Filament Atlas
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PLA Glow

Polylactic Acid - Glow-in-the-Dark

7 products from 6 makers. Bambu Lab sells its own filament of this material for the H2C.

Tensile modulus (XY)
2.01GPa
0.210 (log)
2 products · 1.99–2.03
Tensile strength (XY)
37.6MPa
0125
2 products · 32–43.2
Tensile strength (Z)
25.8MPa
060
2 products · 25.6–26
Notched Charpy impact
8.8kJ/m²
150 (log)
one product
HDT at 0.45 MPa
55°C
50300
one product
Price
36CAD/kg
0300
2 products · 32–40

PLA Glow is glow-in-the-dark polylactic acid. Makers sell it for toys, signage, nameplates, logos and jewellery. It is amorphous as printed, so it softens at its glass transition: its HDT at 0.45 MPa is 55–55 °C. On the H2C it needs no heated chamber, but some makers call for a hardened steel or ruby nozzle because it wears the nozzle.

Partly documented Notched Charpy impact and HDT at 0.45 MPa rest on 1 product each and tensile modulus (XY), tensile strength (XY), tensile strength (Z) and price on 2 products each. Each figure is the median of the products that publish it comparably, and beside it the middle half of them; a value on a test bar no document describes as printed, or with no stated test load, is set apart, except a heat deflection of a plastic that cannot crystallise, which its glass transition sets, unless its document points to a moulded or resin bar.

On the H2C

Printing in full
Nozzle
190⁠–⁠225 °C
most products that give one
Bed
55⁠–⁠60 °C
most products that give one
Heated chamber
none needed
4 of 7 products
Drying
45–60 °C, 2–8 h
3 of 7 products call for it; 2 more give it as optional
Nozzle type
hardened
3 of 7 products' sheets ask for one; the rest are silent

No product's setting is beyond the H2C's limits: nozzle 350 °C, bed 120 °C, heated chamber 65 °C.

Among the materials

Against PLA-CF, PLA Glow is 28 % less stiff, 11 % less expensive and 11 % weaker flat. Against PETG, PLA Glow is 38 % more expensive, 20 % weaker flat and 19 % stiffer. Among the materials, PLA Glow has a low tensile strength (XY), HDT at 0.45 MPa and price: each is in the lowest quarter of the materials that publish it. The rest of its key properties sit in the middle half.

PLA Glow is tougher in notched Charpy than PLA-CF and PETG but costs less than PLA-CF, PLA-GF and PP and others

How does it compare with what an engineer would buy instead?

  • PLA Glow: its products' median and middle half
  • an alternative
  • lowest to highest
  • each material's median (top row)
  • set apart: test bar not described as printed, or no stated load
  • beyond the scale
All materials
PLA Glow7 products
PLA-CF19 products
PLA-GF4 products
PETG72 products
PP12 products
ABS55 products
Modulus (XY)GPa, log scale
Strength (XY)MPa
Strength (Z)MPa
Notched CharpykJ/m², log scale
HDT 0.45 MPa°C
PriceCAD/kg

Each row is a material, each column a property: the bar is the middle half of a material's products, the tick their median, the hairline their lowest to highest; the ticks above the rows are every material's median.

The figure as a table
MaterialModulus (XY) (GPa)Strength (XY) (MPa)Strength (Z) (MPa)Notched Charpy (kJ/m²)HDT 0.45 MPa (°C)Price (CAD/kg)
PLA Glow (this material)2.01 · 237.6 · 225.8 · 28.8 · 155 · 136 · 2
PLA-CF2.8 (2.26⁠–⁠3.65) · 742.3 (39.3⁠–⁠47) · 1025.3 (24.1⁠–⁠26) · 56.08 · 255 (55⁠–⁠57) · 640 · 2
PLA-GF—46 · 1———41 · 0
PETG1.69 (1.42⁠–⁠1.95) · 2447 (40.3⁠–⁠50.6) · 3430.2 (28⁠–⁠36.5) · 166 (4.76⁠–⁠8) · 1070 (69⁠–⁠71) · 3226 (25⁠–⁠32) · 11
PP1.2⁠–⁠1.4 as published (2)19 · 1—65 as published (1)59 · 177 · 2
ABS2.2 (2.02⁠–⁠2.25) · 1334.5 (33⁠–⁠35.6) · 1827.3 (24.6⁠–⁠28.3) · 1220 (18⁠–⁠21.5) · 795 (89⁠–⁠99) · 1840 (31⁠–⁠52) · 9

Each cell is the median of the products ranked, its middle half in brackets, and how many.

