The Filament Material Guide: PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU and More

Most hobbyists end up cycling through the same handful of filaments, and each one trades print difficulty against what the finished part can survive. Here’s how the common ones behave on a real machine and which job each is actually good for.

Quick reference

Material	Density (g/cm³)	Nozzle (C)	Bed (C)	Difficulty	Best for
PLA	1.24	190–220	50–60	Easy	Display pieces, prototypes
PETG	1.27	230–250	70–85	Moderate	Functional parts, water exposure
ABS	1.04	230–250	95–110	Hard	Strong, heat-resistant enclosures
ASA	1.07	235–255	95–110	Hard	Outdoor, UV-exposed parts
TPU	1.21	220–240	40–60	Moderate	Flexible parts, gaskets, grips
Nylon/PA	1.14	250–280	70–90	Hard	Tough living hinges, gears
PC	1.20	270–310	100–120	Hard	High-strength, high-temp parts

Nozzle and bed numbers are starting points. Always trust the temperature printed on the spool over a chart, since blends vary by brand.

PLA

The default, and for good reason. PLA flows easily, sticks to most beds at 50–60C, and needs no enclosure or heated chamber. You can run it fast on a well-tuned machine, and the dimensional accuracy is excellent, which makes it the right choice for prototypes you check with calipers.

The catch is heat. PLA starts to soften around 55–60C, so anything that lives in a hot car, a sunny window, or against a warm motor will sag. It’s also brittle under sharp impact. Keep it for display models, jigs, and parts that stay indoors at room temperature.

PETG

The middle ground between PLA and ABS. PETG runs at 230–250C with the bed around 70–85C, holds its shape to roughly 70–80C, and shrugs off water and most weak chemicals. Layer adhesion is strong, so parts come out tough instead of brittle.

It strings. Plan to tune retraction and drop the nozzle 5–10C below the number you’d guess to cut down on the wisps. PETG also bonds to the bed too well, so a thin glue-stick release layer or a textured PEI sheet keeps you from chipping the plate. Good for brackets, outdoor fixtures, bottle adapters, and anything that meets the occasional splash.

ABS

Strong, heat-resistant, machinable, and the least forgiving roll on this list. ABS prints at 230–250C with the bed at 95–110C, and it warps hard when the surrounding air is cold. An enclosure is effectively mandatory for anything larger than a few centimeters: it holds chamber heat so corners don’t lift and layers don’t split.

ABS releases styrene and other fumes while printing. Ventilate the room, run it in an enclosure with filtration if you have one, and don’t sit beside it through an eight-hour job. Use ABS for automotive parts, tool housings, and anything that has to hold its shape up around 80–90C.

ASA

Treat ASA as ABS that survives the sun. Same temperature range (235–255C nozzle, 95–110C bed), same enclosure and ventilation rules, same fume caution. The difference is UV stability. ABS yellows and turns brittle after months outdoors; ASA holds its color and strength for years. This is the material for outdoor mounts, garden hardware, and exterior automotive trim.

TPU

Flexible filament, sold by shore hardness. TPU prints at 220–240C, but the real trick is the feed. Run it slow, 15–30 mm/s, through a direct-drive extruder. A Bowden setup with a long PTFE tube lets the soft filament buckle and jam inside the path. Drop retraction way down and accept that fast travel moves will skip.

It makes rubber-like parts no rigid plastic can match: phone bumpers, vibration dampers, gaskets, drone feet, watch bands. Softer grades around Shore 85A are floppier and harder to feed; 95A is the practical place to start.

Nylon (PA)

Genuinely tough, with the abrasion resistance and fatigue life to make working gears and living hinges that actually flex thousands of times. Nylon prints hot, 250–280C, and bonds best to a clean PA-friendly bed or a garolite sheet.

The real challenge is moisture. Nylon is the thirstiest common filament, pulling water from the air in a day or two, and wet nylon prints with popping, steam, and weak, foamy layers. Dry it at 70–80C for 8 to 12 hours before printing and keep it sealed with desiccant. Don’t push a dryer past the material’s rating to save time; you’ll soften or degrade the spool instead.

Polycarbonate (PC)

The strength-and-heat champion of the common filaments. PC takes real abuse and stays rigid past 110C, but it demands 270–310C at the nozzle and a 100–120C bed inside a hot enclosure, which is more than many stock hotends can reach. Like nylon, it’s hygroscopic and needs drying before every print. Reserve it for parts that genuinely need the performance: structural mounts, heat-exposed brackets, impact housings.

A note on carbon-fiber-filled filaments

You can buy CF-filled versions of PETG, nylon, PC, and more. The chopped fibers add stiffness and dimensional stability and cut warping, which is why CF nylon is popular for functional parts. The cost is abrasion. Those fibers grind through a standard brass nozzle in a few spools. Fit a hardened steel or ruby-tipped nozzle before you print anything carbon- or glass-filled, or you’ll be chasing under-extrusion within a week.

The practical takeaway

Keep two or three materials on the shelf and match them to the job, not the hype. PLA for anything that stays cool indoors, PETG as your default functional plastic, ABS or ASA when the part needs real heat resistance (ASA if it goes outside). Add TPU for flexible parts, and reach for nylon or PC only when a part earns the extra hassle. Log the nozzle temp, bed temp, and dry time that worked for each spool in Gyroid. Next time you load that brand, you start from a known-good setting instead of guessing.