Creator Shared: How to Print Flexible PLA Successfully

Tutorial shared by Instagram our creator @printypop3dprints

Flexible PLA printing can sometimes be challenging, so we appreciate @printypop3dprints for sharing his practical experience and recommended settings with the 3D printing community.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the printing preparation, profile adjustments, and settings used to achieve better results with Flexible PLA Pro.

1. Dry Your Flexible PLA Filament Before Printing

Before printing with Flexible PLA, properly drying your filament is extremely important.

Dry filament helps achieve:

  • Better layer adhesion
  • Stronger layer bonding
  • Less stringing
  • Better overall print quality

For the best printing results, always make sure your Flexible PLA filament is dry before starting your print.

2. Use PVA Glue Stick When Printing Flexible PLA or TPU

When printing Flexible PLA or TPU, using a PVA glue stick is highly recommended.

However, the purpose is not only to improve bed adhesion.

Instead, PVA glue works as a release agent. It helps the printed model release from the print bed more easily and prevents the print from sticking too strongly to the surface.

This simple step can help protect your build plate and make the removal process easier.

3. Create a Flexible PLA Profile Based on TPU Settings

For this setup, the creator starts with a Generic TPU profile to create a custom Flexible PLA profile.

The reason is that Flexible PLA has similar printing characteristics to TPU, making a TPU profile a good starting point for adjustment.

Open the Generic TPU profile and modify the following settings:

Flow Ratio：1.00 ➡️ 0.97

Softening Temperature：30°C ➡️ 45°C

Textured PEI Plate Temperature：45°C ➡️ 60°C

Nozzle Temperature：240°C ➡️ 220°C

After changing these parameters:

  1. Save the profile
  2. Rename it as your custom Flexible PLA profile

In this example, the custom profile is named: “YXPoly Flexible PLA”

4. Test Your Flexible PLA Settings

After creating your custom profile, it is time to test your settings. 

Printing steps:

  1. Select User Presets
  2. Choose Custom
  3. Select your customized Flexible PLA profile
  4. Slice the model
  5. Start printing