Fixing Stringing
Fine hairs between towers, tiny blobs on the surface — stringing is the most common cosmetic defect. Work through this list in order.
1. Dry your filament
Wet PETG, PLA and Nylon always string. If your spool has been open for weeks, dry it at 45–65 °C for 4–8 hours before troubleshooting anything else.
2. Lower the nozzle temperature
Print a temperature tower and pick the lowest setting where the print still fully bonds. Even 5 °C matters.
3. Tune retraction with a retraction tower
- Direct drive: start at 0.5–1.0 mm, 30–50 mm/s
- Bowden: 4–6 mm, 30–45 mm/s
4. Enable coasting or wipe
Both features let the nozzle relieve pressure at the end of a wall before it travels — often more effective than adding retraction.
5. Combing / travel avoid
Set travel to avoid printed parts so any leaking filament stays inside the model, invisible from outside.
6. Faster travel moves
150–250 mm/s travel dramatically reduces the time filament has to ooze during long moves.