This is a fork from another thread, where evidently the new X2D shares this issue:
I know exactly what you mean. Like little wisps. Some people refer to it as “cotton candy”. I get the same thing on my H2D. It’s easily avoided on horizontal surfaces, like this print model on the right:
by setting the slicer to avoid crossing walls, but I’ve not yet found a bulletproof solution for print models like the one on the left, where that same trick won’t help, and those little wisps can randomly appear between all the vertical posts, even with PLA. With PETG, you’ll likely get more.
More or less every printer does that, mostly see it myself on matte pla due to the additives. Try printing at lower temps, and fiddle with retraction settings.
That happened in July 2025. I guess I never noticed because I wasn’t looking for it specifically. A textbook example of inattentional blindness. I point it out here for anyone else who may not have noticed for the same reason.
I read somewhere that some people are claiming success against wisping by using split retractions. Anyway, yet another thing to try if the usual suggestions aren’t enough.
Depends on the type of plastic. Depends on the extrusion temp. Depends on the nozzle size. Depends on retraction settings. Depends on filament dryness.
For sure! #1 on the list of things to try. I baked my Elegoo PLA Pro to as dry as it will ever get inside a blast oven, but it still has the wisps. I’m in the middle of doing the same blast oven drying to a spool of fresh Bambulab black Basic PLA, which is reputed to have the least stringing of any PLA. I’ll see if it fares any better.
This is not a one-off. I’ve noticed the same now over many prints. So, plainly unevenness in cooling (or something) is a factor. I’m guessing the auxillary part cooling fan just isn’t effective in this region, because the print itself is blocking/impairing the breeze from reaching that part of it. I’ve never understood why these machines have on auxillary part cooling fan on only just the one left side, as it would seem to invite this kind of problem. The usual super simple stock retraction test doesn’t measure for this effect, because it’s too small to create any meaningful self blocking.
Well, as part of the troubleshooting, I’ll re-orientate it to the center and see if that helps. I expect it will help at least some.
It indeed seems to be a ‘feature’ of the H2D series. Printing the same file with the same settings on my H2D or ‘Cs produce a lot of fine strings around the nozzle, same file printed on my X1C’s with same filament produces a clean result
Strangely enough the retraction test for stringing that’s built into Bambulab Studio slicer barely produced any wisping, and then only at the very top and the very bottom. So, I just now downloaded a couple other stringing test models from makerworld and am printing them in serial sequence now to see if they’re more sensitive to stringing/wisping:
One of them I oriented a clone at 90 degrees to itself to see whether the auxiliary fan orientation might be affecting anything.
The unexpected success (non-wisping) of the Bambulab Studio retraction calibration model has given me a hunch now as to what the problem is, but I want a quick-to-print test model to iterate on. If it turns out these makerworld models also aren’t able to summon the stringing/wisping demon, I’ll chop off a chunk of the model I was printing above and use that as my test print to force the issue.
Just a comment about those wisps, especially if black or dark, is they can accumulate in the printer and fans can float them onto/into subsequent prints to cause blemishes. Canned air used to clean a part on the bed can also pop them into the air in the printer.
People might want to clean their printers inside if they have stringing issues being careful not to breathe the tiny fibers. Vacuum cleaner and canned air, etc, while wearing a mask or something.
(Sigh. Accidentally posted in wrong thread and now says too similar to previous post. Maybe this will get it in…) And it did.
I think it’s related to cooling. I found on my H2D when printing PETG, I was getting similar wisping. I was able to almost eliminate it completely by reducing the cooling fan % Some of the plastic is solidifying before it adheres to the current layer, leaving the wisping
I have a project that does this persistently as a result of some combination of scarf seam and a hyperboloid shape. If I let it print one at a time or only one, no wisp, but if I fill a plate, wisps on every object from travels. I think it has to do with very low flow preceding a retraction. A rag to grip and rip, and some fire cleans it off great though.
Well, if someone as experienced as you still has the issue, It has me wondering whether this is as good as it gets. It may be that to 100% avoid the issue the print time increases so much that grip-and-rip followed by fire is just more practical.
I had hoped that the H2D pro fan upgrade might address the issue, but it looks to only be about cooling the heatsink. Would it help at all? Or is it only good for reduced clogging?
If I can postprocess reliably to 100% and the print comes out fine, lazy Bullocks takes over and stops fiddling with settings. Here’s some pics of the wispy stuff im talking about that cleans right up. Im in the habit of firing pieces anyways before they leave the print room, but this needs 1 extra wipe before the fire, or theres enough fluff to actually ball up. Scarf seam I believe is a large part of whats causing this one.
I’ve come to only see whisps when the chamber is just the right temp, almost too hot. It’s a fine line but I can make it happen by simply leaving the door closed and the top half open.
It’s annoying but a heat gun clears it up quickly, I’m sure you know.
I found a bug in the Generic PETG and Generic HF-PETG definitions that might be contributing to the problem. The “Metal stickiness” parameter is set to “None” in both–an obvious error when you read the definition (see below)–whereas in the Bambulab HF-PETG, it shows the correct value which is “High”. The definition specifically refers to “oozing artifacts on outer walls” that may arise from an incorrect setting, and perhaps wisping is such an artifact.
The slicer visualizer shows the same retraction point on the infill no matter what the “metal stickiness” parameter is set to, but on a print model I found that the total model print time is 1:59 when it is set to either “Medium” or “High”:
i.e. a difference of 4 minutes on a 2 hour print. If it were just retracting less depending on the stickiness, it’s puzzling that “Medium” time isn’t between those two numbers. So, maybe “Medium” and “High” are full retraction, and “None” and “Low” are no retraction. Who knows? We’d have to compare the g-code to see exactly what effect that setting is having.
