The Master Filament Comparison Guide: PLA vs PETG vs ABS vs TPU vs Nylon
Stop guessing which plastic to buy. The real maker guide to temperatures, mechanical strengths, summer car warping, and why PETG loves to destroy glass beds.
Interactive Calculators For This Guide
Filament Shrinkage & Dimensional Accuracy Calculator
Compensate for thermal polymer shrinkage across PLA, PETG, ABS, and Nylon with exact model scaling percentages for your slicer.
Filament Weight ↔ Length Converter
Convert between filament weight in grams and length in meters for 1.75mm and 2.85mm across PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, and custom densities.
Max Volumetric Flow & Print Speed Calculator
Determine the maximum safe printing speed (mm/s) based on your hotend melt rate (mm³/s), layer height, and line width without skipping steps.
1.Stop Wasting Spools: Why Polymer Choice Makes or Breaks Your Part
You can spend two days tuning your belts, dialing in your Z-offset, and printing the cleanest Benchy in human history—but if you print an outdoor garden hose connector in standard PLA, it will deform, leak, and crack in the first week of summer.
Filament selection isn't about what's cheapest or what colors look pretty on Amazon. It's about polymer physics: Glass Transition Temperature (Tg, the exact point where stiff plastic turns into floppy cooked noodles), impact toughness, UV stability, and how much the plastic contracts as it cools on your bed.
Let's break down the five materials that make up 95% of everything makers actually print, with zero fluff and real workshop numbers.
2.Master Material Benchmark Matrix
Here's how the major thermoplastics stack up when tested under real mechanical loads on consumer hardware:
| Filament Type | Tensile Strength | Heat Resistance (Tg) | Impact Resistance | UV / Sun Resistance | Print Difficulty | Enclosure Needed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLA | 60 MPa (Very stiff) | 55°C (Melt in hot car) | Low (Snaps easily) | Poor (Fades & cracks) | 1 / 10 (Easiest) | No (Keep bed open) |
| PETG | 50 MPa (Bends first) | 75°C (Great for indoors) | High (Ductile & tough) | Good (Handles rain) | 3 / 10 (Prone to stringing) | No (Open bed fine) |
| ABS | 42 MPa (Impact tough) | 105°C (Engine bay safe) | Very High (Bounces) | Poor (Yellows in sun) | 7 / 10 (Warps heavily) | Yes (Mandatory) |
| ASA | 45 MPa (Weatherproof) | 100°C (Hot climate safe) | Very High (Outdoor King) | Outstanding (Zero fade) | 6 / 10 (Warps like ABS) | Yes (Mandatory) |
| TPU (95A) | 30 MPa (Rubber flex) | -40°C (Stays bendy) | Indestructible | Very Good (Oil resistant) | 5 / 10 (Go slow) | No (Open bed fine) |
| Nylon (PA-CF) | 100 MPa (Steel-like) | 120°C - 150°C | Extremely Tough | Good | 8 / 10 (Must dry hot) | Yes (Chamber + Dryer) |
3.PLA: The Prototyping King (And Its Summer Weakness)
PLA (Polylactic Acid) is made from fermented plant starches (like corn and sugar cane). It's the undisputed champion of ease-of-use: it prints at low temperatures (200°C–215°C nozzle, 50°C–60°C bed), barely contracts as it cools (shrinkage under 0.3%), doesn't smell like chemicals, and delivers sharper corners and crisper text than almost any other plastic.
The Catch: Its glass transition temperature is right around 55°C (130°F). If you leave a PLA phone mount, sunglasses case, or figurine on your car dashboard on a sunny July afternoon, you will return to find a melted, droopy puddle of plastic. PLA is also brittle: drop a thin PLA part on a concrete garage floor, and it will often shatter like hard candy.
4.PETG: The Functional Daily Workhorse
Take the plastic from clear soda bottles, add glycol to prevent it from crystallizing, and you get PETG. It is the go-to material for things that actually have to do work in the real world.
