3D print peeling up

3D Prints Warping or Curling? – Why It Happens and How to Prevent It

In this guide, we’re going to cover what causes warping, and how to remedy it. Including tips for specific materials, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again!

If you’ve used a 3D printer, then it’s likely that you’ve experienced 3D print warping. Warping is one of the most common problems encountered in 3D printing and it’s one of the most annoying.

But luckily, it is easily preventable – depending on your material and printing conditions, there are different remedies we’ll cover below.

3D printing curling doesn’t always cause a catastrophic failure of the object being printed like some other problems can. However, it does cause the object to deform enough to look unacceptable and unprofessional.

The worst case is your warping 3D printing can pop off the heated bed, causing it to fail completely. 

Why Has My 3D Print Warped?

A 3D printer warping problem typically occurs when an object is cooling unevenly after printing.

Cooling, as you know, causes contraction and this contraction causes stress along the object’s lateral surfaces. The quicker the cooling occurs, the greater the stress on the object.

This stress is greatest at corners where two sides meet. There, the pulling stress exerted on both sides causes the corner of the object to deform and pull up and inward. The result is not pleasing to the eye and usually makes the object unusable.

There are really only three ways to prevent 3D printer curling; increasing ambient temperature to reduce cooling time, or seriously improving your bed adhesion. Luckily there are simple ways to do all three, which we’ll cover shortly. 

But first, what if it’s too late – and you have a warped print right now? Well, maybe not all is lost just yet…

How To Fix a Warped Print?

While not all warped prints can be fixed, if the print bottom warping is slight – and your print isn’t too thick or large in volume you might just be able to salvage it.  

To do this, you’ll need to heat up the print close to its glass transition temperature (where it’ll get just soft enough to mold back down).

You’ll need a large metal surface, like a frying pan, big enough to place the print bed side down (just the way up it came off your print bed).

Get a hairdryer and place the print in the pan. Heat it up on full power, and move the dryer around to evenly heat it.

After a minute or so, you can turn off the dryer and you should be able to hold the print down to bend it back to a flat shape. You’ll need to hold it for a few minutes until it’s cooled a bit.

Repeat this process until it works sufficiently. Don’t bother just putting the print back on a heated bed, or worse heating the pan – because this will just heat the bottom of the print. You’ll need to heat it up evenly all over. 

So, let’s take a quick look at some of the ways that can help you prevent print warping:

Heated Bed

Once upon a time, heated print beds were relatively rare. Because of this, printed objects tended to cool very quickly once a job was underway.

This caused high levels of lateral stress and ABS curling was commonplace.

Today, most people are printing on a heated print bed. This causes a printed object to cool much more slowly. This reduces the stress caused by contraction which, in turn, helps to reduce warping.

Heated beds are not an all-in-one solution to warping, but when used in conjunction with other preventatives, they do lower the chances that your object will warp.

One thing to note with heated beds, is that the heating element isn’t always the full size of the bed – this means the edges might not get hot enough (depending on your printer). The diagram below illustrates the common causes of warping.

So it’s worth taking this into consideration if large prints warp, but smaller central ones don’t. Here you see the print warped, or is curling at the edges.

This is also assuming the heat on your bed is even. Still getting ABS warping on a heated bed? It could be because the heating elements are not even under the glass or metal plate.

Check out this thermal image of a very popular model of 3D printer. Can you guess what it might be? 

The target temp for this bed is 50°C, notice the cooler area in the center. Commonly this is where people normally place smaller prints. So you may be getting small prints warping, but larger prints staying flat and printing fine.

It should also explain why you may be getting your PLA curling in some areas of the print but not others, for example.

It’s also worth noting that if your bed is made of particularly thick aluminum or glass – the thermometer may be reading full temp before the actual surface of the bed has had the chance to fully heat up yet. 

In this instance, you’re best off waiting a good 10 minutes after your bed is reading the correct temperature before you start to print. This could mean the difference between first layer success and your ABS lifting later in the print. 

