I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions for this use case.
One of our bathrooms has a few places where I would like to add some small shelving, but the dimensions and placement means that it is unlikely I’m going to find a purchasable option.
Trying to pick what filament would be best. The shelves themselves won’t need to hold more than a couple of pounds (1kg or so) at most, but will be exposed to warmth and high humidity regularly.
PETG ? ASA ?
I already have some SUNLU Easy PA (Nylon… of some kind), on the way. Maybe that would be the best?
PETG should be fine and is both easier to print and cheaper than ASA.
You should probably hit it with spray varnish or waterproofing resin, as you don’t want mould to penetrate the layers and grow inside the hollow parts.
Most definitely do not use nylon around water. Both PETG and ASA are fine. You didn’t mention what printer you have but my goto material for stuff like this is PCTG or PET-CF (note this is PET and not PETG). I wouldn’t use PLA because it will creep under load.
I’ve been using Polymaker PET-GF15 for “mid-performance” applications lately. It prints nicely, has very good layer adhesion and is reasonably priced. It also, apparently, now comes in several colors, so I guess I’ll be putting in an unexpected order to Polymaker now
I have a few rolls of PolyMaker PET-GF and I found for me I have to wear gloves when handling it and I have to scrub down the prints afterwards or the glass fibers get under my skin. My goto has been SirayaTech PET-CF which has been on sale recently for $33/kg.
Thanks for the input everyone! I have a P1s, which I can get up to ~50C chamber temperature using the heat from my buildplate and internal recirculation from the Bentobox… so can’t really do any filaments that need >60C heated chamber.
PETG or ASA it is.
I have quite a few rolls of SUNLU HS MATTE PETG in a multitude of colors… so that would work.
I do have a few rolls of some very nice FlashForge ASA-CF in Marsala color that could look very clean… Definitely an interesting Idea.
’ll look into PET-CF as well. <edit… whelp, looks like I could just print with PET-CF on my P1s… but at that cost from BambuLab… I’ll probably try with ASA or ASA-CF first and see how it goes. The Fiberon PET-GF definitely looks a bit more interesting at current prices…>
<edit 2… sometimes there are too many options LOL>
Hi, i have designed this model (not sponsoring) Bathroom shelf. it is a corner shelf printed fully in pla and sticked with double sided tape. I have had 0 issues with the sticking method and the material. Why not pla? Printed pla (in my case) hasn’t reacted to humidity (it is placed where all the water from the shower goes directly when you shower) and hasn’t reacted to heat (unless you shower with boiling heat). What I recommend is for you to start with PLA (like a prototype and test because of it’s low price and ease of printing) and then if necessary change to any of the other engineering filaments mentioned in this thread.
EDIT: I just weighed the load on the shelves (have been for 3+ months) and they are: 1.2kg and 750g. None are even showing any signs of use.
Yes a shelf this size will be fine. But this small for 2 people especially if one or more purchases premium beauty/wash products. In which case expect to see multiple different scented chemicals depending on mood …
edit In any case I do not see PETG as an engineering filament. It is similar in price to PLA and I can’t think of a modern printer that can’t print it.
Yeah, my design is only for the basic essentials (hair shampoo and body gel and some conditioners or similar. The rest of beauty stuff are in a cabinet.
Thanks for the real world experience with PLA. My shelves will be shower adjacent, not actually inside the shower, so wouldn’t be subjected to nearly as much moisture stress as your shelf.
You are really making me think…I have a few different rolls of PLA Wood…
Maybe I print some mounting brackets out of PETG/ASA for structural support, but then print the shelving itself out of the Wood PLA. That would make the shelves readily replaceable if something does go wrong over time… and could potentially improve upon the “Wife Happiness” factor.
PLA is not at all a good material for shelves or brackets. It will creep and deform under load. And though it has a higher tensile strength that PETG, it has a tendency to shatter under impact. The best commodity (non-engineering) plastic for something like this would be PETG, PCTG or ASA. My personal preference would be PCTG. Also wood PLA doesn’t really (in my opinion) look like wood. It just looks like matte brown PLA.
I have had no issues with pla for shelves, but i recommend doing a prototype in pla and if necessary then use another filament (definitive) or change the design. I have found many design mistakes using this method, since the rest of filaments are more expensive, more difficult to print or consume more electricity. What I mean is in any design, start in pla as a prototype and if necessary change or the filament or the design.
If the weight of the shelf isn’t properly distributed, of course it can deform, but if you design a strong, sturdy shelf it can hold 1+kg (like in my design)
Assuming your shower and it’s ambient temps are getting to about 45-50C max, PETG would be a good choice. ASA for bonus points. I’d worry about a PLA shelf because you don’t have a lot of buffer with the temp, PLA warps pretty readily when under both pressure [weight of stuff] plus heat [shower steam]. But then again you can just reprint it in PETG if it dies
