It may be tempting here to improve 3D print quality by sanding or cutting these sections from the print, and while that’s an OK fix, prevention is always the best way to fix 3D print issues.

Similar to stringing and oozing, you will see excess filament on your print in areas where there is not meant to be filament.

There’s a limit how far you can push your extruder to do retractions. If, after maxing out your retraction settings as described in the [Stringing and 3D printer oozing] chapter, you’re still seeing signs of insufficient retractions there are some other things to consider, see ‘How to fix:’ below.

This is a setting in your slicer software. Standard retracts are happening while the extruder is stopped, which can lead to oozing and additional material being deposited on the model. The idea being using non—stationary retracts is to retract while the nozzle is still moving, which might improve results.

This is a setting in more advanced slicers. During retraction a configurable length of filament is pulled back from the nozzle before a travel move occurs. After the travel move completed, the same length is then pushed backed into the nozzle before actual printing restarts. Altering the restart distance allows you to influence what happens at the end of the travel move. You can tell your slicer to push back more or less filament than initially has been retracted.

Use longer restart distance in order to make up for material that oozed during the travel move (usually used when you see dents or holes at the restart point). Or use a shorter (or negative) restart distance to push back less filament than initially retracted, which will help with eliminating blobs at the restart point

Stringing at its heart is molten filament oozing out of the nozzle during a fast travel move. The hotter your print temperature, the more likely it is that oozing might occur. So when in doubt try printing cooler, reduce in 5°C increments performing small tests each time.

Some filaments are more prone to stringing than others. Not all brands print equally well. This is also true for different filament types. PETG is more likely to string than for example ABS. If you can’t get rid of excessive stringing (after speaking to the manufacturer), try some other filament type or brand.