I have had mostly poor experiences with printing PLA Matte, namely that it is too brittle and has poor internal consistency: it will fall apart when pulling on it, be to removing it from the build plate, or removing supports.
The surface finish seems to hide the layer and print lines better, but given the lesser quality of the material, when would it be appropriate to use PLA Matte? I don’t see myself using the remaining rolls I have, but was wondering if I am maybe using it wrong or in the wrong situations?
I exclusively use Matte PLA for electronics enclosures. The surface finish shows no layer lines and looks great. It’s strong too, with no issues removing from the (textured) build plate.
You’re not alone. I’ve all but abandoned matte filaments, except for one specific use case—camera enclosures where I want to minimize reflections. Even then, I’ve had to resort to flat black spray paint to achieve a truly non-reflective surface.
I’ve tested numerous matte PLA filaments from various vendors and found none that measure up to their non-matte equivalents.
Every manufacturer I’ve tried has failed in the ways you described—and then some. Matte filaments consistently suffer from weaker layer adhesion and reduced bonding strength compared to standard PLA. In my experience, Bambu’s matte filament is among the worst. Other brands have performed slightly better, but none achieve the same flatness as Bambu.
From my research, most plastics used in FDM printing naturally tend to be glossy. This makes sense when you consider that we’re melting a material with glass-like properties. Based on what I’ve read, the most common methods for achieving a matte texture involve adding silica, talc, or even cornstarch to the filament. My strength tests confirm that these additives interfere with bonding.
For a truly flat finish, I’ve resigned myself to using carbon fiber (CF) filaments. They almost always produce a flawless surface and are far more forgiving with slicer settings—though they come at a 60–200% higher cost per spool. The downside? CF filaments have a severely limited color range. You can have any color you want, as long as it’s “blackish” or “grayish”… But in terms of strength and slicer forgiveness, nothing else comes close.
Thanks for sharing your experience @Olias, very helpful. I have not yet moved on to CF filaments (still struggling with getting a grip on printing consistently with PETG). I’ll have to find an excuse to get a CF roll and play around.
I also have no explicit need for matte surfaces for the items I print, at least not yet, so the rolls I have are just for trying the material out and seeing what it might be good for.
Well, if you find one that actually works, please share it with me. I stopped my search after half a dozen bad experiences. Don’t get me wrong, the prints looked fine after tuning, it’s just that I only print functional parts and Matte filaments were worthless, second only to Silk in the category of weakness.
I can see that working for large contiguous surfaces and objects, but for detailed items, even prints that have any sort of protrusions, it is not very useful as the protrusion comes off with the very little force.
Your examples above are very nice, and I think an appropriate use for matte filament: boxes and other flat surfaces.
I have measured layer adhesion of different filaments and Bambu PLA matte was about 33% strength of regular PLA. That fully supports your findings.
Yet, I use only matte PLA, because I love the surface for anything that just has to look good. For everything else, e.g. functional parts or toys I jump directly to PETG or PC.
While the “must do’s” with PETG are not so difficult once established (dried filament, slower print speeds/accel’s, “Generic” fan settings, warm build chamber (but beware of heat creep), non-crossing infill and surfaces, wipe on retract),
the CF helps a lot regarding warping and curling in my experience.
As for the original question, well, it is aesthetics for me too. And of course color availability. Sometimes the one color I want is only available in Matte.
Hey can you share which brands you’ve tested? I’m considering ordering 1 matte white from every single manufacturer and doing a test out because right now the BBL one just jams my hot end like a trucker’s dump!
I use PLA Matte almost exclusively.
So far I can say little about whether it is more brittle or the layer adhesion is not as good as with PLA Basic. I haven’t had a single problem for at least the last six months. Around 200 prints without a hitch.
I use Bambulab PLA Matte for everything with colours.
For prototyping - or such mass prints as for Gridfinity, Honeycomb Storage Wall etc … I generally use Elegoo PLA Matte as standard for everything else. And I am VERY happy with it.
I have used Bambu Dark Red and White Matte, both with what I would consider sub-par material cohesion (not layer adhesion, as it would crumble, but not along the layer lines).
I also used Overture PLA Matter Black, which behaved very similarly to Bambu’s PLA Matte.
I have relegated all my matte PLA to use for test prints now. It prints very nicely for large objects, like GridFinity containers. I don’t like to use if for pieces that have any protrusions or thin walls.
But in terms of strength and slicer forgiveness, nothing else comes close.
