Troubleshooting

How do I stop oozing between moves?

Q: How do I stop oozing between moves?

Shorten retraction to about 0.5–1 mm on a direct drive and 4–6 mm on a Bowden, lower the nozzle temperature inside the spool’s listed range, dry the filament, and turn on wipe or coasting. Bambu’s PLA Basic sheet lists retraction at 0.6–1.0 mm, inside the direct-drive band.

First in this ranking: Bambu Lab PLA Basic.

Nozzle190–230 °C (374–446 °F)
Bed35–45 °C (95–113 °F)
Speedup to 300 mm/s
Dry50 °C (122 °F) for 8 h
Density1.24 g/cm³

Ranked filaments

Rank	Filament	Material	Nozzle	Bed	Price / kg	Datasheet	Buy
1	Bambu Lab PLA BasicPLA Basic. The sheet lists a nozzle of 190–230 °C (374–446 °F), a bed of 35–45 °C (95–113 °F), and retraction of 0.6–1.0 mm at 20–40 mm/s. Lowering temperature means moving down inside 190–230 °C (374–446 °F), not under 190 °C (374 °F).	PLA	190–230 °C (374–446 °F)	35–45 °C (95–113 °F)	—	Datasheet	Search Amazon
2	Polymaker Polylite PLAPolyLite PLA. The catalog stores a nozzle of 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and a bed of 25–60 °C (77–140 °F), and drying at 55 °C (131 °F) for 6 h on the US product page. Retraction length is not a field on the row.	PLA	190–230 °C (374–446 °F)	25–60 °C (77–140 °F)	—	Datasheet	Check price at Amazon
3	Prusament PLAPrusament PLA. The catalog stores a narrower nozzle, 205–225 °C (401–437 °F), and a bed of 40–60 °C (104–140 °F). A lower temperature still has to stay inside that range.	PLA	205–225 °C (401–437 °F)	40–60 °C (104–140 °F)	—	—	Search Amazon
4	Polymaker Polylite PETGPolyLite PETG with a datasheet. The catalog stores a nozzle of 220–250 °C (428–482 °F) and a bed of 70–90 °C (158–194 °F). The same retraction bands apply. This row does not store a retraction length.	PETG	220–250 °C (428–482 °F)	70–90 °C (158–194 °F)	—	Datasheet	Search Amazon

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Ooze between travels is pressure left in the nozzle. Retraction, temperature, and a dry spool are the three levers this consensus actually names.

Retraction by extruder

Direct drive: about 0.5–1 mm. Bowden: about 4–6 mm. The P1S and P1P records describe a direct-drive extruder, so they take the short band. Bambu PLA Basic TDS V3.0 lists retraction of 0.6–1.0 mm at 20–40 mm/s, which sits in that band. The sheet does not say the number is universal.

A retraction that is long for the extruder is also on the clog list. Do not “fix” ooze by adding several millimeters on a direct drive.

Temperature and moisture

Lower the nozzle temperature inside the row you loaded. Prusament PLA stores 205–225 °C (401–437 °F), so 200 °C (392 °F) is outside that row even if another PLA allows it. PolyLite PLA stores 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and drying at 55 °C (131 °F) for 6 h. Dry before you decide the slicer is wrong. The drying guide has the material bands.

Wipe or coasting is the travel cleanup the consensus adds after those two. This import does not store a wipe distance or a coast volume.

What to calibrate next

If the blobs stay on the seam after retraction is in band, that is blobs and zits and flow and pressure advance, not a longer retraction. Stringing that is still there after a dry spool is the stringing guide.

Pros and cons

Pros

The retraction bands are split by extruder type, which is the part people copy wrong.
Temperature advice stays inside each row’s nozzle range instead of a single ooze temperature.

Cons

Retraction length is not stored on PolyLite or Prusament rows. Only the Bambu PLA Basic sheet, read for this page, lists 0.6–1.0 mm.
Coasting can leave a gap at the end of a line. The consensus names it. It does not give a coast distance.

Printer considerations

The P1S and P1P records describe a direct-drive extruder. Use the 0.5–1 mm band there, which matches the 0.6–1.0 mm retraction on the PLA Basic sheet. The X1 Carbon record does not say direct drive, so do not copy that band onto it from this page.
Bowden printers are the 4–6 mm case in this consensus. A Bowden length pasted into a direct drive is the long retraction the clog page warns about.
Wipe and coasting are slicer features named by the consensus. They are not fields in the filament table.

Printer limits

What the community says

The consensus is to tune retraction, about 0.5–1 mm on direct drive and 4–6 mm on Bowden, lower the temperature, dry the filament, and enable wipe or coasting.

Sources & notes

Accessed 15 October 2026.

Bambu PLA Basic technical data sheet V3.0 datasheet
PolyLite PLA technical data sheet datasheet
PolyLite PETG technical data sheet datasheet
Community source, r/3Dprinting 105sfr7 reddit
Community source, r/FixMyPrint 1dz9tey reddit
Community source, r/BambuLab 178627o reddit
Community source, r/FixMyPrint un6als reddit
Community source, r/FixMyPrint vslh1y reddit

Answer JSON · Markdown

Questions

Should I drop below the filament’s minimum nozzle temperature to stop ooze?

No. Lower means toward the bottom of the stored range. Under the minimum is the cold nozzle the clog guide treats as a cause, not a fix.

Is 0.6–1.0 mm the retraction for PETG too?

That number is on the Bambu PLA Basic sheet. The community band for direct drive is 0.5–1 mm for this question, without a separate PETG figure. PolyLite PETG does not store a retraction length. Start inside the direct-drive band on a direct drive, and do not invent a PETG-only distance.