How the numbers are worked out

Where PLA Glow sits among the 128 rigid materials on file

Where is it in the landscape: stiffness against strength, heat resistance against price?

  • PLA Glow: median, middle half as a cross
  • a PLA Glow product
  • an alternative
  • another material
  • beyond the scale

Tensile strength (XY) against tensile modulus (XY)

MPa, log scale

51020501002000.20.512510PLA GlowPLA-CFPETGABS

Tensile modulus (XY), GPa, log scale

HDT at 0.45 MPa against price

°C

501001502002503002050100200500PLA GlowPPABS

Price, CAD/kg, log scale

Grey points are every other rigid material's medians; the alternatives are named.

The figure as a table
MaterialTensile modulus (XY)Tensile strength (XY)PriceHDT at 0.45 MPa
PLA Glow (this material)2.01 GPa · 237.6 MPa · 236 CAD/kg · 255 °C · 1
PLA-CF2.8 GPa · 742.3 MPa · 1040 CAD/kg · 255 °C · 6
PLA-GF—46 MPa · 141 CAD/kg · 0—
PETG1.69 GPa · 2447 MPa · 3426 CAD/kg · 1170 °C · 32
PP1.2⁠–⁠1.4 GPa as published19 MPa · 177 CAD/kg · 259 °C · 1
ABS2.2 GPa · 1334.5 MPa · 1840 CAD/kg · 995 °C · 18

How the numbers are worked out

Mechanical properties

Printed flat (XY), PLA Glow typically reaches a tensile strength of 37.6 MPa at a modulus of 2.01 GPa, and breaks at 5.15 % elongation. In bending, its flexural strength is typically 74.2 MPa at a flexural modulus of 2.81 GPa.

ProductTensile strength (XY)Tensile modulus (XY)Tensile strength (Z)Elongation at break (XY)Notched Charpy impactNotched Izod impact
Bambu Lab PLA Glow32 MPa2.03 GPa26 MPa8.6 %8.8 kJ/m²not published
Eryone Glow in43.2 MPa1.99 GPa25.6 MPaZ (X-Z)1.7 %not publishednot published
SIDDAMENT PLA Glow49 MPanot described as printednot publishednot published21 %not described as printednot published3.9 kJ/m²not described as printed
SUNLU PLA Glow49 MPanot described as printednot publishednot published21 %not described as printednot publishednot published
Spectrum PLA Glow60 MPanot described as printed3.5 GPanot described as printednot published6 %not described as printednot publishednot published

Across the layers (Z), PLA Glow keeps 70 % of its flat strength and 90 % of its flat stiffness

What does a printed part lose across the layers (Z) against flat (XY), and is that usual?

  • a product
  • equal share: 100, 75, 50 and 25 %
  • PLA Glow's median share
  • an alternative

Tensile strength

Z keeps 70 % of XY, median of 2 products

0102030405001020304050100 %75 %50 %25 %

flat (XY), MPa

0 %50 %100 %

Share kept: ABS 73 % · PLA Glow 70 % · PETG 69 % · PLA-CF 58 %

Tensile modulus

Z keeps 90 % of XY, median of 2 products

00.511.522.500.511.522.5100 %75 %50 %25 %

flat (XY), GPa

0 %50 %100 %

Share kept: PLA Glow 90 % · ABS 89 % · PETG 88 % · PLA-CF 77 %

Elongation at break

Z keeps 79 % of XY, median of 2 products

02468100246810100 %75 %50 %25 %

flat (XY), %

0 %50 %100 %

Share kept: PLA Glow 79 % · PETG 59 % · PLA-CF 43 % · ABS 38 %

Each point is a product that publishes both from one sheet: below the 100 % ray it keeps less across the layers than flat. Under each plot, the median share its alternatives' products keep.

