transparent PLA Filament

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Description: These metal PLA blends look and feel a lot like real metal because they’re much much heavier than other 3D printed objects made of regular PLA. Just a heads up though: They contain fine metal powder (which can wear out your nozzle). They can be polished up to a reflective metallic shine with the use of some steel wool. Not included in this section are gold and silver blends because, since they don’t contain particles of these metals, they are merely color variations.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and metal particles, from stainless steel, aluminum, and copper to bronze and brass. You can also get magnetic iron PLA – just take good care of it, because it rusts!

Special property: Looks a lot like real metal, but you can print it with your standard FDM 3D printer and it’s much cheaper than printing real metal.

Description: This is an interesting 3D printing material. Polyester PLA filament, marketed as Floreon, is polylactic acid on steroids. It is up to four times stronger than pure PLA and is not susceptible to UV light either. All this is achieved while maintaining the typical characteristics like biodegradability and low-odor printing. If your focus is more on strength and flexibility and not biodegradability though, you should also take a look at PETG, nylon, and polycarbonate.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and polyester

Special property: It’s strong, UV resistant, and biodegradable.

Polyester PLA Filament

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Description: Have you ever imagined 3D printing with beer, algae, coffee, or even hemp? It’s possible. These filaments are manufactured using familiar byproducts to give them their distinctive smells or looks.

Consists of: Polylactic acid and byproducts

Special property: They smell or look like the byproducts they’re made of and, in some cases, are sustainable.

Beer PLA Filament

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PLA is short for Polylactic Acid, a thermoplastic polymer that is derived from renewable resources, more specifically from corn starch or sugar cane. This sets the material apart from other commonly used plastics, which are procured through the distillation and polymerization of nonrenewable petroleum reserves.

Since PLA filament is a biodegradable product, it tends to naturally break down in about three to six months. Other thermoplastic materials can take up to a thousand years to decompose, making PLA much more environmentally-friendly.

PLA material has been thrusted into the spotlight by the rise of FDM 3D printing. PLA filament is available in a wide variety of colors and blends, and innovative PLA-based materials seem to be constantly hitting the market.

Outside of 3D printing, PLA is also used to produce things like medical implants, food packaging, and disposable tableware. But inside of the FDM 3D printing sphere, PLA filament is widely thought of as an aesthetic material best used for prototyping.

To produce PLA filament, manufacturers start with a raw, granulated resin that is clear in color. The material is put into a blender-type machine, mixing it with the pigments and/or additives that produce a certain color or mechanical properties.

From there, the material is usually dried out at 60 – 80 C, which reduces the possibility of having the PLA filament pop or clog your 3D printer’s nozzle.

The granulated material goes into a single screw extruder, which is where it’s heated, mixed, and extruded into a solid filament. This filament is then placed into a warm water tank, which cools the material into a round shape. Finally, the round filament is run through a cold water tank and wound onto a spool.

PLA filament comes in two sizes for FDM 3D printing; 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm. This diameter size is determined by how fast or slow the material producer pulls the filament through the die.

There are a number of benefits to 3D printing with PLA filament, especially if you’re a beginner or looking for a frustration-free experience.

For starters, PLA filament is known to be extremely easy to print with. The material will generally flow out of your 3D printer’s nozzle without any issues, such as warping or nozzle clogging. On top of that, the print temperature for standard PLA filament is relatively low compared to other materials, making it more versatile and convenient to print with.

However, when you get into PLA blends that are fused with wood or metal materials, they become a tad bit more difficult to print with.

Another advantage of PLA filament is the high quality surface detail that it offers your 3D prints. Other materials are prone to stringiness or blobbing, but PLA manages to eliminate these potential aesthetic pitfalls. Unlike ABS, which is another popular 3D printing material, PLA filament doesn’t give off a foul odor when it’s extruded.

The reason why PLA filament comes in so many different colors and blends is because the material itself is easily pigmented. Post-processing is also easier when it comes to PLA, enabling users to improve surface quality with a little sanding and trimming.

Although materials like ABS and PETG offer certain mechanical advantages, PLA filament is nothing to scoff at. When it comes to form over functionality, PLA is a great option for rapid prototyping. The low-temperature melting point enables better surface details and sharper features compared to other commonly used materials.

Lastly, as we’ve mentioned before, typical PLA filament is non-toxic and biodegradable, making it an ideal material for environmentally-conscious 3D printer users.

Although there are numerous advantages to using PLA filament over other options, there are also a few drawbacks to the material.

For instance, PLA filament tends to deform or melt when heat is applied, making it impractical for parts that require heat-resistance. It’s also less sturdy than ABS or PETG, making it a better for aesthetic uses rather than mechanical.

