{
  "question": "How do I fix stringing?",
  "slug": "stringing",
  "useCase": "troubleshooting",
  "useCaseLabel": "Troubleshooting",
  "updated": "2026-10-15",
  "shortAnswer": "Dry the spool first, then lower nozzle temperature within the manufacturer range and tune retraction (Bowden needs more distance than direct drive) before chasing exotic slicer tricks.",
  "recommendedMaterials": [
    "pla",
    "petg"
  ],
  "printerConsiderations": [
    "Bowden and direct drive need different retraction distances. This cluster does not publish a millimeter value of its own.",
    "A lower nozzle temperature still has to sit inside the row you loaded. 200 °C (392 °F) is inside PLA Basic's 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and outside PETG HF's 230–260 °C (446–500 °F).",
    "The P1S and P1P records describe a direct-drive extruder. Do not paste a long Bowden retraction into that setup."
  ],
  "pros": [
    "Drying comes before retraction, which is the order the summary gives.",
    "The temperature step stays inside each catalog range."
  ],
  "cons": [
    "The highest-scored comments on two cited threads are jokes. They are not the process.",
    "Retraction length is stored on the PLA Basic sheet and missing on the ELEGOO PLA Plus and PETG HF rows. This page does not copy 0.6–1.0 mm onto those rows."
  ],
  "community": "The editorial summary is that stringing is usually wet filament or a nozzle that is too hot. Dry the spool first, then tune retraction, and run a temperature tower inside the manufacturer range. The caveat is that Bowden and direct drive need very different retraction. Top comments mention PLA, TPU, and PETG. This page ranks the PLA and PETG rows that have catalog temperatures. It does not add a TPU retraction distance.",
  "related": [
    "drying",
    "ooze",
    "petg_print",
    "pla_print",
    "flow"
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What retraction distance fixes stringing?",
      "a": "This cluster does not publish one. The Bambu PLA Basic sheet lists 0.6–1.0 mm at 20–40 mm/s. ELEGOO PLA Plus and Bambu PETG HF do not store a retraction length. Bowden needs more distance than direct drive. The ooze guide records the community bands by extruder type."
    },
    {
      "q": "Are the top comments the consensus?",
      "a": "No. On two of the cited threads the highest-scored comments are jokes. The process on this page is the editorial summary: dry first, then temperature inside the catalog range, then retraction."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Bambu PLA Basic technical data sheet V3.0",
      "url": "https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0584/7236/6216/files/Bambu_PLA_Basic_Technical_Data_Sheet_bf3411ce-be39-4db7-9669-1b4671d2196b.pdf?v=1734060943",
      "kind": "datasheet"
    },
    {
      "title": "ELEGOO PLA Plus US product page",
      "url": "https://us.elegoo.com/products/pla-plus-filament-1-75mm-black-10kg",
      "kind": "manufacturer"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bambu Lab PETG HF technical data sheet",
      "url": "https://store.bblcdn.com/ce12d65176a94f1086e6aefa238e62e2.pdf",
      "kind": "datasheet"
    },
    {
      "title": "Community source, r/3Dprinting 105sfr7",
      "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/105sfr7/",
      "kind": "reddit"
    },
    {
      "title": "Community source, r/ender3 10sw6kh",
      "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/ender3/comments/10sw6kh/",
      "kind": "reddit"
    },
    {
      "title": "Community source, r/FixMyPrint 1ol83cb",
      "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/FixMyPrint/comments/1ol83cb/",
      "kind": "reddit"
    },
    {
      "title": "Community source, r/FixMyPrint y8qwjl",
      "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/FixMyPrint/comments/y8qwjl/",
      "kind": "reddit"
    }
  ],
  "recommendations": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "note": "Bambu PLA Basic technical data sheet V3.0. Nozzle 190–230 °C (374–446 °F), bed 35–45 °C (95–113 °F), blast-oven drying 50 °C (122 °F) for 8 h. The same sheet lists retraction of 0.6–1.0 mm at 20–40 mm/s. That distance is this spool's sheet, not a Bowden setting.",
      "brand": "Bambu Lab",
      "product": "PLA Basic",
      "material": "PLA",
      "url": "/brand/bambu-lab/pla-basic",
      "nozzle": "190–230 °C (374–446 °F)",
      "bed": "35–45 °C (95–113 °F)",
      "pricePerKg": null,
      "datasheetUrl": "https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0584/7236/6216/files/Bambu_PLA_Basic_Technical_Data_Sheet_bf3411ce-be39-4db7-9669-1b4671d2196b.pdf?v=1734060943",
      "affiliateUrl": null
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "note": "ELEGOO PLA Plus US product page, checked 15 October 2026. Nozzle 200–230 °C (392–446 °F), bed 35–65 °C (95–149 °F), drying 50 ± 5 °C (122 ± 9 °F) for 8 h. Retraction length is not in our sources.",
      "brand": "ELEGOO",
      "product": "PLA Plus",
      "material": "PLA+",
      "url": "/brand/elegoo/pla-plus",
      "nozzle": "200–230 °C (392–446 °F)",
      "bed": "35–65 °C (95–149 °F)",
      "pricePerKg": null,
      "datasheetUrl": null,
      "affiliateUrl": null
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "note": "Bambu PETG HF technical data sheet. Nozzle 230–260 °C (446–500 °F), bed 65–75 °C (149–167 °F), drying 65 °C (149 °F) for 8 h. Retraction length is not in our sources. Lower the nozzle inside 230–260 °C (446–500 °F).",
      "brand": "Bambu Lab",
      "product": "PETG HF",
      "material": "PETG",
      "url": "/brand/bambu-lab/petg-hf",
      "nozzle": "230–260 °C (446–500 °F)",
      "bed": "65–75 °C (149–167 °F)",
      "pricePerKg": null,
      "datasheetUrl": "https://store.bblcdn.com/ce12d65176a94f1086e6aefa238e62e2.pdf",
      "affiliateUrl": null
    }
  ]
}