Machine Washable 3D filaments? Before I gunk up my washing machine

Does anybody know if PLA, ABS, or any of the other common 3D printing filaments will survive a laundry cycle on any settings?

If you wash with cold water then any filament should be fine. With hot it’s a different story, but the glass transition temperature of ABS is over 100 C and shouldn’t have any issues. For PETG it’s around 80 C and that should survive, though I’m not exactly sure how hot the average washer gets. PLA is almost certainly unsuitable for washing in hot water.

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Yep, Google tells me Tg for PLA is 60oC (140o F). I was wondering if water + temp + detergent might have a synergistic destructive effect.

I went ahead and tried some PLA first on cold and now on hot. I’ll let y’all know what comes out in the wash.

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Piece survived first round wash through hot water and dryer. Will it survive multiple… only time will tell.

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