Filament Basics and Your First Filament

There is a wide variety of filament types out there to choose from. Without a doubt PLA is the only choice for your first filament. Filament comes in:

• Two diameters: 1.75 mm and 3.00 mm (actually 2.85 mm). Nearly all current printers use 1.75 mm filament.
• Various spool weights. By far the most popular is 1.0 kilogram. The length may vary somewhat but generally this ends up as 300+ meters of 1.75 mm filament. That will go a long way. Lesser spools tend to not be economical and bigger spools are just too bulky for the hobbyist. There are exceptions of course.
• Colors and transparency. If someone can think of it then you can probably find it. Color choices also vary by filament type and composition. Pick your first colors based on your possible use. Purple is probably not a good choice but red, blue, green, white, and black are universally useful. There will be different shades also like dark blue and light blue.
• Filament types. There are many but PLA is by far the most popular. Stick with PLA until you get comfortable using your printer and know more about what your printer is capable of.

• Price. Good PLA is available for about $20 per kilogram delivered in the United States. Premium PLA can be as much as $50 per kilogram. I have no experience with any of the premium products but I do have experience with the $20 filaments and have found them pretty good. You should avoid anything much cheaper. $19 is probably OK but $15 is probably going too far. It's not worth gunking up your printer to save a few bucks. You get what you pay for - I have found out the hard way!
• Where is it coming from? This is actually two questions in one. First is where was the filament made. Second is where is it shipped from. A lot of this comes from foreign shores and is generally quite good. Others are made in the United States (or your local country). Consider how long it will take from the time you order your filament until the day it comes to your door.
• Packaging. You should expect your spool of filament to be vacuum sealed in a thick plastic to keep out any moisture. PLA isn't really sensitive to moisture but you never know what long term exposure may have done to the filament. If what you get isn't sealed up then you should probably avoid that source in the future.
• After you open the filament. I recommend that you keep your open spools of filament, even PLA, in a sealed bag. Some come in a re-closable plastic bag but my one experience with that was a failure. Buy some 2 or 2-1/2 gallon zipper bags. The 1 gallon bags are NOT big enough. I'm using Hefty 2-1/2 gallon zipper lock bags that I bought from Target and they work great.