Picking a material is the first decision in any custom print, and it matters more than most people expect. The wrong one means a part that warps in the sun, snaps under load, or softens near heat. The right one means a part that just works, for years.
Start with what the part has to survive. Before thinking about plastic names, think about the part's life. Will it carry weight or just sit on a shelf? Will it sit in the sun, near heat, or in water? Does it need to bend, or must it stay rigid? Will it rub against something else over and over? The answers point straight at the right material, and they're exactly what our order form asks about. If you can describe the part's job, we can match the plastic — even if you've never heard of any of these names.
Here's the quick version of how we choose:
PLA — for decorative and low-stress parts. Display models, prototypes, desk pieces. It's plant-based, prints with crisp detail, and it's our everyday go-to when a part doesn't need to fight for its life. Not for heat, outdoors, or heavy loads. One thing worth knowing: PLA is plant-based, but it only breaks down under industrial composting conditions — high, sustained heat that a backyard pile or a landfill doesn't reach. So don't pick PLA because it sounds greener; pick it because your part is decorative, detailed, and staying indoors.
Ball Python Fidget Keychain, printed in PLA.
PETG — the everyday workhorse. Tough brackets, holders, containers, and parts that see moisture. If your part needs to take a beating but doesn't face extreme heat or sun, this is usually the answer. PETG handles warmth and water far better than PLA, which is why it's the default for functional parts around the house: a bracket that holds something up, a holder that gets grabbed daily, a container that gets wet. It can be mechanically recycled, though in practice that means specialist processors, not your curbside bin — so we don't sell it as a green choice, we sell it as a tough one.
TPU — for anything that needs to bend. Grips, gaskets, bumpers, vibration dampers, protective guards, and drone parts that should flex instead of snap. TPU is the rubber of the 3D printing world. A rigid plastic guard cracks on impact; a TPU guard absorbs it and bounces back. That flex is also why it's the right call for anything that grips, seals, or cushions — phone grips, tool bumpers, gaskets that actually need to seal, and drone parts that meet the ground harder than planned.
A printed FPV transmitter protector.
ABS — strong and heat-resistant, with a smooth finish. Enclosures, indoor mechanical parts, and parts that sit near heat. Just not outdoors — sunlight makes it yellow and brittle over time. ABS has one more trick the others don't: it can be smoothed to a near-injection-moulded finish, which makes it a good pick when a part needs to look as good as it works — an enclosure on display, a housing with visible surfaces.
ASA — the outdoor one. Same family as ABS, but built to handle sun and weather without fading or weakening. Garden parts, signs, vehicle mounts, outdoor housings. If your part lives outside permanently, ASA is where the conversation starts — it's the only everyday filament designed for that job. (We go deeper on this in our post about which plastic survives outdoors.)
Nylon — for parts that move. Gears, hinges, bushings, anything that rubs or slides against something else. Strong and wear-resistant. Nylon's one quirk: it absorbs moisture from the air, which can soften it and make printing trickier, so it needs to be kept dry before printing and sealed or chosen carefully for wet environments. Get that right and it's the toughest wearing plastic we offer.
Polycarbonate — for parts under real load. Structural brackets, protective covers, and parts that can't afford to fail. Our strongest, most heat-resistant material. Polycarbonate is the pick when failure isn't an option — a bracket holding real weight, a cover protecting something expensive. It needs higher printing temperatures than the everyday plastics, which is part of why it's an engineering material and not an everyday one.
Carbon-fiber blends — stiff and light. Drone frames and mounts, brackets, and any part where flex would ruin the job. The carbon fibers make the part dramatically stiffer without adding weight — exactly what a drone frame or a precision bracket wants. One practical note: carbon fiber is abrasive, so these blends wear out standard printer nozzles faster and are printed with hardened nozzles. That's our problem, not yours — but it's part of why they're priced as engineering materials.
An everyday functional print: Desk Organizer / Brush Holder.
What to tell us when you order. You don't need to know any of these names. The most useful things you can tell us are: what the part is for, where it will live (indoors, outdoors, near heat, in water), whether it carries weight or moves, and roughly how big it is. A photo of where it goes, or of the broken part it's replacing, helps even more. Rough dimensions help too — a part the size of a coin and a part the size of a shoebox are different jobs, and knowing the size up front means a faster, more accurate quote. With that, we'll match the material — and if two materials could both work, we'll tell you the trade-off and let you choose.
Strength isn't one thing. When people say they want a "strong" part, they usually mean one of three different things, and the right material depends on which one. Stiffness means the part won't flex — that's PLA and carbon-fiber blends, great for brackets and frames that must hold their shape. Toughness means the part can take a hit without cracking — that's PETG and polycarbonate, the right call for parts that get dropped, knocked, or loaded suddenly. Flexibility means the part bends and comes back — that's TPU, for grips, guards, and seals. And then there's wear: parts that rub or slide, like gears and hinges, want nylon. Telling us which kind of "strong" you need is one of the fastest ways to land on the right material.
A quick picker. Decorative and indoors? PLA. Everyday functional around the house? PETG. Needs to bend, grip, or absorb impact? TPU. Near heat but indoors? ABS. Outside permanently? ASA. Rubs, slides, or moves? Nylon. Holds real weight or protects something expensive? Polycarbonate. Must be stiff but light, like a drone part? A carbon-fiber blend. If your part ticks two boxes — say, outdoors and load-bearing — tell us both, and we'll weigh the trade-off with you.
If you're still not sure, that's normal. Not sure which one your part needs? That's the most common question we get, and it's exactly why our custom order form has a "Not sure yet — help me choose" option. Tell us what the part has to survive — heat, sunlight, flexing, heavy load, friction — and we'll match the material to the job.
Start a custom order on our Custom-Print Order page, and let's print something that lasts.