PETG strings worse than PLA because it stays tacky and oozes more freely during travel moves. It needs longer retraction, slightly lower temperatures, faster travel, and thorough drying since PETG is highly hygroscopic and moisture worsens stringing severely.
Switch from PLA to PETG stringing suddenly becomes the thing that ruins your prints, with fine wispy threads bridging every gap. PETG is not faultier filament, it just behaves differently: it stays tacky and oozes more freely during travel moves, and it soaks up moisture from the air far more eagerly. Treat it like PLA and you get cobwebs. Tune for its quirks and it prints clean.
PETG strings because it stays molten and tacky longer than PLA and absorbs moisture readily. Fix it with longer retraction, a slightly lower nozzle temperature (try 230 to 235C), faster travel moves (150 to 200mm/s), and thorough drying, since wet PETG strings badly. Dry damp spools at around 65C for 4 to 6 hours and the difference is immediate.
Two properties explain it. First, PETG has a wider melt window and stays gooey during travel, so when the nozzle lifts and moves across an open gap, plastic keeps weeping out and leaves a thread. Second, PETG is strongly hygroscopic: it pulls water vapour out of the air, and that absorbed moisture boils inside the hot nozzle, spitting out as extra strings, blobs, and a faint crackling sound. PLA tolerates a bit of neglect; PETG punishes it.
Before touching slicer settings, rule out moisture, because it is the single biggest cause of sudden PETG stringing. If a spool that printed cleanly last month now strings everywhere, it has almost certainly absorbed water. Dry it at roughly 65C for 4 to 6 hours in a filament dryer or low oven, then store it in an airtight box with desiccant so it stays dry. Many "impossible" stringing problems vanish the moment the filament is properly dried, so do this before assuming your settings are wrong.
Once the filament is dry, work through these adjustments.
PETG needs more retraction pull-back than PLA to counter its tendency to ooze. On a direct-drive setup, roughly 0.8 to 2mm is a sensible range; on a Bowden setup, more like 4 to 6mm because of the longer path. Pair that with a quicker retraction speed than you would use for PLA, around 60 to 70mm/s, so the filament is yanked back before it can weep.
Run PETG slightly cooler. Dropping the nozzle by 5 to 10C, into the 230 to 235C region for many filaments, is often enough to stop stringing without hurting layer adhesion. The cleanest way to find your exact number is a temperature tower, a single print that steps through temperatures so you can see where stringing fades while the layers still bond strongly.
Faster travel gives the molten plastic less time to leak across a gap. Raising travel speed to around 150 to 200mm/s is usually safe for most machines and immediately shortens the window where a string can form. Enabling a wipe before travel also helps clean the nozzle tip as it moves off.
Two smaller settings can finish the job. Keep your part cooling fan modest, around 30 to 50 percent rather than full blast, since too much cooling weakens PETG's layer bonding. And if heavy stringing persists, try turning Z-hop off, as the lift-and-drop motion can give oozing plastic an extra moment to escape. For the printers that handle PETG well and the maintenance gear that keeps them running, the 3D printer range at Evetech is a good place to start, with consumables and tools in the accessories best sellers.
PETG stays tacky and oozes more freely during travel moves, and it absorbs moisture from the air far more readily than PLA. Both traits push extra plastic out where you do not want it, so PETG needs more retraction, cooler temperatures, and dry filament to print as cleanly.
Try the 230 to 235C range, dropping 5 to 10C from a hotter setting. A temperature tower is the reliable way to find your exact sweet spot, where stringing fades but layers still bond well. Every filament differs slightly, so test rather than guess.
Dry it at around 65C for 4 to 6 hours in a filament dryer or low oven, then store it in an airtight container with desiccant. Wet PETG strings badly because the absorbed moisture boils in the nozzle, so drying often fixes stringing on its own.
Yes. Faster travel, around 150 to 200mm/s for most machines, gives molten plastic less time to weep across a gap, which directly reduces strings. Combine it with proper retraction and a wipe before travel for the cleanest result.
Want PETG prints without the cobwebs? Browse the 3D printer range at Evetech and pair a capable machine with dry filament and the settings above for clean, string-free results.
PETG stays tacky and oozes more freely during travel moves, and it absorbs moisture from the air far more readily than PLA. Both traits push extra plastic out where you do not want it, so PETG needs more retraction, cooler temperatures, and dry filament to print as cleanly.
Try the 230 to 235C range, dropping 5 to 10C from a hotter setting. A temperature tower is the reliable way to find your exact sweet spot, where stringing fades but layers still bond well. Every filament differs slightly, so test rather than guess.
Dry it at around 65C for 4 to 6 hours in a filament dryer or low oven, then store it in an airtight container with desiccant. Wet PETG strings badly because the absorbed moisture boils in the nozzle, so drying often fixes stringing on its own.
Yes. Faster travel, around 150 to 200mm/s for most machines, gives molten plastic less time to weep across a gap, which directly reduces strings. Combine it with proper retraction and a wipe before travel for the cleanest result.
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