3D Printing ToolkitTroubleshooting › 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

Filaments this hits hardest

PETG

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

Nylon (PA)

The toughest common filament — but it drinks water out of the air and must be printed dry.

Polycarbonate

Engineering grade: the highest heat resistance and impact strength you will print on a hobby machine.

PVA (dissolvable)

Water-soluble support material. Prints easily, but ruins itself in humid air.

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