When I first set up my Flashforge, it came with 2 spools of ABS. Then, a few months back, I got my H2D and ordered more ABS since that is what I knew. I have tried some PETG and PLA, but I keep coming back to ABS since it seems to be great for temperature resistance, parts fitting together, toughness, and the amazing color selection and vivid colors. I keep thinking I am going to switch, but I always end up back with ABS.
If the high-temp PLA or PETG variants had the colors of ABS it would be another story, but so far they don’t. Honestly I can’t really complain about ABS other than the fact you have to heat the bed and chamber, which takes time and sucks in the Summer.
Theres a reason lots of the hard plastic out there in mass market home goods, toys, automotive, etc is ABS. It’s light, tough, well understood, and cheap.
The toxic styrene and heat need to be managed, sometimes thats a step too far.
If you haven’t branched out yet you should try ABS-GF. Really makes big parts feel rock solid.
If you only use ABS because that’s what came with your first printer, and you don’t always need the high temp tolerance of ABS, then it is time to give PLA, PETG, and other filaments a try.
Regarding color choices, PLA in particular has way more color choices than ABS. PLA is also easier to print, and gives out the least toxic fumes among the filaments.
The following screenshot shows the color choices of the first 3 kinds of PLA on Bambu Lab store page. There are more varieties of PLA than what are shown on the screenshot.
The following shows the color choices for ABS/ASA, and these are pretty much it.
I have recently gotten a couple of spools of PETG HF and PLA. I love the fact that the PLA doesn’t need all the heat to print, but so far, I am nervous about it failing in some way. I recently printed some wall boards for my work area that will be used to hang different tools and other items on it. My first thought was that PLA would be more susceptible to the constant forces applied to it, so I went with ABS. Then I started making some promotional materials for my best clients. I settled on a tent-shaped calendar/desk organizer with a slide-out drawer on the side. One of my clients is in Texas in a warehouse-type facility, so I got worried that the heat might cause it to warp over time and not open and close properly, so again, I went to ABS. ![]()
If you need the engineering property and the high temp tolerance of ABS, then yes use ABS or some other engineering filaments such as PC. PLA will not be suitable in these cases.
Different filaments serve different needs.
The reason I took the screenshots to show the color choices between PLA and ABS is that you seemed to say that one of the big reasons for you to stick with ABS is due to its great color choices over PLA, which is not true.

