3D Printing Toolkit › Troubleshooting › Stringing & oozing

Stringing & oozing

Thin hairs or wisps of filament left across gaps and travel moves.

Likely causes, most likely first

  1. Too little retraction
  2. Nozzle temperature too high
  3. Slow travel speed
  4. Wet filament (especially PETG, Nylon)

Fixes to try

Where to buy

Filament dryerThis filament absorbs moisture and prints badly once it has.Shop ↗

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Filaments this hits hardest

Silk PLA

PLA with a gloss additive. Same easy printing, a mirror-like sheen, and noticeably weaker parts — this is a looks material.

PLA + carbon fibre

PLA with chopped carbon fibre. Much stiffer and more dimensionally stable, with a matte finish — and it will destroy a brass nozzle.

PETG

The practical middle ground: tougher and more heat-tolerant than PLA, far easier than ABS.

PETG + carbon fibre

PETG with chopped carbon fibre. Keeps PETG's toughness and chemical resistance, adds stiffness and a matte finish, and strings far less.

Other print defects

Warping & adhesionUnder-extrusionLayer shiftingElephant's footZ-bandingBlobs & zitsGhosting / ringingOver-extrusionTop pillowingPoor bridging

Every number on this page is in the app too — next to the calculators that use it, working offline at the printer.

Get it onGoogle Play