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Best PLA Filament: 9 Picks For Easy 3D Printing

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PLA is without question the single most common as well as most popular and best material out there that is used in the world of FDM 3D printing.

This is because it is quite easy to use, affordable and it also comes with some truly outstanding material properties. As a matter of fact, you can easily use PLA filament for a really wide array of diverse applications. In this post, we’ll be looking at the best PLA filaments currently available.

Another good thing about PLA is that it regularly comes in a broad range of various composites and colors for 3D printing purposes.

But with all of this massive variety, it can sometimes be quite tough to figure out precisely which filaments 1 75mm has been well created by some truly reliable manufacturers and that can guarantee best results for all the builds.

After all, the very last thing you want is that the cheap filament would end up giving you some truly lousy 3D build results. On the other hand, you would not want to buy the single most expensive filament available when a less expensive one would do the job just as well. It would make sense to check the price beforehand.

You will need the best PLA filaments to get the best possible prints. Here, in this review, we have done precisely that. I.e. found the best PLA filaments made by the best manufacturers so you can make an informed decision. Price and quality are the two main deciding factors here in finding out the best filaments.

Let us delve deep into the PLA world in this review so that you can buy the ideal ones for all your 3D printing needs. So without further ado we will start our review of the Best PLA filament brands.

Best PLA Filament: Our Top Picks

1. Hatchbox PLA

We will start our review with the US-based 3D PLA filament maker Hatchbox. In this review, we can see it offers one of the best quality PLA filaments at a pretty reasonable price. Since both price and quality are good, it is a near-perfect all-around PLA filament for everyday use including making spare parts. We can include it in our list of best 3D build materials around.

As a matter of fact, 1 Hatchbox pla has quickly risen through the ranks to become the single number one filament maker and seller on the Amazon superstore when it comes to 3D printing filament. It is primarily due to this reason that there are literally thousands of highly satisfied user reviews.

The key reason here is that the Hatchbox pla 3D printer filament is a unique blend of polymers. This best filament has been made of eco friendly bio plastics that combine a silky smooth finish with a highly reduced CO2 footprint, thus offering a best and great 3D solutech.

Apart from that, this best pla filament combines just about everything that you would want to look for in your favorite best PLA filament: Here, the material’s overall tolerance is really great and the color is extremely vibrant. It is quite flexible, yet strong in comparison to any other best 3D print filament.

Add to that the fact that the detail resolution of this best 3D printing material is positively amazing. On top of that, it has very nice and sweet pancake smell. All of this is available at a really good rate. You will lave to check price to before finalization of this best 3D filament.

PLA Filament Diameter

1 75mm

Spool Weight

1 kg (2.2lbs)

Colors

Yellow, red, black, red, gold white, blue, purple, glow in the dark, and others for all kinds of 3D printers or any other printed product. (The website will also guide you).

2. Overture PLA

This PLA 3D printing filament has been designed from the ground up and also manufactured with the help of a clog-free patent in order to guarantee both a smooth as well as stable printing experience, thanks to these PLA refills for your best 3D printer.

They have been dried for 24 hours before being packed into a vacuum-sealed nylon re-sealable bag filled with desiccants so that they could create an excellent 3D pen and any other product as per their terms of use. (You will have to read their privacy policy to figure out what is best for your 3D printer).

This pla 3D printer filament does not tangle easily and is user friendly. This is due to the fact that this best material has been mechanically winded and has gone through a very strict manual examination, so as to make sure that the line is neat tidy and tangle free. This way, it will be possible to eliminate inadvertent snapping, tangling and line breaking problems. It’s universally larger inner diameter design also makes feeding the filament into the 3D printers a whole lot smoother too.

Overture filament is highly cost-effective and very reliable for most of the more common 3D printers, such as Monoprice FlashForge MK3, Ender 3, and many other popular design 3D printers available out there. It is ideal for spare parts and other 3D printed components. (You may check price on Amazon).

Spool Weight

1 kg (2.2lbs)

Filament Diameter

PLA filament 1.75mm

Colors

Black and white

3. eSUN PLA

eSUN PLA PRO 3D Printer Filament is easy to print and has been vacuumed sealed with copious amounts of desiccant. It has superb layer bonding capabilities that are substantially better than most common PLA filaments, especially when it comes 3D prints of spare parts. In fact any other review you read will also substantiate this.

It works well at an extrusion/nozzle temperature of 205C – 225C. With a Dia of around 8 it can easily work with many popular PLA filament 3D printers available today. The hub hole diameter is 2.05″ and the Diameter of the inner is 3.5.” This is a universal setting that is applicable to virtually all commercially available best 3d printers around. It can also work well at high temperature settings.

Spool Weight

1kg (2.2lbs)

Filament Diameter

1.75 mm

Color

Black only

Check out a comparison of ESUN vs Hatchbox

4. Proto Pasta PLA

Proto Pasta PLA is touted as a best filament by 3D printing gurus, for 3D printing based object makers. As a matter of fact, the good people at Proto-pasta have been focused on overall material quality far more than most other like PLA filament makers in the market. Their filaments typically have a very strong and aromatic scent and you can use them in a free 3D printer. Resin 3D is also good but not as popular. It can work well on high temperature unlike other filaments.

The filament is a bit on the pricier side, however its awesome quality more than makes up for it. It boasts the same ease of 3D printing as the top standard PLA filaments out there. Additionally, it can also be heat-treated for extra stability and strength. It can also hold its shape at temperatures close to 200 °C.

Now compare that to the run of the mill PLA filaments whose mean melting temperature hovers around 50 °C or so. The newest version of their PLA 3D printer filament has been a direct result of three years of fine-tuning and refinement and user feedback. This carbon fiber PLA has been named Proto-pasta due to its strong resemblance to pasta. It creates very high quality 3D builds. Effectively making it one of the best pla filament brands available.

