What is PLA Filament?
PLA is short for polylactic acid, and it’s been the standard plastic used in 3D printing since the inception of the technology. Indeed, many off-the-shelf 3D printers are designed specifically to be used with PLA. It is by far the most popular filament on sale at the moment.
3D printer PLA filament has decent strength for most everyday purposes, such as models, demonstration designs for objects that will be machined or cast in real life, general household objects and such like. As it’s cheap, it is also useful for teaching and learning the art of 3D printing, and sizing prototypes for objects that will be 3D printed using other, more specialist, materials.
The material is well-loved because it is available in a whole range of colours, whether that’s standard plastic colours or specialist effects like metallic, wood, fluorescent or clear 3D printer filament.
Its main drawback, in terms of its regular use, is that it can be brittle once hardened, and can shatter if dropped or snap if flexed too much. However, if this weakness is taken into account when choosing a filament and care is taken in design and use, it is rarely a problem.