Printing at 230°C–250°C nozzle and 70°C–85°C bed, PETG resists heat up to ~75°C, handles direct contact with water, motor oil, and cleaning chemicals, and flexes under load instead of shattering. If you are printing drone arms, dust collection adapters, battery brackets, or outdoor plant pots, reach for PETG.
The Bed Warning: Molten PETG loves PEI and glass a little too much. If you print PETG directly on a smooth PEI sheet or bare glass bed without a release agent (like hairspray or glue stick), it can bond with atomic strength and tear glass shards or PEI film straight off your build plate when you try to remove it. Always use a textured PEI plate!
Never print PETG on smooth PEI or bare glass without a sacrificial layer of glue stick or Windex. Use a textured powder-coated PEI sheet where the part will pop off effortlessly once cooled.
5.ABS & ASA: High Temperatures and Outdoor Sun
ABS is what LEGO bricks are made of. It handles temperatures over 100°C, takes abuse without cracking, and can be smoothed with acetone vapor to look like an injection-molded commercial product.
The Problem: ABS contracts by nearly 1.5% as it cools. If you print ABS on an open-frame printer, drafts of cool room air will cause the corners to curl violently off the bed (warping) or split horizontal layer seams clean in half (delamination). You must use an enclosed printer, keep the bed at 100°C+, and ventilate the toxic styrene fumes.
Why ASA is Better: ASA has all the temperature and impact benefits of ABS, but replaces butadiene rubber with acrylic ester. That means ASA will not yellow, chalk, or embrittle under ultraviolet sunlight. If you are making car mirror caps, roof rack brackets, or weather station mounts, skip ABS and buy ASA.
6.TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane): Rubber That Won't Die
TPU is an elastomer: it bends, stretches, and absorbs shocks like a rubber tire or dog toy. Shore 95A is the standard hobbyist grade: stiff enough to feed through an extruder gear, but flexible enough to make drone bumpers, shoe soles, rubber gaskets, and vibration dampeners.
How to print it without losing your mind: 1) Go slow (25–35 mm/s); 2) Keep retraction low (0.5mm to 1.0mm) so the squishy filament doesn't wrap around your extruder gear; 3) Use direct drive if possible; and 4) Dry it thoroughly—TPU drinks moisture out of the air like a sponge.
7.Slicer Cheat Sheet: Nozzle, Bed, and Fan Baselines
Save these battle-tested starting parameters into your slicer:
| Filament | Nozzle Temp | Bed Temp | Part Cooling Fan | Drying Recommendation | Slicer Shrinkage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard PLA | 205°C - 215°C | 55°C - 60°C | 100% (Full blast) | 45°C for 4 hrs (rarely needed) | 0.2% (Ignore in CAD) |
| PETG | 235°C - 245°C | 75°C - 80°C | 30% - 50% (Too much fan weakens layers) | 65°C for 6 hrs (Crucial for stringing) | 0.4% - 0.6% |
| ABS | 245°C - 255°C | 100°C - 105°C | 0% - 15% (Chamber fan only) | 75°C for 4 hrs | 1.2% - 1.6% (Compensate!) |
| ASA | 250°C - 260°C | 95°C - 105°C | 0% - 20% | 75°C for 4 hrs | 1.0% - 1.4% |
| TPU 95A | 225°C - 235°C | 50°C | 40% - 80% | 55°C for 8 hrs (Mandatory) | 0.5% - 0.8% |
| Nylon / PA-CF | 260°C - 280°C | 80°C - 90°C | 0% - 10% (Fan ruins bonding) | 80°C for 12 hrs (Must print from drybox) | 1.5% - 2.0% |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my PLA print warp in my car even though it wasn't in direct sunlight?
Can I print ABS or ASA without an enclosure if I turn the room heater on?
Do I need a hardened nozzle for PETG or TPU?
Why is my PETG so hairy and full of spiderweb stringing?
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