How to Avoid Warping 3D Prints

It’s extremely important to regard how different printing materials are affected. For example, PLA doesn’t require a heated bed. However, when printed on one at around 50°C it can help those first few layers adhere a little more consistently.

But if you’re getting 3D print warping PLA then it’s likely at too high a heated bed temperature (eg. over 60°C) can cause it to warp.

Rule of thumb for PLA warping on a heated bed – you’re likely printing too hot. 

Whereas if you’re getting 3D printer ABS warping with the heated bed, a big culprit is likely to be that the heated bed simply isn’t getting hot enough. So usually just turn it up!

Another way to prevent ABS from misbehaving, as it can be a common issue, is to improve the ambient temperature of the printing enclosure to slow down the cooling of the print.

Generally, it’s always best to print ABS in an enclosure, or failing that a warm ambient environment. 

With something very sensitive to cooling too fast, like the UV resistant ASA; you’ll definitely want to make sure it’s printed in a warm ambient area with no drafts or it can warp so badly you see cracks in the print. More on this later.

These rough assumptions are based on you using the correct adhesive or surface for your material. This is also really important to prevent 3D printing warping – but don’t worry, more on this below. 

So, how to prevent warping

Use a Build Surface that Promotes Adhesion

This is quite likely the most important step that you can take to eliminate warping in your printed objects. Most printers come with a glass or aluminum build surface that is durable, but also far too smooth.

A key aspect when working out how to prevent ABS warping is getting your adhesion for the bed sorted perfectly.  

Extruded thermoplastics have nothing to grab onto when they encounter smooth surfaces. The result is that warping caused by cooling becomes more pronounced.

The solution is to start using build surfaces that enhance adhesion. There are a number of things that you can try in order to achieve this. Painter’s tape and Kapton tape both work well to reduce warping in PLA and ABS respectively.

Hairspray applied directly to the build surface to increase tackiness is used by many in a pinch, but it is messy and has limited durability.

If you’re having persistent issues with your ABS print warping, you may want to use a mixture of ABS slurry or ABS juice on your bed, which should significantly aid adhesion. 

What is ABS juice? 

ABS juice is a mixture or partially dissolved ABS scraps in acetone, to make a solution that can be painted evenly onto your heated bed. 

Pritt stick accomplishes the same effect much more efficiently and with much less mess.

Finally, a substance like PEI (polyetherimide) comes in sheets that are easily attached to your build surface, are affordable and give excellent adhesion to just about any print material (except Nylon). Find out more about build surface adhesion solutions here.

PEI for the most part is one of the best bed surfaces to avoid warping, unless you’re using Nylon based materials that tend to respond best with Tufnol. 

No matter how adhesive your build surface is, dirt and grease will conspire to reduce that adhesion and put you back at square one when it comes to warping.

Make sure that your build surface is as clean as possible before you begin printing.

An ammonia-based product like Windex or Halford’s Glass Cleaner works great to remove grease and fingerprints from the build surface. Isopropyl alcohol and water solution also work well.

When your build surface is clean, your print material has a much greater chance of adhering which will reduce warping.

Your PLA curling at the corners? One interesting way to reduce warping is to design objects that have rounded corners whenever possible.

A rounded corner tends to ameliorate the amount of upward stress that occurs where two or more flat surfaces meet, by distributing that stress over a wider area.

Less stress means less warping and less 3D print curling, which means more successful printing.

Sometimes, printing a good first layer is key to achieving a successful result. One way to increase the odds of putting down a decent first layer is by checking your starting Z coordinates before printing.

If the Z-axis is starting too high, extruded print material has a longer distance to travel before contacting the build surface.

The longer the distance that the material has to travel, the cooler the material becomes and the greater the chances are that it will not adhere correctly.

If you’ve tried everything and are still experiencing warping, try lowering the Z-axis height in 0.05mm increments and see if that corrects the problem.

As you do this, keep in mind that you never want your extruder nozzle to come too close to the build surface, as this will cause its own set of problems.

