Is Cheap 3D Filament Bad?

I tested the cheapest filaments that I could find to answer the question if cheap 3D filament is bad.

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Products used in this Video:

Elegoo PLA:

Creality PLA:

Polymaker Polyterra PLA (Affiliate Link):

Geeetech PLA (Affiliate Link):

SunLu PLA + (Affiliate Link):

[GeezerGramps]

I bought a roll of Elegoo because it was cheap. It printed so good that I have found myself using it a lot.

[polycrystallinecandy]

#1 tip for using cheap filament: DRY IT

Yes, even PLA. I don't know how they manufacture it, but some cheap filament strings more and has poorer layer adhesion than filament that's been sitting out for months. Once you dry it for a few hours, it will usually become much better.

[SoloGamingZA]

As a South African the only real filament I can get at a REASONABLE price is what Americans would call cheap filament and then I still have to pay double digits for a spool (R300 = $15) Even our locally manufactured filaments are pretty expensive. I mainly use CCTREE as that is most commonly imported cheaper brand and honestly they are great.... I got a free spool of Prusament orange from Prusa that I still even cant claim as a free gift since the delivery cost does not justify me paying that amount of money I could spend on about 6 or 7 rolls of cheaper filament and that is just the DHL shipping cost not even customs clearance.

[JonAS-MR]

I’ve only been using Elgoo black PLA recently for my business. It has such good bed adhesion I don’t use brims anymore.

When you peel it off a textured plate it feels almost like a heat activated adhesive is mixed into the PLA. I’ve performed drop tests with my parts and Elgoo black has far less inter layer weakness than Inland, hatchbox, and Esun.

It’s perfectly wound based on the 40 spools I’ve printed so far, compared to inland where I had filament snap or snag 7 times in 60 spools.

[TopherTheLost]

For the last 2 years I've not spent more than $13/kg for basic PLA or ABS. My only issues are finding good colors, cheap filament is limited. Right now I'm using Elegoo and Sunlu, both a few kg over last month. I will say that a spool is generally used within a few days after being opened. Oh the PLA is on open machines and humidity is 42% in my print area as I type this.


I've been in this hobby since 2017 and in the past cheap filament always bit me in the butt. Today I don't think it's much of an issue. If Slant3d gets their production off the ground I may start buying American again.

[GreySectoid]

Interesting comparison, I too am on the budget filament boat. Currently going thru Jayo Meta PLA, seems to print very well.

[quantumperplexity]

I have the same ethos! I don't need maximum strength or the best results. I'm all about experimenting. Thanks for your review. I personally have had great results with Elegoo, Kingroon, Sunlu, and Giantarm.

[pneumantic]

Best rule of thumb, if the filament is spooled well, then its probably good filament. Also, never buy hygroscopic filament from a cheap manufacturer unless you have the means to dry it well. If you aren't buying filament with crazy mixes or unique colors and its the way I said prior, the filament will be great majority of the time no matter what the price is. Good spool windings are the first things companies throw out when going cheaper so it is a good gauge. If you really want a fun time then buy a matte grey or navy blue, in my experience those come out HORRIBLE.

[aroncheek]

I'm still learning about slicers and have only just got my first printer, now I know my way around my printer and fixed a fault from factory I'm able print from start to finish now and I'm just about to get through my first reel of the anycubic standard pla, I have got through approx half a reel of the sunlu matte white pla and they both gave me good results. My printer is the anycubic Kobra 2 neo and apart from a tensioner nut that serves one of the guide wheels for z axis being put the wrong way around my Kobra is performing well, I'm impressed with it so far I was going to send it back until I diagnosed the fault

[AndrewHelgeCox]

Colours should ideally be matched between brands/price levels as the pigments themselves have their own properties. Black and white can be particularly tricky (e.g. titanium dioxide powder for white).

