Thermoplastic · Polyester
AdvancedPET
Polyethylene Terephthalate · rPET · polyester
Unmodified PET — the polyester of drink bottles. Strong and heat-tolerant, trickier to print than its PETG cousin.
Print temperatures
Nozzle 250–270 °C Bed 70–90 °C
PET is one of the most important plastics in the world — water bottles, food packaging, polyester clothing. As a filament, pure PET is less common than PETG because crystallization makes it trickier to print, but it offers higher strength and heat resistance and powers recycled-bottle (rPET) filament.
Its 1941 invention was a wartime British secret, kept under wraps until 1946.
Strengths & trade-offs
- Strong and rigid
- Good heat resistance (higher than PETG)
- Excellent chemical and moisture resistance
- Recyclable (rPET)
- Food-contact capable
- More crystallization — harder to print than PETG
- Hygroscopic — dry before printing
- Needs careful cooling
- Whitens / warps if mishandled
- Fewer pure-PET filament options
Best for
Recycled-bottle filament partsDurable functional partsFood-contact itemsHeat-tolerant containers
Did you know
- PET was patented in 1941 but kept secret until 1946 because of WWII.
- The same PET in soda bottles is the feedstock for “rPET” recycled filament — a closed-loop story.
