PLA or PETG: which should you print in?
22 აგვისტო, 2026
PLA+ and PETG are the two spools we sell most of, and choosing between them is the question we get asked most across the counter. Short version: PLA+ for parts that get looked at, PETG for parts that get used.
Where each one wins
PLA+ is the easier print. Cooler nozzle, no enclosure, barely any warping, and it holds fine detail. It is what we hand to anyone printing a first prototype or a shelf of miniatures. Its limit is heat, and the limit is lower than most people expect: it goes soft around 55-60 °C. Not melts. Softens, and sags under its own weight.
PETG is the one we reach for more often, because most parts people bring us drawings for are parts that get handled. Drop a PETG bracket and it usually bends instead of breaking. It shrugs off water and most cleaning chemicals. It survives a sunlit window. The cost is a hotter nozzle and bed, slower printing, and a spool that has to stay dry.
Printing settings we start from
| PLA+ | PETG | |
|---|---|---|
| Nozzle | 190-230 °C | 240-260 °C |
| Bed | 45-60 °C | 75-90 °C |
| Top speed | up to 200 mm/s | up to 150 mm/s |
| Cooling fan | 100% | 100% |
| Enclosure | not needed | not needed |
| Drying | rarely needed | 60 °C for about 4 hours |
These are eSUN's published numbers for the spools we stock. Start in the middle of each range: hotter if the layers split, cooler if you get stringing. If your machine is enclosed, drop the PETG bed a few degrees, or the first layer welds itself to the plate.
The Tbilisi angle
Two local things change the answer. A car parked in the sun here in July gets hotter inside than PLA+ can take, so phone mounts and anything else that lives on a dashboard want PETG at least.
The other one is humidity. An open PETG spool on a shelf goes off within weeks here. You hear it before you see it: popping at the nozzle, then stringing across the whole print. Keep it sealed with desiccant and dry it before anything long. People assume a wet spool is ruined. It usually isn't. Dry it and it prints fine.
When neither is the answer
Some parts need more than either can give. If it carries real load or sits next to something hot, look at the engineering materials instead. ABS and ASA handle heat and weather. Nylon and polycarbonate take load. The glass- and carbon-filled spools are stiffer again, though they will chew through a brass nozzle, so budget for a hardened one. Most of them want an enclosure, which is usually the part that decides it.