Spool Weight

500 grams (1.1 lbs.)

Filament Diameter

1.75 mm

Color

Black only

5. Prusament PLA

Prusa Research is justifiably renowned for their Prusa range of 3D printers. However they have gone a step further and have created their very own line of proprietary corn starch 3D printing PLA filament known as Prusament PLA.

Prusa’s quality assurance effectively ensures top-level premium material is created through rigorous testing. The manufacturing precision of this product is also a key differentiating factor, and all Prusament 3D printing filaments have 0.02 mm precision which can be positively compared to the industry standard of 0.05 mm. They work well regardless of low bed temperature.

For further quality control assurance, individual customers can now also inspect the exacting testing parameters of each and every 0.05mm nontoxic filament product at a different bed temperature. They can do this by scanning the QR code present on every product and then trying to read the details online. You can check price on Amazon of these 3d printing filaments.

Spool Weight

1kg (2.2lbs)

Filament Diameter

1.75mm

Color

Lime Green (Blend), black, red, pink, silver, blue, yellow, red, pearl, green, white and purple along with other blends. You may read more at their website.

6. Polymaker PLA

Polymaker started in Shanghai, China, due to the surge in demand for quality PLA filaments. As of now it has quickly became a really well-known brand amongst 3D filament companies.

Its makers claim that PolyMax PLA product has an all-around impact resistance at least 9 times that of regular PLA filaments. In fact, it is widely claimed to be even tougher than ABS albeit without any of the warping problems or toxic fumes that come with ABS based materials.

PolyMax is famous because its lack of stringing issues and rock solid performance. Since it is a very high quality filament, it does not come cheap. But then again, it is the closest that a high quality PLA filament can get to ABS without actually being ABS filament or similar materials. You can read more information available at their website.

Spool Weight

750 grams (1.65 lbs.)

Filament Diameter

2.85mm

Color

Red, teal, white, yellow, green, purple, gray and orange. If you contact the company they will guide you further regarding their shades, materials and hues.

7. ColorFabb PLA

ColorFabb PLA saw that there is a dire need for high quality PLA filament (at 60 c) so they stepped in to fill the demand for quality print products. In time, they have become one of the most reputable filament manufacturers currently in the world due to the demand for their PLA product materials (60 c) for anyone who likes to print with 3d printing filaments.

The filament is stronger and way more durable than many other PLA filaments (230 c) and materials, out there. It comes with excellent layer adhesion properties and it is not prone to warping related issues tendencies.

The ColorFab people take great are of quality control and their PLA filaments are top-notch. They have fantastic tolerances due to which they don’t clog or jam. Yes, it is an expensive brand, but then, quality does come at a price. After all there filament is made for a glossy finish for most of their food safe printed objects. It is heat resistant and it can work on high end printers.

Spool Weight

750 grams (1.65 lbs.)

Filament Diameter

1.75mm diameter

Color Availability

They are available in a bewildering number of shades and they can also make colors on demand. Some of the more common ones are Silver, bronze, teal, intense green, light green. As well as red, pink, yellow, blue and purple. You can make stuff like 3D pens in any color you like.

8. MakerBot PLA

MakerBot PLA filament has been specifically designed for the MakerBot 3D printer. It is made in the USA and there are few products that can match it in terms of overall print quality. It does not warp during the 3D printing process especially when making anything like a pen 3D due to its polylactic acid based properties.

This filament has primarily been designed for MakerBot 3D printer; it also works with any modern Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printer. It does not suffer from any sort of warping related issues. This is why it is slightly more expensive than many of its counterparts.

Spool Weight

1kg (2.2lbs)

Filament Diameter

Filament 1.75mm

Color

It is available in neon green.

9. Priline PLA

Priline are justifiably proud of the dimensional accuracy of their PLA filament. In fact that is why they have included ‘Dimensional Accuracy’ in the name of this filament.

The overall strength and toughness of the Dimensional Accuracy Priline PLA filament is quite higher than the general PLA filament that is commonly available in the market today. It prints at195-220°C or so.

Spool Weight

1kg (2.2lbs)

Filament Diameter

1.75mm

Color

It is available in neon green, blue, white, black, brown, blue, gray, orange, pink, purple, red, and other colors. Their website is very helpful and it will guide you further.

Why Is PLA So Good For Printing?

When it comes to ease of use such PLA filament is arguably one of the easiest material filaments in the 3D printing world. This material easily adheres to many different surfaces and doesn’t even require any sort of heated bed either. Unlike ABS, most series of (230 c) PLA filament don’t smell foul at all. And they are easy to use too because of good adhesion.

Related

Drawbacks of PLA

  • Its low melting point makes its filament unsuitable for any sort of high temperature application
  • PLA has a higher permeability overall than most other plastics
  • It cannot be used in outdoor applications because it is susceptible to UV radiation
  • Many series of PLA strands can wilt under harsh sunlight

Conclusion

The above brands are some of the best PLA filaments available today. They can all be used in most 3D printers currently on the market. Most printers use 1.75 mm diameter, so remember to get the diameter that matches your printer.

Photo of author

Garrett Dunham

A trained Mechanical Engineer and lifelong tinker, Garrett chose to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's engineering proram because they had a 3D printer... back when they were called "rapid prototypers". "The first time I held something I designed and 3D printed, my mind exploded. Just hours earlier my idea was just a thought - and now it's a thing I'm holding." Now, years later, Garrett brings his love of tinkering, inventing, engineering, and 3D printing to the Makershop community.