Typically I would just buy whatever brand had the cheapest white color PLA (I like to paint my print) and quality wasn’t always top of mind. Now I have several prints that I want to do in all kids of different colors and quality matters. Given the new color and quality requirements, it no longer makes sense to get the cheapest.
What brand is of good to excellent quality that also offers a decent range of colors?
I mostly run my prints through Ender 3 Pros
Edit: Thank you for everyone’s suggestions! Certain brands are being recommended often so I’m going to start experimenting with those! Keep being awesome!
Inland, which I believe is eSun. Because I live very close to a Micro center
Jealous!
I live 4 hours from the nearest microcenter. I still make the drive periodically.
They ship their filament for free. That’s how I get mine because I’m 5+ hours from the nearest store
Yeah I know, and maybe it’s my imagination, but it seems like the stuff I get in store is better than the stuff I get online.
Definitely your imagination. Microcenter isn’t doing anything but rebranding eSun or Polymaker made filament.
I also use Inland, haven’t had any issues with the filament. All the problems are my printer settings.
I’ve really like the Overture PLA Plus that I’ve used so far. Makes nice prints with fine details. Threads on a support stand screw came out much better I expected. Using an Ender 3 S1 Pro with the 0.4mm tip. Just got a roll of Polymaker PLA Pro in the mail today actually, hoping I have time to try it this weekend. Expecting good things from it.
I’m a huge fan of Overture 3D matte PLA. It’s inexpensive, and just prints really well with few problems.
Jesse PLA from Printed Solid is my go to. Great range of colors for $21/kg and it prints like it’s $30/kg filament.
I’ll also throw my vote on Jesse, with mention of Prusament. Both have been fantastic quality.
And it’s named after their dog.
Jesse FTW. It’s so consistently good. I’m through about 15kg so far without a single hiccup.
Yeah, I’ve had no complaints. I subscribed to their filament of the month club for a while, but it was 2kg every month and I soon ran out of storage space.
ESun pla plus. Consistent, reasonably priced in quantity, rarely out of stock.
I would say the same but I have five rolls of theirs that no matter how long they dry they basically crumble apart, did it right from the bag too. So I dunno what’s up with their QC but that’s pretty bad.
Ouch. I wonder what causes that? I’ve had good luck, I guess.
Honestly don’t know either. Never had this happen before but surprisingly if I’m careful it prints fine if I don’t use the ams. 🤷
Anything locally sourceable. For me it’s a local company called Eureka Technologies that sells filament for a good price, but also in between batch filaments called Random for $8 that’s perfect for prototyping.
Other than that there is a local Canada Computer that sells ANet, Sunlu, and flash forge filament that works well enough.
Which is Natureworks PLA. I suspect a number of the types listed in this thread is as well. Eureka is nice in that they list exactly which source material it is right on the spool. Plus they use cardboard spools with the empty spool weight listed. Brilliant.
For PLA, Overture is what I use for my painterly prints and primary colors. Hatchbox for some of their more interesting designy options. Polymaker when neither of the first two is what I want.
Upvote for Overture, my favorite.
Sunlu pla plus from Amazon. Has been very reliable through different colors and spools on my ender clone.
Our defuault PLA at work is all recycled stuff from Reflow, especially the candy collection.
Recycled PLA for prototyping all the way! ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪
Polymaker
Polymaker polylite PLA pro. The Polymax PLA is more expensive and less rigid. The PLA pro is only $2 more a kilo than regular polylite PLA and significantly stronger. Many colors are more matte than esun PLA + which is similar in cost and performance.
Yeah I love ploymax too. The pro prints thick though so you have to go hotter and slower. Their polylite PLA is still really great and has more colors so I like using it for for fast prototypes and things that don’t need the strength.
Honestly their petg is a go to as well. I found prints to be much more consistent and better quality than similar cheaper petg I’ve been tempted to try by Amazon deals.
Not just for PLA either, they are my default brand for all filament unless they don’t make the filament I need/want for a project. Reasonably priced, consistently available, and high quality.
Love polymaker for the natural filament.
Polymaker (specifically Polyterra for PLA). I occasionally use Prusament when I get freebies from Printables but it’s far too expensive for general printing.
Inland is good.
Ive not actually had a truely bad roll of PLA but I also don’t bargin hunt on Amazon.
Esun pla+ has never failed me although Sunlu/JAYO’s meta pla isn’t bad either
I’ve had a lot of success with atomic filament. It is a little more expensive, but it’s US made. Push plastic is another US based brand I’ve had a lot of success with.
Both are $30 for their 1 kg spools, but they both offer 3 kg spools at a better price point per kg. I personally like larger spools. It helps me avoid the fear of hitting the bottom of the spool as often and I usually only need one color at a time.
For various colors, I honestly like IID Max PLA+. I’ve never had trouble printing with them. With their bulk ordering you’re looking at about $12/kg
I use hatchbox, they have plenty of colors and I haven’t had any quality issues with them. Probably only like 2 bucks a roll more than the cheap stuff anyway
Hatchbox seconded. They’re pretty consistent as far as quality goes. Unfortunately they don’t always have their full selection available.
