Stringing — fine hairs stretched between parts of your print — has three main causes, and people almost always tune the wrong one first.
1. Wet filament (most likely)
Moisture in filament turns to steam in the nozzle and pushes molten plastic out during travel moves. If your spool has been out of a sealed bag for more than a few weeks — especially PETG or TPU — dry it before touching any settings. Popping or hissing while printing confirms it.
2. Retraction settings
Retraction pulls filament back during travel moves. Direct-drive printers want short retractions (0.5–1.5mm); Bowden setups need more (4–6mm). Tune distance first, then speed (30–45mm/s). Print a stringing tower and change one variable at a time.
3. Temperature too high
Hotter plastic is runnier plastic. Drop 5°C at a time toward the bottom of your filament's range and re-test. A temperature tower finds the sweet spot for that specific spool in twenty minutes.
Bonus: enable wipe-on-retract and increase travel speed — less time crossing gaps means less time to ooze.
Send a photo and a description and we will tell you exactly what is wrong and what it costs to fix — before you spend a dime. We come to you, evenings & weekends, OKC metro. Request a free diagnosis →