Stringing, those fine spider-web strands between parts of a print, is the most common complaint we hear from people printing at home. The good news is that it's almost always fixable. Work through these in order.
1. Dry your filament (the number one cause)
Filament absorbs moisture from the air, especially in humid Queensland. When wet filament hits the hot nozzle, the water turns to steam and causes oozing, popping and strings. If your filament has been sitting out, dry it before changing anything else.
2. Lower the nozzle temperature
Hotter plastic is runnier plastic. Drop the temperature by 5 °C at a time and print a stringing test until strings disappear without the layers getting weak.
3. Tune retraction
Retraction pulls the filament back slightly before the nozzle travels. Too little causes strings; too much can cause gaps or clogs. Most modern slicers have a good default for your printer, so change it in small steps and test.
4. Faster, smarter travel
Increase travel speed and turn on settings like "avoid crossing perimeters" so the nozzle spends less time over open air.
5. Check the nozzle
A worn or partly clogged nozzle can ooze unevenly. Nozzles are cheap, so if yours has done hundreds of hours or lots of glow and silk filament, swap it.
Quick clean-up
A few wisps can be removed in seconds with a quick pass of a heat gun or hair dryer, then any remaining bits trimmed with flush cutters.
Still stringy? Let us print it for you. Our filament is stored dry and our settings are tuned every day.
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