Caring for your print

The short version

• Never leave a print in a parked car.
• Keep it out of long, direct sun.
• Clean with a damp cloth and a drop of dish soap. Never the dishwasher.
• Not for food, drinks, or kids under five.
• Super glue fixes almost any break.

That's genuinely it. The rest of this page is detail for when you want it.

Heat

This is the one thing that ruins prints, so it's worth knowing the numbers. PLA+ starts going soft around130–140 °F (55–60 °C). PETG holds on until roughly175 °F (80 °C).

A car parked in summer sun blows past both. Dashboards regularly hit 160 °F and higher, which is why a dragon left on a dash comes back as a puddle-shaped dragon. Same story for a radiator, the top of a gaming PC, a sunny windowsill in August, or anywhere near a stove.

No dishwasher, no microwave, no oven, no boiling water. If something needs to live somewhere warm, order it in PETG and tell me what it's for — I'll say if I think it'll hold up.

If a PLA+ print has warped slightly, it's sometimes recoverable: warm it gently in water around 120 °F (50 °C), ease it back into shape, and hold it under cold water until it sets. Go slow. Too hot and you'll make it worse.

Cleaning

Dust with a dry cloth or a soft makeup brush. For anything stickier, use lukewarm water with a drop of dish soap on a cloth, then dry it right away. A soft toothbrush gets into layer lines and detail; a can of compressed air clears dust out of deep crevices and articulated joints.

Skip acetone, paint thinner, nail polish remover, bleach, and abrasive cleaners — they can cloud, craze, or soften the surface. Isopropyl alcohol is usually fine for a quick wipe, but test it somewhere hidden first, especially on PETG, and don't let it sit.

Brief water contact is fine. Long soaking isn't, and neither is running a print through the dishwasher.

Sun and outdoors

UV is slower than heat but just as final. Months of direct sun will fade colors and make PLA+ brittle enough to snap from a knock it would have shrugged off when new. PETG handles UV better, but "better" isn't "forever."

For anything that lives outside — a planter on a porch, something in a garage or shed — ask for PETG. Even then, treat it as seasonal rather than permanent, and bring it in over winter if you can. Nothing I print is rated for permanent outdoor installation.

Handling

Prints are built in stacked layers, which makes them strong along the layers and weakest across them. In practice that means a print can take a surprising amount of squeeze but will split if you bend a thin part sharply or pry at it.

Articulated pieces like the dragon arrive with joints that can feel stiff the first time. Work them slowly, one joint at a time, with a gentle twist rather than a yank. They loosen up after a few passes and stay smooth. Forcing a stiff joint is the most common way one of these gets broken.

PLA+ gets more brittle in the cold, so a print that's been in a cold car is easier to crack. Let it come back to room temperature before handling it much.

Food, drinks, kids

Don't use prints for food or drink. The layer lines that give a print its texture are also grooves that trap bacteria and can't be properly scrubbed out, and neither the filament nor my printers are certified food-safe. That applies to coasters under a sweating glass too — fine — but not to anything your food or mouth touches.

Prints aren't toys. Small parts, thin points, and pieces that can snap make them a choking hazard for children under five, and they shouldn't be given to pets to chew.

Repairs and painting

Breaks: thin super glue (cyanoacrylate) bonds both PLA+ and PETG very well. Hold the pieces together for 30 seconds and leave it an hour before stressing the joint. For a break that has to carry weight, two-part epoxy is stronger.

Sanding: PLA+ sands cleanly — wet sand from about 200 up to 600 grit, keeping the paper damp. PETG is gummier and tends to smear rather than dust, so go light and slow, or skip it.

Painting: wash the print with soap and water, let it dry fully, scuff it lightly, then use a plastic-friendly spray primer. Acrylics go on well over primer. Finish with a matte or satin clear coat. Spray in thin coats from a distance — a heavy wet coat of solvent-based paint can attack the plastic.

Arrived damaged rather than worn? Don't glue it — email a photo tovictors3dforge@gmail.com within 14 days and I'll reprint or refund it. See thereturns policy.

Storage

Room temperature, out of direct sun, away from heat sources. Attics, garages in summer, and car trunks are the three places prints go to die.

If you're boxing something up, wrap it loosely in tissue or bubble wrap rather than packing it tight — pressure on a thin detail over months can bend it. Store articulated pieces relaxed, not coiled under tension.

PLA+ or PETG?

Every product lets you pick. If you're unsure, this is the whole decision:

Rough rule: if it sits on a shelf, PLA+. If it has a job to do — a hook, a stand, a shelf, a planter — PETG.

Still not sure? Tell me where it's going to live and I'll pick for you. Emailvictors3dforge@gmail.com or send a message, and for your own files there's the custom order page.