If your print has a low surface area, and is proving hard to stick down it may also be worth printing a brim or skirt around your print to encourage extra adhesion to the bed.

Here’s an example:

The key to controlling warping is a slow and steady cooling process.

The quicker that cooling occurs, the more likely it is that your object will warp, no matter how many steps you’ve taken to prevent it.

This is why eliminating all drafts while you’re printing is extremely important if you want to reduce the instances of warping.

You should consider printing in a room in your house or place of business that provides the steadiest ambient temperature. Remind others in the area that you have a print job running and ask them to stay out of the room in question for the duration.

Having someone open a door while your printer is running can cause the warping that you’re trying to prevent.

If your home or office is especially drafty, or if your printer must be located in a somewhat high traffic area, you might want to consider enclosing it so that temperature remains stable, or just significantly hotter while you print.

What is Elephant’s Foot?

Related to warping, but a slightly different fault is something we call 3D Print Elephant Foot – it’s when the base of your print widens out, shaping the object like, well – an Elephant’s large foot. It’s got elephants foot AND it’s warped? Oh lets all just go home…

You can see the bottom few layers here have spread out wider than the rest of the print. Here’s how this phenomenon happens and how to solve it:

Essentially your first few layers are being squashed, causing them to ooze out to the side. This is usually caused by a combination of factors:

1. Your bed is likely to be much too hot. If the object also warps off the bed, this is almost certainly the main cause. Having a bed that is too hot also allows heavier prints to compress the lower layers, causing them to sag and flow outwards.
2. Having your nozzle too close to an overly-hot bed can cause a lesser version of this. In some cases, it may exacerbate the other two factors quite considerably if not corrected.

(Some beds such as FR4 or PEI require a higher temperature to ensure initial bed adhesion with PLA so) there’s nothing wrong with putting down the first layer onto a bed at say 55-60°C, as long as you reduce it to 45°C for all subsequent layers.

Don’t forget, the bed will take time to cool.

To Solve 3D Printing Elephant Foot:

Assuming the elephant’s foot is happening evenly on all base sides of your print, increase the Z-axis offset slightly, to allow more room for those first layers to settle at the correct height. We recommend starting in 0.1mm increments.

Too much and you’ll risk there not being enough pressure for the print to have sufficient adhesion to the bed. 

If the elephant’s foot is only on one or two sides, you’ll need to re-level your bed. 

Finally, if you’re finding that it’s a heavy, large model weighing down those first layers (you’ll notice this effect increases the larger the print gets if this is the case) then you’ll need to reduce temperature of the heated bed.

Too hot and you’ll soften the material too much. 

To prevent Elephants foot in a nutshell:

• Level your heated bed
• Adjust z-axis offset/or the nozzle height from the bed
• Correct heated bed temperature  

As we said, warping is one of the most common problems that occurs when 3D printing. The good news is that even though it can be caused for a number of reasons, it is relatively simple to prevent.

Related articles:

• 3D printer troubleshooting – 44+ problems fixed
• How to smooth PLA
• How to acetone smooth ABS
• How to fix a clogged extruder nozzle

9 Ways How to Fix 3D Prints Warping/Curling – PLA, ABS, PETG & Nylon – 3D Printerly

Most people who’ve worked with 3D printers are familiar with warping and it’s a problem that plagues many users. You’ll be happy to know there are a series of methods to reduce warping to the point where you can get consistently successful prints without experiencing warping.

This article will show you precisely, how this problem is solved for good.

To fix warping/curling in 3D prints, use an enclosure to control the ambient printing temperature and any rapid cooling that causes shrinkage in your prints. Use a good build plate temperature for your filament, make sure your build plate is clean and use adhesives so the print sticks to the build plate properly.

There’s more detail behind fixing 3D prints that warp so keep on reading for more.

What is Warping/Curling in 3D Prints?

Warping or curling in 3D prints is when the base or bottom of a 3D print starts to curl upwards and lift away from the build plate. It results in 3D prints losing dimensional accuracy and can even ruin the functionality and looks of a 3D model. It occurs due to shrinkage in the material from rapid temperature changes.

