PolyPropylene 3D Printing Filament 1.75mm 750g

Polypropylene is one of the most commercially used plastics in the world.
Its common in food contact & food preparation applications, like Milk bottles.

PP is a stiff, but slightly flexible material in a natural off-white semi-translucent colour.
Its got high chemical resistance, food contact approval, & fit for medical preparation uses at a very low price point.
The only other plastics giving this kind of chemical performance are PEI & PEEK (which cost over 4 times the price)

How to 3D Print Polypropylene?

Imagine 3D Printing Polypropylene is similar to 3D Printing Nylon & TPU.
Strongly recommend a closed frame 3d printer as a minimum, & 3d printers with Active chamber heating are highly recommended for this material.
It shrinks on cooling, & doesn’t like sticking well to common build surfaces.
We recommend sticking some PP packaging tape down (cello tape etc) on your bed first (several layers thick).
Then use some glue on it (very little glue) & 3d print the first layer very slow, & very thick.
Don’t use any Cooling fans what so ever.

Assuming a standard 0.4mm nozzle with 0.2mm layers:
Start with Extruder temp 225C
Bed 75C prep with clear PP packaging & glue as above.

PP’s oozing & retraction properties can be handled similar to 3d printing TPUs like NinjaFlex.
Retract correctly, & minimal, else you will have under-extrusion on the starts of perimeters & poor water-tightness.
3d Printing PP is temperature sensitive, get your head too hot & it will elongate rapidly in the throat & block.
If its too cold, it will under-extrude & de-laminate.
Lower density parts & slow print speeds are usually a good start to decent polypropylene 3d prints.
Very thin part walls standing up are not the easiest, & neither are massive overhangs.
Use supports under 35 deg arcs, otherwise parts will warp.

It is important that you not remove the build off the bed straight away as you want the PolyPropylene part to cool down slowly else it will look perfect while printing, but then shrink & warp the part.
Active Chamber Control is thus very useful in 3d printing polyporpylene,
Turn off the build plate but keep the heater going at 45C for this to work best for you.

Please consider our Creatbot F430 & Creatbot F160 3D Printers if you intend to 3d print PolyPropylene frequently.