The figure as a table
ProductPropertyFlat (XY)Across (Z)Z as a share of XY
Bambu Lab PLA GlowTensile strength32 MPa26 MPa81 %
Eryone Glow in the dark PLATensile strength43.2 MPa25.6 MPa, Z (X-Z)59 %
Bambu Lab PLA GlowTensile modulus2.03 GPa1.75 GPa86 %
Eryone Glow in the dark PLATensile modulus1.99 GPa1.85 GPa, Z (X-Z)93 %
Bambu Lab PLA GlowElongation at break8.6 %6.5 %76 %
Eryone Glow in the dark PLAElongation at break1.7 %1.4 %, Z (X-Z)82 %
PLA-CF (alternative)Tensile strength58 % · 5
PETG (alternative)Tensile strength69 % · 13
ABS (alternative)Tensile strength73 % · 9
PLA-CF (alternative)Tensile modulus77 % · 5
PETG (alternative)Tensile modulus88 % · 10
ABS (alternative)Tensile modulus89 % · 7
PLA-CF (alternative)Elongation at break43 % · 5
PETG (alternative)Elongation at break59 % · 13
ABS (alternative)Elongation at break38 % · 9

How the numbers are worked out

Flat and across the layers, property by property

Flat and across the layers

PropertyPrinted flat (XY)Across the layers (Z)Z as a share of XY
MedianProductsMedianProducts
Tensile strength MPa37.6225.82
Tensile modulus GPa2.0121.82
Elongation at break %5.1523.952
Flexural strength MPa74.22551
Flexural modulus GPa2.8122.231

The middle half of the products under each median. The share is each product's Z value as a part of its XY value, from one sheet and one state, and the median of those shares. How XY and Z differ.

Thermal properties

PLA Glow is amorphous as printed, so it softens at its glass transition, typically 55 °C: its HDT is 55 °C under 0.45 MPa and 52 °C under 1.8 MPa. As published, Vicat softening is typically 55 °C and melting typically 159 °C.

ProductHDT at 0.45 MPaHDT at 1.8 MPaGlass transition (Tg)
Bambu Lab PLA Glow55 °C52 °C55 °C
SIDDAMENT PLA Glow53 °Cnot described as printednot publishednot published
SUNLU PLA Glow53 °Cnot described as printednot published62 °C
Spectrum PLA Glow55 °Cnot described as printednot published55 °C

Printing on the H2C

PLA Glow softens near 55 °C, below the H2C's 65 °C chamber

What does printing it on the H2C take, and how hot can a part get?

  • share of the products that accept each temperature
  • what most products accept
  • the H2C's limit, and beyond it
  • a product
  • PLA Glow: its products' median and middle half
  • as published, under each sheet's own test

Printing it on the H2C

Nozzle190⁠–⁠225 °C, accepted by most of the 7 products that give a window · the H2C reaches 350 °C
Bed55⁠–⁠60 °C, accepted by most of the 7 products that give a window · the H2C reaches 120 °C
Heated chamber1 of 7 products gives a window; 4 need none · the H2C reaches 65 °C
Drying45⁠–⁠60 °C, 2⁠–⁠8 h, 5 products

In service

HDT at 1.8 MPa1 product
52 °C
HDT at 0.45 MPa1 product
55 °C
Glass transition (Tg)3 products
55 °C
Vicat softening temperature2 products, as published
54⁠–⁠56 °C
Melting temperature2 products, as published
155⁠–⁠162 °C

°C

One temperature axis for the settings a print needs and the temperatures a part meets. A setting's shade is how many of the products whose sheets give a window accept each degree; the H2C's limit closes its row.

The figure as a table
Setting or propertyMost products, or the medianProductsH2C limit
Nozzle190⁠–⁠225 °C7350 °C
Bed55⁠–⁠60 °C7120 °C
Heated chamber25⁠–⁠45 °C165 °C
Drying45⁠–⁠60 °C, 2⁠–⁠8 h5—
HDT at 1.8 MPa52 °C1—
HDT at 0.45 MPa55 °C1—
Glass transition (Tg)55 °C3—
Vicat softening temperature54⁠–⁠56 °C2—
Melting temperature155⁠–⁠162 °C2—

Windows read from the Bambu Lab Filament Guide are not shaded: the guide speaks for every product that reads it.