What Causes Warping & Lifting in 3D Printing?

The main causes of warping and curling is from temperature changes which causes shrinkage in your thermoplastic filament, along with a lack of adhesion to the build surface. 

Below are some specific causes of warping in 3D printing:

• Rapid temperature changes from hot to cold or room temperature too cold
• Bed temperature too low or uneven heating on bed
• Drafts blowing cold air onto model, no enclosure
• Bad adhesion to the build plate
• Cooling settings not optimized
• Build plate not leveled
• Build surface is dirty with grime or dust

Whether your PLA is warping mid-print, warping on a glass bed or heated bed, the causes and fixes will be similar. Many people who have a 3D printer like an Ender 3 or Prusa i3 MKS+ experience warping, so let’s look into how to fix it.

How to Fix Warping in 3D Printing – PLA, ABS, PETG & Nylon

• Use an enclosure to reduce rapid changes in temperature
• Increase or lower your heated bed temperature
• Use adhesives so the model sticks to the build plate
• Ensure cooling is turned off for the first few layers
• Print in a room with a warmer ambient temperature
• Make sure your build plate is properly leveled
• Clean your build surface
• Reduce drafts from windows, doors, and air conditioners
• Use a Brim or Raft

1.

One of the best methods to fix warping and prevent it happening to your 3D prints is to use an enclosure. This works because it does two things, keeps a warmer ambient temperature so your print doesn’t cool rapidly, and also reduces drafts from cooling your model.

Since warping usually occurs due to temperature changes, an enclosure is a perfect fix to preventing warping happening to your 3D prints. It should fix a lot of the issues but you may still need to implement some other fixes to get rid of warping once and for all.

I’d recommend getting something like the Comgrow Fireproof & Dustproof Enclosure from Amazon. It has plenty of positive reviews from other 3D printer users mentioning just how effective and useful the enclosure is.

One user mentioned that after they started using this enclosure, they no longer has prints warping on the corners, and adherence to their heated glass bed got a lot better. It also even slightly cuts down on noise pollution, so you don’t disturb others or yourself as much.

There are other temperature-related defects that 3D prints go through, so having this enclosure helps with many problems at once. Setup is pretty easy and it looks good overall.

3D prints that warp on one side can be quite annoying, so getting an enclosure can help to solve this issue.

2. Increase or Lower Your Heated Bed Temperature

Usually, increasing your bed temperature helps to reduce warping because it stops that rapid change in temperature since the heat emits nicely on the model. Follow your filament recommendation for bed temperature, but try increasing the bed temperature on the higher end.

Even for a filament like PLA, 60°C can work well even though many people recommend 30-50°C, so give different temperatures a try and see how it works for you. There are many types of 3D printers out there, as well as personal printing environments that can affect these things.

Check out my article on How to Get the Perfect Build Plate Adhesion Settings & Improve Bed Adhesion for more info.

One bed temperature for one user might work well, while it doesn’t work too well for another user, so it’s really down to trial and error.

You can also have a bed temperature that’s too high that can lead to warping due to rapid temperature changes, possibly due to having a cool ambient temperature.

If you have tried increasing your bed temperature, you can also try lowering it to see if it has a positive effect on reducing warping.

3. Use Adhesives so the Model Sticks to the Build Plate

Since warping is a movement that shrinks material, especially corners of your 3D prints, sometimes having a good adhesive on the build plate can stop the material from moving away.

Many people have fixed warping or curling in their 3D prints by simply applying a good adhesive and letting it do its magic.

There are plenty of adhesives out there that work for 3D printer beds. The most popular type of adhesive I’ve seen in the 3D printing community has to be glue sticks.

I’d recommend going with something like FYSETC 3D Printer Glue Sticks from Amazon.

A few coats of glue stick on the bed should give you a lovely foundation for your model to stick to so it doesn’t warp and shrink away from the build plate.

