🧵 10 min read
Stringing & Retraction Guide
Those thin threads ruining your prints? Here's a systematic approach to eliminate them.
What Causes Stringing
Stringing = hot plastic + residual pressure. The solution: reduce pressure (retraction) or reduce fluidity (lower temp).
💡 Key insight: Temperature is often more impactful than retraction. A 5°C reduction can do more than 2mm of extra retraction.
Retraction Settings
Distance
How far filament is pulled back.
Direct Drive: 0.5-4mm
Bowden: 4-8mm
Speed
How fast filament is pulled back.
Typical: 25-50mm/s
Sweet spot: ~35mm/s
⚠️ Direct Drive Warning: Never exceed 4-5mm retraction. More can cause heat creep and jams.
Temperature Optimization
Lower temp = thicker plastic = less oozing. Find the lowest temp that still gives good layer adhesion.
Too Cold
Poor adhesion
Perfect ✓
Minimal stringing
Too Hot
Excessive stringing
Test Print Methods
🗼 Retraction Tower: Different retraction distances per section.
🌡️ Temperature Tower: Different temps per section.
🏛️ Stringing Test: Two thin towers with travel moves between them.
Material Settings
| Material | Retraction | Temp |
|---|---|---|
| PLA | 2-4mm / 4-6mm | 190-210°C |
| PETG | 3-5mm / 5-8mm | 225-240°C |
| ABS | 3-5mm / 5-8mm | 230-250°C |
| TPU | 0-2mm / 2-4mm | 220-235°C |
Quick Fix Checklist
- 1. Lower temperature by 5-10°C
- 2. Increase retraction by 0.5mm
- 3. Increase travel speed to 150+ mm/s
- 4. Enable coasting (0.1-0.2mm)
- 5. If nothing works: dry your filament!