I’ll save you the back-story but what is the best way to remove a single (or less than) layer of PETG-HF from the stock textured PEI build plate from a P1S?
Let it cool
Gently bend the sheet to release each part, and work around the sheet
If that doesn’t work either warm it up again on the bed or cool it in a fridge as the temperature change might help release
If all those fail a bed scraper might be needed - be gentle so the sheet isn’t damaged
There are two methods I used when confronted with this problem. Acetone worked to a degree but then promptly started to attack the PEI coating, so don’t use this method. ![]()
The second method, which is far more effective, is to put the plate in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. This will cause the PETG to become brittle and also cause the steel in the plate to shrink. Both will help significantly.
But let’s say you have tiny little pieces and not just one convenient piece. Well, here is a counterintuitive approach: more PETG. Before doing that, smear a small amount of white paste glue around the area. The glue will act as a release liner when you freeze it, causing the PETG to lift up. However, you do NOT want the glue to touch the contaminant you are trying to lift. What you will find is that nothing sticks to PETG better than PETG. By placing, let’s say, a 2mm thick square primitive covering over the offending bits with adhesive in the corner areas, after freezing, you will increase your chances of lifting all of the corners and what’s in the middle.
The method I use is 3D pen. Squeeze a good amount of the same plastic on top of the small piece stick on the plate, make sure it is a nice big blob. Let the blob cool down then you can remove it quite easily. If the shrink force of the blob doesn’t help much then the blob would give you something to grip on (using a pair of pliers in the worst case ) and pull it off. You may repeat the process to completely remove everything on the plate.
After that you can put everything in the freezer, different shrink rate of metal and plastic will help it come off.
Note: Do not use metal scrapper if you want to prolong the plate usage.
I used to use 3D pen to glue down the conner of the print that lifted off in the good old days of 3D printing. It’s still useful today
I you need to use an scraper, use this that will not damage your plate:
I tried soap and water and a lacquer thinner and a nylon brush and neither worked. Wanted to buy some MEK but not sure if they stopped selling or were just out. The lacquer thinner had some of the Google recommended ingredients which is why I bought it.
The build plate is like if you made a single pass with an air brush of grey paint.
Currently printing a thin disk of slightly larger diameter over top of the residue in hopes it will lift off the petg below it.
If it’s just a thin layer, is it impacting the print surface when you print or is it just unsightly? Can you post an image of the entire plate as well as a close up?
I ask because a stained plate may not be pleasing to look at but if it’s still doing the job, then you probably are OK.
Too late now. Disk is printing.
What happened, or more appropriately, what I did was start a print minus the build sheet. It went through the bed leveling process but had not started printing when I realized what I did. So dashed over and put the build plate in place and let it continue with the print.
Somehow the difference in thickness data that it stored as part of the bed leveling process and the actual thickness with the build plate in place caused the print to fill the low spots in the texture but not to drag on the high areas of the texture but those regions are probably about 1 micron thick.
Having run PETG for 2 days prior, I knew it wasn’t right as soon as I saw how it was laying down on plate so canceled and started over.
One layer left so we’ll see.

