Which material is strongest?

For most real-world purposes, PETG: it takes impact and bending without snapping. PLA is technically stiffer and holds more static load, but it fails suddenly and brittly. If a part must survive being dropped or knocked, choose PETG.

What should I use for a car part?

Nothing inside a car should be PLA: interiors easily pass 60 °C in summer. PETG for cabin parts, ABS or ASA for anything in the engine bay or permanently in the sun.

Can printed parts go in the dishwasher?

PLA will deform: a dishwasher runs hotter than PLA can take. PETG and ABS generally survive it, but we would still wash a printed part by hand in cool water.

PLA, on both counts: the filament costs less and it prints faster, so you pay for fewer machine hours. TPU is the most expensive per part because it has to print slowly.

Can you match a specific colour?

We stock a range and can usually get close. Exact colour matching to a sample is not something filament does reliably, so if the shade matters, tell us before we print and we will check what we can source.

Which material should your part be printed in?

Most people pick a material by name and hope. It is simpler than that: nearly every decision comes down to two questions: does it get hot, and does it live outside?

Material	Best for	Worth knowing
PLA	Models, prototypes, display pieces, indoor parts	Cheapest, sharpest detail, most colours. Softens around 55 °C, so never leave it in a parked car.
PETG	Functional parts, brackets, outdoor use, wet areas	Tougher than PLA and holds up to sun and water. Our default for anything that has a job to do.
ABS / ASA	Engine bay, car exterior, high heat, machinable parts	Handles ~90 °C and can be sanded or glued easily. Costs more in machine time.
TPU	Gaskets, bumpers, grips, seals, flexible clips	Rubber-like and effectively unbreakable. Slow to print, so pricier per part.

The short version

If the part sits indoors and mostly needs to look right, print PLA. If it has a job to do, gets handled, or ever sees sun or water, print PETG. Those two cover the large majority of what we print.

Go to ABS or ASA when things get genuinely hot: an engine bay, a part in direct summer sun on a dashboard. Go to TPU when the part needs to bend, grip or seal.

Heat is what catches people out

PLA is the most common filament in the world and the one that surprises people. It starts to soften around 55 °C. A car parked in Ohrid in July goes well past that, so a PLA phone mount on a dashboard will sag into a curve by August. A PETG one will not.

This is the single most frequent reason a printed part fails in real use, and it is entirely avoidable by naming where the part is going to live when you order.

Sunlight, water and the outdoors

UV breaks PLA down: it goes brittle and chalky after a season outside. PETG holds up far better and shrugs off rain, which is why it is our default for anything on a boat, a terrace or a garden.

ASA is the proper choice for a part that lives outdoors permanently and has to stay strong for years. It is what car exterior trim is made from.

Strength is not one property

A part can fail by snapping, by bending, by wearing through or by softening, and no single material wins all four. PLA is the stiffest and takes the most load before it bends, but it snaps without warning. PETG bends further before it gives and absorbs impact much better, which is usually what 'strong' means in practice.

Layer direction matters at least as much as material. A printed part is much weaker across its layers than along them, so tell us which way a part gets loaded and we will orient it to suit.

Food, skin and safety

We do not sell printed parts as food-safe. The plastics themselves are usually fine, but the layer lines trap bacteria in a way no washing reliably clears, so a printed cup or cutting board is not a good idea regardless of filament.

For a part that only touches dry food briefly (a cookie cutter, a coffee scoop, a stencil) it is a reasonable everyday risk that many people accept. For anything reused with wet food, we will tell you to buy the real thing.

Filament in stock right now

Material	Colour	Price per gram
PLA	Black	2.80 MKD
PLA	White	2.52 MKD
PETG	Yellow	2.10 MKD
ABS	Black	2.80 MKD
ABS	Silver	2.80 MKD
TPE	Black	4.20 MKD
PETG	REd	2.52 MKD

Loaded and ready to print. Ask us if you need a colour that isn't listed.

Common questions

Which material is strongest?: For most real-world purposes, PETG: it takes impact and bending without snapping. PLA is technically stiffer and holds more static load, but it fails suddenly and brittly. If a part must survive being dropped or knocked, choose PETG.
What should I use for a car part?: Nothing inside a car should be PLA: interiors easily pass 60 °C in summer. PETG for cabin parts, ABS or ASA for anything in the engine bay or permanently in the sun.
Can printed parts go in the dishwasher?: PLA will deform: a dishwasher runs hotter than PLA can take. PETG and ABS generally survive it, but we would still wash a printed part by hand in cool water.
Which is cheapest?: PLA, on both counts: the filament costs less and it prints faster, so you pay for fewer machine hours. TPU is the most expensive per part because it has to print slowly.
Can you match a specific colour?: We stock a range and can usually get close. Exact colour matching to a sample is not something filament does reliably, so if the shade matters, tell us before we print and we will check what we can source.

Not sure which to pick?

Upload your model and say where the part will be used. We will flag it if the material you chose is wrong for the job.

Upload a model