How the numbers are worked out

SettingMost PLA Glow products
Nozzle190⁠–⁠225 °C most products that give one
Bed55⁠–⁠60 °C most products that give one
Heated chambernone; sheets that give one say 25⁠–⁠45 °C 4 of 7 products
Drying45⁠–⁠60 °C, 2⁠–⁠8 h 3 of 7 products call for it; 2 more give it as optional
Nozzle typehardened 3 of 7 products' sheets ask for one; the rest are silent

Where a product's own sheet is silent, its setting comes from a sheet it shares or from the Bambu Lab Filament Guide; each product's card says which.

Hardened nozzle. Three products need one: Spectrum PLA Glow in the Dark, eSUN Luminous PLA and eSUN Luminous PLA Rainbow.

After printing

What makers say about printing it

Nozzle wear

  • Luminous PLA is easy to grind nozzle and extruder gear, it is recommended to use steel nozzle or ruby nozzle, hardened steel extruder gear will be perfect , if the nozzle is clogging , replace the throat and nozzle eSUN Luminous PLA, data sheet, p. 2
  • Ruby or hardened nozzle recommended Spectrum PLA Glow in the Dark, data sheet, p. 1

Moisture sensitivity

More from makers: supports and removal, printing advice, warping and shrinkage, adhesion between layers and odour and emissions

Supports and removal

Printing advice

  • The longer the irradiation time, the better the luminous effect eSUN Luminous PLA, data sheet, p. 2

Warping and shrinkage

Adhesion between layers

Odour and emissions

Products

7 products from 6 makers; the most from eSUN (2).

These are published values, not recommendations: the selector judges each product against your requirements.

Compare the 7 products

Uses, limitations and chemicals

What it is sold for

Finish and accuracy

Chemicals and environment

ExposureWhat makers say
Water solubilityInsoluble, in its one statement
Acid resistanceNot resistant, in its one statement
Alkali resistanceNot resistant, in its one statement
Organic solvent resistanceLimited, in its one statement
Oil and grease resistanceLimited, in its one statement
FlammabilityFlammable, in its one statement

Makers rarely give the concentration, temperature or duration: treat them as indications, not design data. Each product's statements are on its card.

Resin reference data (for plain PLA, where no maker of these products speaks): it absorbs moisture and is dried before melt processing. Fillers, pigments and printing change this, so it does not stand for these products.

Density and price

PLA Glow's density is typically 1,250 kg/m³, the middle half 1,240⁠–⁠1,260 kg/m³, across 5 products. PLA Glow typically costs 36 CAD/kg, across the 2 products with a regular price in the sample; the lowest is Bambu Lab PLA Glow at 32 CAD/kg.

ProductPrice
Bambu Lab PLA Glow32 CAD/kg
eSUN Luminous PLA40 CAD/kg

Regular prices, never sale prices, from 9 Canadian shops and 10 foreign shops, sampled 10 Sep–20 Oct 2026, not live; shipping and tax are not included.

Other properties, as published

4 more properties are published, each under its own sheet's test conditions, so they are listed, not ranked.

The 4 properties, lowest to highest
PropertyProductsLowest–highest
Melt mass-flow rate46⁠–⁠23.3 g/10 min
Water absorption20.3⁠–⁠0.46 %
Decomposition temperature1300 °C
Impact strength, test unclear13.5 kJ/m²

Sources

11 documents from 6 publishers (7 data sheets, 3 makers' product pages and guides and 1 printer document), read 10 Sep–19 Oct 2026. Each value on PLA Glow's Products page names its document and page, and links to the original.

Bambu Lab, H2C Filamant Printing Guide (the H2C's printer guide): print settings for 7 products.

Every document (11), by publisher
PublisherDocumentsValuesProducts
Spectrum4111
eSUN2142
Bambu Lab1211
Eryone1121
SUNLU1111
SIDDAMENT181