PLA filament also usually has a rougher texture than other materials, despite being much easier to print with. Since the material is biodegradable, this places a shorter lifespan on any items 3D printed with PLA.

Additionally, PLA is not food-safe and is quite brittle in nature, making it more prone to breaking under stress. As with most 3D printing materials, whether or not PLA filament is the right choice is wholly dependent on what you’re planning to 3D print.

PLA filament is a great material for numerous applications. Although it lacks the mechanical properties found in other filament types, PLA is easy to print and comes in many colors and styles.

Therefore, most PLA filament types are great for visual prints and rapid prototyping, particularly in cases where the 3D printed part won’t encounter too much stress or strain.

Therefore, PLA filament is ideal for 3D printed objects that won’t be dependent on mechanical properties, durability, or degradability.

You’ll also probably want to avoid using PLA filament for 3D printed items that will be bent or twisted, such as tool handles or phone cases. This material is usually not very heat resistant, so it’s better to use a filament with better mechanical properties.

Other than that, PLA filament is a great option for nearly any other application. Some of the most popular uses for PLA includes visual models, figures and characters, low-wear toys, non-functional prototype parts, and containers.

Depending on the type or blend of PLA you’re using, the optimal print settings will be a bit different. The average PLA filament has a melting point somewhere between 180 to 200 degrees C.

The best temperature for a PLA filament that has a 1.75 mm diameter will be lower than a material with a 2.85 mm diameter. Another deciding factor in what print temperature you should input is the blend of PLA you’re using.

For instance, colorFabb’s Corkfill, which is a PLA/PHA blend, requires a printing temperature of 210 – 230 degrees C.

Although a heated bed may help with adhesion of PLA filament, it’s not necessary. This is why PLA is an especially appealing option for users with budget 3D printers, as a glue stick or painter’s tape can be used to get that first layer to stick.

You should also keep in mind that PLA has a glass transition temperature between 60-65 °C, which is the point where the plastic starts to become viscous or rubbery.

When working with PLA filament, be sure to consult with the manufacturer to figure out the optimal print settings. Since PLA comes in many shades and blends, there is no precise temperature that works for them all.

There are numerous ways to post-process PLA filament, and these methods sometimes depend on which type of PLA you’re using.

One of the most popular methods is sanding, which works wonders by smoothing out the surface layer of your 3D print. Sanding is an essential step no matter what type of post-processing technique you want to use, particularly when it comes to painting your model.

After sanding your model, you could use a primer or filler to cover any other crevices that will impact the way your paint settles on the print. Acrylic paint is the best option for PLA filament, and is generally affordable and comes in many colors.

Another option is polishing, which works especially well with special metal PLA filaments. Using some latex gloves and a polishing cloth, you can hand polish your 3D model with Tetrahydrofuran.

Compared to the toxic fumes that are emitted from ABS, PLA filament is a much safer alternative. However, that doesn’t mean that this material is completely safe.

While ABS is known to emit styrene, which is a toxic and carcinogenic chemical, PLA filament emits a benign and less hazardous chemical named lactide. Some have argued that the chemical emitted from PLA is essentially harmless.

Here’s a nice visual breakdown of what different types of filaments tend to emit. As you can see, the PLA filament in the graph mostly emits lactide, which is much less hazardous than styrene commonly found in ABS.

Either way, there’s no denying that PLA is a much safer material to print with than ABS. As long as you have some decent ventilation and a sizable workspace, you should be overly concerned about the toxicity of PLA filament.

In its most natural state, PLA filament is made from corn starch, which is generally considered food safe. But once the material is injected with additives for color or strength, this can all quickly change.

There are a few filaments out there that are marketed as being food-safe, such as KeyTech PLA. You can also check the material safety data sheet (MSDS) on your PLA filament, which will tell you about the chemical properties and whether it is FDA approved or food safe.

However, no matter how food-safe your PLA filament might be, you still run the risk of having bacteria building up between the layers. To avoid this, you can seal the surface of a 3D print with a food safe epoxy or sealant, which covers the crevices that may end up collecting these nasty germs.

Another tip is to keep your 3D printed object away from the dishwasher. Instead, you should wash with warm water and a mild anti-bacterial detergent, which will reduce the risk of bacteria and also keep your print from melting.

Lastly, you should probably get your hands on a stainless steel nozzle that is considered to be food-safe. This might be major investment for someone who’s only planning to print a couple of kitchen utensils, but the cleanliness of the nozzle is important.

Learn more: 12 Vital Facts About Food Safe 3D Printing

If you’re anything like us, you’ll probably want way more than just one spool of filament to feed your 3D printer. As we’ve stated, there are endless types of PLA filament to purchase, and all of them should be properly stored to ensure quality.

