+ Start with the lowest temperature

When printing in PETG, many problems related to print quality arise from printing too hot. Start printing PETG at the lowest temperature recommended by your manufacturer. By doing this you'll ensure you begin printing at the most optimal temperature.

We recommend printing at 220°C with our PETG.

+ Calibrate retraction settings to reduce stringing

PETG tends to become runny when it is brought up to printing temperature. As your extruder moves around, molten PETG can leak out of your printer's nozzle and end up on your 3D printed part. This results in fine hairs and strings building up on the outside surface of your PETG print.

This can be alleviated by calibrating your retraction settings.

We recommending starting with a retraction speed of 45mm/s and a retraction distance of between 3-6 mm for a Bowden setup or 1-2mm for a direct drive printer.

For more in-detailed tips check out our PETG Ultimate Printing Guide.

+ Enable coasting settings to reduce blobs

When printing, PETG tends to continue extruding even after the printer has stopped extruding.

This leads to excess material commonly called zits and blobs that build up on your print, reducing print quality. Sometimes this material can even build up to an extent where it can cause a print to fail.

Enabling coasting tells your printer to stop extruding just before the end of a print layer. This ensures less material oozes out of the nozzle during the travel move that occurs immediately after the print move. Set your costing volume to the cubed value of your nozzle diameter and a volume before coasting of around double your nozzle diameter. (i.e. A coasting volume of 0.064mm³ and a 0.8mm³ volume before coasting for a 0.4mm diameter nozzle)

For more in-detailed tips check out our PETG Ultimate Printing Guide.

+ Increase travel move speed

PETG tends to continue oozing out of the nozzle between print moves.

Increasing the printer's travel speed between extrusion moves decreases the likelihood the nozzle spends depositing unwanted material on your print.

Increased Travel Speeds of 150mm/s and greater will ensure your printer's nozzle spends less time oozing between print moves.

For more in-detailed tips check out our PETG Ultimate Printing Guide.

+ Keep Your Filament Dry

PETG is hygroscopic material meaning it will absorb moisture from the surrounding air. This absorbed moisture in the filament is not a problem once the part has been printed but does present a problem during printing and can result in a 3D printed part with:

• Weaker interlayer bonding
• Stringing and fine hairs developing on the print
• Poor surface resolution

As such, keep your filament stored in a dry environment with, like in an airtight bag or a box filled with desiccant packs. This should preserve the filament and prevent it from absorbing too much moisture.

If your filament is already wet, then you can dry it out with an oven set at around 60 °C. Leave the spool in the oven for a few hours while the moisture is cooked out.

For more in-detailed tips about filament storage check out our Filament Storage & Handling Guide.

+ Use Hairspray or Glue as a Release Agent

Usually other 3D printing materials have trouble sticking to print beds and need a thin spray of hairspray or glue stick to act as an adhesive. PETG is the opposite - it sticks so well that it can even tear chunks out of your build surface.

When printing in PETG applying a thin layer of hairspray or glue is surprisingly also an effective solution for PETG parts that stick too well to the build plate. Once applied the added layer acts as a release agent preventing the PETG from damaging your build surface if you are printing on anything other than a metal print bed.

Use a release agent if your printer's bed is:

• Glass
• PEI or PEI coated
• Polymer based (Buildtak or similar)

For more in-detailed tips check out our PETG Ultimate Printing Guide.

+ Allow for Additional Z-Offset Distance

Unlike PLA and ABS, PETG needs a little extra room to be lain down as it exits the nozzle. Allowing for an additional Z-offset of 0.02mm can make a difference when printing in PETG.

PETG doesn't only stick really well to the bed, it sticks very well to itself as well. While this makes for solid 3D printed parts, it can make removing support material a tricky prospect.

For clean support removal and neat interface layers (the layers linking the support to your 3D print) allow for a little extra Z offset to ensure the support doesn't fuse to the print.

For more in-detailed tips check out our PETG Ultimate Printing Guide.

+ Adjust One Setting At A Time

Dialling in your PETG print settings can be a little tricky and sometimes requires the manipulation of multiple settings to eliminate the dreaded problems of stringing and oozing. Try tackling the settings tweaks using the tips outlined above in the following order adjusting one setting at a time.

• Printing Temperature
• Travel Speed
• Retraction
• Coasting
• Fan Speed

+ Adhesion Hack

Try disabling your part cooling fan and printing 5-10°C for the first few layers of the print to keep the part stuck to the print bed.