[RichM]

I bought Elegoo Rapid PLA for my Creality K1C -- It works better than the creality filament. Usually I don't need to gluestick, and the prints adhere nicely to the bed, and it pops off the bed with no residue. Residue should have been part of the test as cleanup is essential too.

[birdness]

I've had good and bad results from cheap filament. It's definitely a gamble because some of it prints great, and some of it constantly clogs the nozzle even after drying.

[theo]

Elegoo PLA+ works for me. Zero problems, great prints, inexpensive. A winner.

[KirkNorthrop]

PolyMaker PolyTerra is a little more affected by moisture than other PLAs I’ve found. That could explain why your second print was better than the first. I have to use it in a dryer box.

[zUltraD]

I've been using the cheapest PLA filament i could find (70RON, about $15) and I'm printing it at like over 150mm/s just fine. It is a bit more fragile, i think, than my creality ender pla which is a bit more forgiving and flexible, but otherwise perfectly fine.

[RocktCityTim]

Three important considerations for testing like this -

Is your room environment stable - temperature and humidity?
Is your printer enclosed (Your's is, but not everyone has a P1P)?
Is your printer's print area affected by airflow (AC Vents, room fans, etc.)?

If the environment varies even by 5% humidity or 3 degrees C, it can make the same filament provide different results with exactly the same gcode file printed multiple times. A low cost tent-like enclosure was the best things that I did for each of my printers.

Welcome to the FDM Printing School of Trial and Error! 😁

[Pappagar]

I have used IIIDmax, polymaker, Jayo, Sunlu, Esun, Ziro, Hatchbox, Paramount, Inland, Eryone, and Novamaker. All were acceptable.

[oleurgast]

Actually one point to be tested: The end of the spool. Some filaments have a kink at the end of the roll. If you have a printhead with integrated filament sensor (like on the Prusa mk3s, but also with printheads based on the Orbiter 2.0 with filament sensor), this can cause problems. The kinked end is tawn inside the head, sensor detects runout and tries to unload the rest. works well with most filaments. But if there is a kink at the end, the end does not find it way out of the extruder anymore - and you have to disassemble the whole head to remove the rest of the filament from the extruder.

While I like Sunlu filament very much, as it prints very well and is quite cheap, it actually has this kink on the end 😞So I have to make sure never to run out of filament while printing with Sunlu on my mk3s - it left me with a lot of spools with some filament on it... I just had 9 spools of black Sunlu PETG and used a filament welder and spooled everything to 2 spools.

In case you have an integrated filament sensor (thats quite nice with autoload features - and very usefull with manual filament changes using M600 for toolchange), this kink is a hell in the butt. There are some ways around this issue:

1. Using a TTL-logic to join two filament runout sensors, so filament inserted is only reported when both sensors detect filament. This way autoload still functioning, as you have first sensor right after the spool (I use the sensor for the Prusa mini, actually its signal is invert to the integrated sensor, so I use a 4*NAND chip to do the logic), and the moment you insert the filament to the printhead the controler get "loaded" signal and loads the filament automaticly. If the filament run outs on the first sensor, filament runout is signaled - so the end of the filament never gets into the printhead.

2. respool the filament. While this might sound insane efford, I actually sometimes have prints using more than 1 kg filament anyway. So spooling some rolls of the most used filament onto one big spool (3...5 kg spools) actually makes sense. After winding you just cut off the kink.

3. Redesin the integrated filament sensor to be easaly disassembled even if filament is inside, so you do not have to disassamble the whole printhead. But still, disassemble filament sensor in the middle of a print is not fun, esp. if the printer is inside an enclosure. Still, this can be used adittionaly to solution 2, in case you forgot to wind to another spool or you use a brand normaly do not having a kink but you have bad luck with the spool you actually use...

[justsomemincedgarlic]

Literally all I use these days is elegoo pla+ it’s great, lots of colors and it’s durable. Print quality is fantastic.

[supertec]

I use elegoo exclusively for PLA as its a great price and it prints really well also easy to get it off Amazon next day 👍