3D printing filament storage is extremely important no matter what material type you have on the spool. When left out in the open, these plastics tend to absorb water from the air, and this humidity can cause some massive problems in your 3D printing experience.

This phenomenon is called hygroscopy, which is a characteristic that makes 3D printing filament attract water molecules. For specialty filaments like Nylon and PVA, the problem can occur in just a matter of hours. Therefore both should be stored in an airtight container right away.

Although PLA filament has a longer shelf life, humidity can also eventually creep into the material, which in turn will negatively impact your prints.

Once water absorption takes place, you can face increased brittleness, diameter augmentation, filament bubbling, filament degradation, or easily breakable filament. To prevent this, you should store your PLA filament inside an airtight container or a speciality box.

There are a number of storage solutions that have been developed, and you can even build your own pretty easily.

Read More: 3D Printing Project: $20 DIY Heated Dry Box for Filament Storage

If you’ve made it this far into the article and still find yourself asking “Where can I buy PLA filament?”… Well, shame on us. Handily, PLA is one of the most prolific 3D printing filaments around. Anywhere that sells 3D printing supplies will sell PLA. It would be unusual to not find any. For a handy jump link to suppliers that are local to you, check out the box below.

PLA Filament

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When it comes to desktop 3D printing, the two most common filament types are PLA and ABS. Both are thermoplastics, meaning they become malleable when heated. In this way, you can use them while hot to create any shapes you want, and then let them cool to preserve those shapes forever! (Probably.)

Yet, despite the ways in which these filaments are similar, they also have a great many differences.

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is an oil-based thermoplastic, commonly found in (DWV) pipe systems, automotive trim, protective headgear, and toys (like Lego!). Objects printed with ABS boast slightly higher strength, flexibility, and durability than those made of PLA, at the cost of a slightly more complicated print process (complete with nasty fumes!).

So when should I use PLA, and when should I use ABS? This article aims to answer exactly that question, and in the meantime provide a fair amount of background information on both materials.

When considering whether or not to use a particular filament, the relevant information falls under one of two categories: On the one hand, you probably want to know, How easy is it to print with? And on the other hand, What will the final product look like?

With these two questions in mind, the following guide provides a detailed comparison between PLA and ABS, in particular giving

• the print-relevant information,
• the product-relevant information, and finally
• some recommended applications.

It is generally easier to print with PLA than with ABS, thus PLA filament is a natural choice for beginners. It melts at a lower temperature, tends not to warp, and (occasionally) smells like candy! That’s not the end of the story, though. Keep reading to learn just how easy it is to print with both materials…

PLA vs ABS: Thermal Properties (Print Parameters)

Plastic melts when you heat it, right? Well, yeah, but not right away. In reality, the process is a little more complicated, but can be “boiled” down to these three stages:

1. Cold to warm: The plastic starts in a hard, “glassy” state, where it’s most useful as a material. It stays this way until heated to its glass transition temperature.
2. Warm to hot: The plastic is now in a viscous, rubbery state, a sort of “no-man’s-land” with respect to usefulness, as this substance isn’t really good for anything. It stays this way until heated to its melting temperature.
3. Hot to molten: The plastic is now a liquid – perfect for printing!

Why is all of this so important? Because the points between the stages, the glass transition and melting temperatures, directly influence a filament’s print bed and printing temperatures. Basically, in order not to alter the print process, the print bed must be kept well below the glass transition temperature. And of course, in order to ensure that the filament is a liquid, it must be printed well above its melting temperature.

PLA vs ABS: The Nozzle

The one printing difficulty PLA presents over ABS is that it can sometimes clog or jam the printer nozzle. This occurs because PLA expands and becomes sticky when it melts. Achieving a good flow is a simple matter of fine-tuning the print settings, either through following the filament manufacturer’s instructions to the tee, or by playing around. (After all, we are having fun, aren’t we?)

ABS, on the other hand, tends to flow quite beautifully from the nozzle, likely due to its much higher print temperature.

PLA vs ABS: The Print Bed

Time for PLA to shine once again! With no special sensitivities to temperature, it requires neither a heating bed nor an enclosure. (Although, once again, they help.)

ABS is more sensitive to changes in temperature than PLA, resulting in cracking and warping if it cools too quickly. This is why a heated print bed it is absolutely necessary when printing with ABS. We also recommend using a full enclosure around the print area.

Both materials present some minor problems with first layer adhesion. In other words, they sometimes stick to the print bed. The three most common solutions involve covering the print bed with tape, glue, or hairspray. For tape, we recommend using Kapton Tape (a polyimide film with a silicone adhesive), but masking tape also works fairly well.

