KVP - PLA Filament - Red

PLA Color Chart

What is the PLA Filament Made From?

The most commonly used 3D printing material today, PLA 3D filament materials are biodegradable thermoplastics made from cornstarch, tapioca roots, sugar cane, or potato starch. This makes it the most environmentally friendly 3D printing material, and one of the easiest 3D printing materials to use. Being considerably less toxic than other petrochemical-based plastics, PLA 3D prints are suitable in biomedical applications.

Where can you use PLA Filament

Most commonly, PLA filaments are used in making food packaging (candy wrappers, containers, and cups), disposable tableware and garments, bags, and biodegradable medical implants. It is not recommended in thin or high-strength applications.

Using it as a Printing Material

With a lower temperature threshold than other popular 3D printing materials, PLA often extrudes at about 195°C to 215°C. A heated print bed is not necessary to render designs on PLA filaments, but heating the bed plate to 60°C can improve the quality of the finished product. The material also flows better, so you can render more detailed designs and achieve defined corners in faster speeds.

As a finished product, PLA prints are brittle out of the press but are tough once they are cooled down. It only emits a slight odor, described as sweet, like corn or maple syrup, so a fume hood is not necessary when printing PLA. You can sand it down to achieve a glossy finish, and you can paint the surface with acrylic paint (some suggest using a primer first).

For biomedical applications, it is generally recommended to avoid pigmented PLA 3D printer filaments. The coloring agent may not be non-toxic like the material itself.

Polylactic Acid (PLA) filament is the most common 3D printing material used in the 3D printing industry today. The premium bioplastic product is made from renewable natural resources and is biodegradable. Not recommended for thin, high strength applications. Through our quality-oriented process, Keene Village Plastics manufactures Performance PLA (Polylactic Acid) 3D printing filaments that are faithful to industry standards while surpassing quality expectations for this material.

Features & Benefits

- Bio-friendly
- Easy to use
- Minimal warping and shrinking
- Can be painted