I bought some PLA recently in several different colours but all from the same supplier and I sort of expected it all to behave fairly similarly. However I have been amazed at how different they are. I have read various comments on the effect of colour elsewhere but thought maybe it would make sense to have this information somewhere easy to find and also to see if the results are consistent or just random. So far, I have found Yellow to be "the best" but with a tendency to form lots of thin hairs between extrudes, seems to need a higher temperature though. Black has been the worst, I am really struggling to get a good result, big bulges on corners and lots of lift at edges and corners especially if even slightly overhanging. Do people have colours that they have found particularly good? I sort of expected the black to be good as it often is with injection moulding, but my (admittedly meagre) experience so far makes me think that "natural" might be best... George https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128367#msg-128367 Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:13:51 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128448#msg-128448 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128448#msg-128448 ttsalo General Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:41:02 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128416#msg-128416 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128416#msg-128416 rhmorrison General Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:13:56 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128379#msg-128379 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128379#msg-128379 nophead General Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:10:14 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128377#msg-128377 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128377#msg-128377
I have two spools of 'nuclear green' ABS that are quite different, likely made 4 months apart from the same source.]]> johnbiehler General Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:48:13 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128373#msg-128373 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128373#msg-128373 supply3dpla.com behaved exactly the same across three colours, but I know these colours were from the same batch at the factory. Other PLA from the same shop behaves different and extrudes at other temperatures.

As I understand it the colour is done by mixing pigment into clear plastic, so with stronger colours there are more pigment material which can alter the filament slightly. This might be why your black PLA is different, since if a batch of colour is botched it's common to just colour it black to save the batch.]]> Nudel General Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:10:29 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128367#msg-128367 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,128367,128367#msg-128367
So far, I have found Yellow to be "the best" but with a tendency to form lots of thin hairs between extrudes, seems to need a higher temperature though.

Black has been the worst, I am really struggling to get a good result, big bulges on corners and lots of lift at edges and corners especially if even slightly overhanging.

Do people have colours that they have found particularly good? I sort of expected the black to be good as it often is with injection moulding, but my (admittedly meagre) experience so far makes me think that "natural" might be best...

George]]> gsport General Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:37:48 -0400