# My filament is brittle, what do I do? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109 "2021-01-27T16:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tony](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/3dprintingspace.com/tony/32/218_2.png) [@tony](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/tony)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/1 "2021-01-27T16:12:27Z")
There are 4 possible reasons as to why your filament is brittle. Moisture, temperature, sunlight, and/or oxygen. Place your filament in a PrintDry machine or food dehydrator 60 degrees Celsius (judging by the severity, drying time can range from 2 hours to overnight). Once the filament is dry enough for printability, store unused filament in a cool dry place. (silica gel does not draw out moisture, it simply maintains the current moisture level). ![image](https://storage.3dprintingspace.com/original/1X/fa2ea3911e602ed4152b822b60f2d515922c95c8.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![fcsmls](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@fcsmls](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/fcsmls)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/2 "2021-02-03T18:23:23Z")
Agree - dry it out. I was having issues with some older PLA that got real brittle. Purchased a food dehydrator on Amazon and printed the adapter shell I found on Thingiverse so that I didn’t have to destroy the original, in case we ever want to use it for the intended purpose. Worked great - now able to use a role right down to the last dregs without any issues. Much better than throwing away unusable filament. ![20210203_1312471](https://storage.3dprintingspace.com/original/1X/769b9928236f178bee40a8e1d04fa027bab40870.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![fcsmls](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@fcsmls](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/fcsmls)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/3 "2021-02-03T18:25:14Z")
Found that 4-5 hours at the 60C setting did the job. Checked with digital thermometer just to verify temp. ---
**Author:** ![Glenn](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/3dprintingspace.com/glenn/32/728_2.png) [@Glenn](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/Glenn)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/4 "2021-02-03T22:59:18Z")
We have one of those dehydrators we use all the time but my printers not big enough to print that, or maybe I could print it in sections and glue it heh. ---
**Author:** ![fcsmls](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@fcsmls](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/fcsmls)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/5 "2021-02-04T13:17:11Z")
I printed a 3 piece model that snapped together. Barely fit on my Ender3 - would suggest the 4 piece would be easier. Snap together feature failed when it got hot, so glueing is the way to go. Kurt ---
**Author:** ![Glenn](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/3dprintingspace.com/glenn/32/728_2.png) [@Glenn](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/Glenn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/6 "2021-02-04T13:54:59Z")
Oh awesome. I’ll print one for sure, I think I could do 1/2 at a time looking at it now. ---
**Author:** ![kgr](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kgr](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/kgr)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/7 "2021-02-04T17:52:56Z")
To keep all of my filaments dry I store them in a large rubbermaid container with a large bag of silicon desiccant. This cat litter is a super cheap source: [https://www.amazon.ca/Amazing-Cat-Litter-8-lbs/dp/B002DX62HM](https://www.amazon.ca/Amazing-Cat-Litter-8-lbs/dp/B002DX62HM) ---
**Author:** ![WWAED](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/3dprintingspace.com/wwaed/32/264_2.png) [@WWAED](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/WWAED)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/8 "2021-02-04T18:03:10Z")
I had similar constraints, but I found a cake carrier at Walmart (in US) that fit onto the Salton dehydrator like it was made for it. Later, I realized I needed to cut a couple of holes at the top of it to let the air circulate through the dryer, but otherwise the design I posted up on Thingiverse shows what I did: [Easy Filament Dehydrator Remix by WhatWouldAnEngineerDo - Thingiverse](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3789523) ---
**Author:** ![fcsmls](https://3dps-assets.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@fcsmls](https://3dprintingspace.com/u/fcsmls)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 5:32am UTC](https://3dprintingspace.com/t/my-filament-is-brittle-what-do-i-do/109/9 "2021-02-05T05:32:47Z")
Searched for that cake carrier in Canada, with no luck. And with Covid still raging, who knows how long the border will be closed? But love your application – will plan for this mod if life ever returns to normal.