You can also take it to the next level and use a 3D printer specific adhesive like LAYERNEER 3D Printer Adhesive Bed Weld Glue from Amazon.

I wrote an article called Best 3D Printer Bed Adhesives – Sprays, Glue & More.

4. Ensure Cooling is Turned Off for the First Few Layers

Your slicer should have default cooling settings that turn the fans off for the first few layers, but you may want to turn it off for more layers if you are getting warping. I’d usually recommend trying out the other fixes before you do this because cooling contributes to better 3D print quality.

For a material like PLA, they usually recommend your cooling fans being on 100% so you may not want to turn it down for that.

If you are experiencing warping on a material like PETG or Nylon, you want to try adjusting your cooling settings to be lower so the material isn’t cooling too quickly.

You can change the layer height that your 3D printer fans start their regular speed directly in your Cura settings. If you get warping early on, it could be worth delaying where you start the fans.

Check out How to Get the Perfect Print Cooling & Fan Settings for more details.

5. Print in a Room with a Warmer Ambient Temperature

Similar to the fixes above, the main thing is having a better control on your temperature, especially the ambient temperature. If you are printing in a cold garage in the winter, you are a lot more likely to experience warping in your models, compared to printing in a warm office.

Be aware of the general temperature of where your 3D printer is placed so it’s not in an environment that’s too cool.

As mentioned above, an enclosure here can help. Some people have reduced warping by even using a space heater near their 3D printer, or placing the printer close to a radiator.

6. Make Sure Your Build Plate is Properly Leveled

Warping usually happens due to pressure from the rapid cooling and shrinking of material, but this can be countered by making sure your build plate is leveled better.

In addition to using adhesives like a glue stick, when your build plate is leveled nicely, it improves the adhesion of material to the build plate.

If your build plate isn’t leveled very well, the foundation and adhesive is going to be weaker than usual, increasing the chances that you experience warping.

Follow the video below by Uncle Jessy to level your build plate nicely.

For more details, check out my article How to Level Your 3D Printer Bed – Nozzle Height Calibration.

7. Clean Your Build Surface

Just like leveling your build plate is important for adhesion which helps to reduce warping, cleaning your build surface is equally as important.

We want to provide strong adhesion to the material extruded from the nozzle, but when the build plate is dirty or grimy, it doesn’t stick so well to the bed surface, especially with glass beds.

If you want to reduce warping in your 3D prints, make sure your build surface is nice and clean.

Many people would do something like clean it with isopropyl alcohol and a cloth, or even do a full clean with dish soap and warm water. You can also get sterile pads to help clean your beds, it’s really up to you what you do.

I wrote an article How to Clean a Glass 3D Printer Bed – Ender 3 & More that goes into more depth.

The video below shows you how to clean a print surface on the Ender 3 using a sock and some 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.

8. Reduce Drafts From Windows, Doors, and Air Conditioners

If you don’t have an enclosure, you definitely want to stop cool air and drafts from blowing on your 3D printed parts. I remember I had a strong draft due to having a window and a door open while 3D printing, and it resulted in really bad warping.

Once I closed the door and stopped the draft from blowing around the room, that warping quickly stopped and I successfully created my 3D model.

Try to identify where any gusts of wind are coming from, even from something like an air conditioner or air purifier, and try to reduce it or the impact on the 3D printer.

9. Use a Brim or Raft

Using a Brim or Raft focuses on the adhesion side of warping. These are simply extra layers of extruded material that provide a foundation around your 3D model.

Here is a Brim around a calibration cube. You can see how the Brim would help reduce warping since the actual model isn’t on the outside, so the Brim would warp first before the warping can reach the actual model.

Here is a Raft around a calibration cube. It looks very similar to the Brim but it is actually placed around and underneath the model, along with being thicker and having more settings to customize.

I usually prefer to use a Raft versus a Brim because it does the job better and you actually have a great foundation to remove your print from, but Brims still work well.

Check out my article about Skirts Vs Brims Vs Rafts – A Quick 3D Printing Guide for more details.