PLA vs ABS: Fumes

Ever the favorite child (in the context of printing), PLA gives off little to no smell when heated, and some even claim to have picked up on fruity or candy-like aromas…

ABS stinks. And the fumes are intense, in some cases inducing headaches! Whenever possible, print in an open (but isolated) area with proper ventilation.

PLA vs ABS: Storage

Both materials are hygroscopic, meaning they attract and absorb moisture from the air. This is a negative attribute because, as levels of hydration rise, the print process degrades and print quality declines. Bubbling, spurting, and even clogging can occur at the nozzle, while discoloration and poor detailing can appear in the final product.

The bottom line: Don’t expose your filament to air (and therefore water) for long periods of time.

And that’s easily done! Simply store your filament rolls in sealed containers when not using them, and place those in cool, dry places. As an extra precaution, filament manufacturers often recommend using up rolls as soon as possible.

PLA filament may be better to print with, but is it the better material for your print? The quick answer is no, as ABS is not only stronger but more flexible and durable as well. For the long answer, well, you’ll just have to stick around…

PLA vs ABS: Mechanical Properties

ABS – our new prodigy – owes its toughness to polybutadiene, a synthetic rubber with a high resistance to wear. To give you an idea of just how tough this rubber is, 70% of all polybutadiene goes into the production of tires. In ABS filament, this toughness is reflected in its superior strength and high impact resistance. (Remember that it’s used in protective headgear and automotive trim!) And while not the most flexible of materials, ABS still outshines PLA, as it tends to distort, then bend, before finally breaking.

About the only thing PLA can brag about, with respect to mechanics, is a higher surface hardness. Otherwise, it exhibits only decent strength, and is brittle, preferring to break rather than bend.

PLA vs ABS: Durability and Degradability

In general, ABS is more durable than PLA because of its high resistance to heat. Remember that plastic no-man’s-land? That temperature range where thermoplastics are more-or-less useless? Well, thanks to a comparatively high glass transition temperature, it takes a lot more heat for ABS to reach that point than for PLA. That’s what makes it better suited for objects that remain in the sun. Because nobody wants to see a droopy-nosed garden gnome.

With respect to the other elements, ABS performs no better than PLA. When exposed to UV rays and moisture, both materials degrade over time.

One nice characteristic of PLA is that it’s biodegradable. Don’t expect it to degrade in your backyard composter (it needs heat and pressure), but feel free to add it to the compost collected by your city. ABS, on the other hand, is only recyclable.

PLA vs ABS: Post-Processing

If you’re willing to put in that little bit of extra effort to turn your print from something pretty into something beautiful, both ABS and PLA are pretty tolerant, although ABS once again comes out on top.

While both materials can be cut, filed, sanded, painted (with acrylic), and glued, it’s recommended to use primer before painting PLA, and gluing it may not always work. Additionally, only ABS can be treated with acetone (i.e. nail polish remover) to get that smooth and shiny surface, because only ABS is acetone-soluble. On the other hand, PLA is slightly more forgiving of complex design features, despite both materials being able to handle 100-micron layer heights.

The possibilities for filing, sanding, or acetone treatment are especially important to keep in mind if you’re using rafts, as they don’t always separate nicely from the rest of the print, leaving behind undesirable surfaces which you’ll probably want to clean up.

PLA vs ABS: Variety

Filament for both materials come in a wide range of colors – there’s even translucent filament!

Special “exotic” filament types also exist, as blends of either ABS or PLA with other materials. The most popular varieties include wood, metal, and glow-in-the-dark. For more information on these exotic filament types, check out our 3D Printer Filament Guide.

By the way, if you’re looking for a slightly more flexible and durable filament than either PLA or ABS, take a look at PETG.

PLA vs ABS: Pricing

Filament for both materials have more-or-less identical pricing, with exotic filaments being a little more expensive, as you might expect.

PLA Filament

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ABS Filament

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PLA vs ABS: Summarizing Table

PLA is the most widely used filament in 3D printing, not because it’s the “best” material, but because it’s easy to print with. And after all, why make life harder than it needs to be? With that idea in mind, we recommend using this 3D printer filament for anything that doesn’t have specific requirements for mechanical properties, durability, or degradability.

Remember to avoid using PLA filament for items that might be bent, twisted, or dropped repeatedly, such as phone cases, high-wear toys, or tool handles. You should also avoid using it with items which need to withstand higher temperatures, like if you want to place them in direct sunlight, a car, or the dishwasher. For all other applications, this filament makes for a good overall choice in filament. Common prints include models, low-wear toys, prototype parts, and containers.

ABS filament is better suited for items that are frequently handled, dropped, or heated. It can be used for mechanical parts, especially if they are subjected to stress or must interlock with other parts. Examples of prints which take advantage of the qualities of this filament include phone cases, high-wear toys, tool handles, automotive trim components, and electrical enclosures.