How to Fix a 3D Print That Has Warped – PLA

To fix a 3D print that has warped, try using a method of heat and pressure. Get a large metal surface like a frying pan which your 3D print can fit into the same way it came off the build plate. Take a hair dryer and heat up the 3D model all around evenly for about a minute. Now hold the print down and bend it flat. 

The model will need to be held for a few minutes until it cools down, then repeat this process until your print is back to the shape you desire. Remember to heat up the model evenly with the hair dryer each time you do this. It requires you reach the glass transition temperature so it can be molded.

This method from RigidInk has worked well for many users to fix a warped 3D print, so it’s definitely worth a try.

As long as the warping on your model isn’t too bad or your 3D print isn’t too thick, it’s possible to save it.

You can also try this method in the video below with hot water by Make Anything.

How Do You Stop PETG 3D Prints From Warping?

To stop your PETG 3D prints from warping or curling, you should:

• Make sure the active cooling fans are turned off, at least for first layers
• Use a better build surface for adhesion like BuildTak
• Use a good adhesive substance for your build plate – hairspray or glue sticks
• Print slowly on your first layer
• Try decreasing your printing temperature and increasing your bed temperature
• You can also dry your PETG filament to reduce its moisture content

Using a combination of the solutions above should help you with your PETG warping. It can be a fairly stubborn filament to work with, but once you get a good routine going, you’ll start to enjoy plenty of successful PETG prints.

There isn’t necessarily a PETG warping temperature, so you can try different bed temperatures to reduce warping.

How to Keep Nylon Filament From Warping

To keep Nylon filament from warping, get yourself a heated enclosure and try using a smaller layer height. Some people have success by slowing down their print speed to around 30-40mm/s. Make sure your heated bed is hot enough for your specific brand of Nylon filament. PEI build surfaces work well for Nylon.

You can also try 3D printing a raft in a different material like PETG, then switching out for your Nylon filament to help reduce warping. PETG is a good material to use since it shares a similar printing temperature with Nylon.

One user mentioned that they overcame warping by printing a really large brim. Nylon sticks quite well to Blue Painter’s Tape according to some users, so that could work well to reduce warping.

Turning off your cooling fans should help to reduce warping in Nylon filament.

How to Fix PLA Warping on PEI

To fix PLA warping on a PEI bed surface, clean your bed surface with rubbing alcohol. For larger 3D prints, you can try turning on the bed for an extra few minutes so the heat has enough time to travel through the bed, especially if you have glass. Lightly sanding the PEI surface with 2,000 grit sandpaper can work.

For people struggling with various 3D printing issues, you might want have wanted more guidance towards getting ideal 3D printing results. I created a course that's available to get called Filament Printing 101: Beginner's Guide to Filament Printing that takes you through some of the best 3D printing practices early on, so you can avoid those beginner mistakes.

Problems, defects, 3D printing errors and solutions

Often during the operation of a 3D printer, problems may arise due to which defects appear on the finished model. Or instead of a neat product, plastic noodles suddenly appear on the table.

In fact, the causes of defects can be conditionally divided into 2 types - these are physical and software.

Physical ones are those that arise due to problems with the mechanics or any other causes that can be eliminated physically. These include problems with printer mechanisms (belt tension, backlash), clogged or deformed nozzle, incorrect table geometry, etc.

Software - these are defects that occur due to incorrect slicer settings or, less often, errors in the printer firmware. For example, incorrectly selected print speed, retract settings, incorrectly selected temperature for plastic, etc.

Very rarely, the problem may lie in the wrong or “flying” printer firmware (although usually the printer simply will not start then), overheating of some boards during printing, etc. These are rather special cases, so we will not consider them.

Model peels off or does not stick to the build plate

This is the most common 3D printing problem. Every 3D printer has had a case when the first layer treacherously rolls, clinging to the extruder, or the most offensive - when it tears off a partially printed model from the table. The first layer must stick tightly otherwise nothing will be printed.

Gap between table and nozzle 9 too large0023