PLA-NF
Polylactic Acid (Natural fibre)
3 products from 3 makers. Bambu Lab does not list this material for the H2C; its published process temperatures are within the printer's limits.
- Tensile modulus (XY)
- 2.83GPa
- one product
- Tensile strength (XY)
- 37MPa
- one product
- Not published:
- tensile strength (Z),
- Notched Charpy impact
- 3kJ/m²
- as published · test bar not described as printed
- HDT at 0.45 MPa
- 55°C
- as published · test bar not described as printed, or no stated test load
- Not published:
- price.
PLA-NF is polylactic acid filled with natural fibre. Makers sell it for rapid prototyping and, for its organic look, decorative objects and toys. Its glass transition is 55 °C. On the H2C a maker says a hardened nozzle is not needed, and makers note that printing temperature changes its colour and its surface.
Thinly documented Three products, with values from three makers' documents: Extrudr's, Nanovia's and Filamentive's. No document describes its impact and heat deflection bars as printed, so notched Charpy impact and HDT at 0.45 MPa are shown as published and not ranked against other materials. Read each figure as a few sheets' word.
On the H2C
Printing in full- Nozzle
- 185–230 °C
- most products that give one
- Bed
- 50–60 °C
- both that give one
- Heated chamber
- 20 °C
- one product
- Drying
- 50 °C for 4 h
- 1 of 3 products calls for it; 1 more gives it as optional
- Nozzle type
- standard
- 2 say a standard nozzle is enough; 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
Among the materials, PLA-NF has a low tensile strength (XY): it is in the lowest quarter of the materials that publish it. Its tensile modulus (XY) and density sit in the middle half.
Against its alternatives, PLA-NF has the lowest tensile strength
How does it compare with what an engineer would buy instead?
- PLA-NF: 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
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
| Material | Modulus (XY) (GPa) | Strength (XY) (MPa) | Strength (Z) (MPa) | Notched Charpy (kJ/m²) | HDT 0.45 MPa (°C) | Price (CAD/kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLA-NF (this material) | 2.83 · 1 | 37 · 1 | — | 3 as published (1) | 55 as published (2) | — |
| PLA | 2.58 (2–2.88) · 61 | 45 (39.5–53) · 83 | 30.3 (22.1–34) · 40 | 6 (3.97–7.9) · 14 | 56 (53–58) · 50 | 33 (28–40) · 27 |
| PLA-CF | 2.8 (2.26–3.65) · 7 | 42.3 (39.3–47) · 10 | 25.3 (24.1–26) · 5 | 6.08 · 2 | 55 (55–57) · 6 | 40 · 2 |
| PETG-CF | 3.7 (2.93–4.08) · 11 | 49.4 (43–53.7) · 12 | 28.5 (27–32) · 4 | 8 (4–15.7) · 5 | 72 (71–75) · 11 | 41 · 3 |
| PA12-CF | 3.31 (1.97–8) · 5 | 65 (48.5–79.5) · 8 | 33.1 · 2 | 16.3 (13.7–17.8) · 4 | 131 (111–160) · 7 | 300 · 1 |
| ASA-CF | 3.91 (2.35–4.43) · 6 | 39.1 (39–45.8) · 7 | 27.5 (23–30.3) · 4 | 5.76 · 3 | 101 (97–103) · 5 | 65 (54–120) · 5 |
PLA-NF publishes no tensile strength (Z) or price. Its notched Charpy impact and HDT at 0.45 MPa state no orientation, so they are drawn as published.
Mechanical properties
Printed flat (XY), PLA-NF typically reaches a tensile strength of 37 MPa at a modulus of 2.83 GPa.
| As each sheet publishes it | Extrudr FLAX | Nanovia PLA Flax | Filamentive Hemp PLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tensile strength (XY) | 43 MPanot described as printed | 37 MPa | not published |
| Tensile modulus (XY) | 3.8 GPanot described as printed | 2.83 GPa | not published |
| Elongation at break (XY) | 22 %not described as printed | not published | not published |
| Notched Charpy impact | 3 kJ/m²not described as printed | not published | not published |
| Shore D hardness | not published | 77 Shore D | not published |
Not published for PLA-NF: strength across the layers.
Thermal properties
Its glass transition is 55–60 °C. As published, Vicat softening is 48 °C, from one product and melting 155 °C, from one product.
| As each sheet publishes it | Extrudr FLAX | Nanovia PLA Flax | Filamentive Hemp PLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDT at 0.45 MPa | 55 °Cnot described as printed | not published | 55 °Cnot described as printed |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa | 52 °Cnot described as printed | not published | not published |
| Glass transition (Tg) | 60 °C | 55 °C | 55 °C |
Printing on the H2C
PLA-NF 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
- one end given ("at least")
- the H2C's limit, and beyond it
- a product
- PLA-NF: its products' median and middle half
- as published, under each sheet's own test
Printing it on the H2C
In service
°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 property | Most products, or the median | Products | H2C limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nozzle | 185–230 °C | 3 | 350 °C |
| Bed | 20–60 °C; 50–70 °C | 2 | 120 °C |
| Heated chamber | 20 °C | 1 | 65 °C |
| Drying | 50 °C, 4 h | 2 | — |
| Vicat softening temperature | 48 °C | 1 | — |
| Glass transition (Tg) | 55 °C | 3 | — |
| Melting temperature | 155 °C | 1 | — |
Windows read from the Bambu Lab Filament Guide are not shaded: the guide speaks for every product that reads it.
| Setting | Extrudr FLAX | Nanovia PLA Flax | Filamentive Hemp PLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nozzle | 180–240 °C | 200–230 °C | 185–215 °C |
| Bed | 20–60 °C | 50–70 °C | 45 °C |
| Heated chamber | none needed | 20 °C | not stated; within, by its kind |
| Drying | 50 °C for 4 h | optional: 50 °C for 4 h | not published |
| Nozzle type | standard | not stated | standard |
In grey, a setting a product reads from a data sheet it shares or from the Bambu Lab Filament Guide, where its own sheet is silent, or a chamber all of them leave silent, read from what the makers of its kind of plastic state.
What makers say about printing it
Nozzle wear
Hardened Nozzle no
Extrudr FLAX, data sheet, p. 1
More from makers: warping and shrinkage
Warping and shrinkage
Low warping
Extrudr FLAX, data sheet, p. 1
Products
Three products from three makers: Extrudr, Filamentive and Nanovia.
Uses, limitations and chemicals
What it is sold for
The material has been developed for rapid prototyping applications.
Extrudr FLAX, data sheet, p. 1The organic look of this filament makes it ideal for decorative objects and toys.
Nanovia PLA Flax, data sheet, p. 1
Finish and accuracy
This biosourced composite 3D filament, certified endocrine disruptor free, can be browned by varying the printing temperature up to 260 °C.
Nanovia PLA Flax, data sheet, p. 1At high temperatures and uniform printing speed, the surface becomes rough and resembles sandstone.
Extrudr FLAX, data sheet, p. 1
Chemicals and environment
Where no maker of these products speaks to an exposure, reference data for plain PLA resin is shown. Fillers, pigments and printing change it, so it does not stand for these products.
| PLA resin | Verdict | Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Organic solvent resistance | not resistant | Chloroform (not resistant), Tetrahydrofuran (THF) (not resistant), Acetone (limited) and Toluene (limited) |
| Flammability | not resistant | Combustibility (burning behaviour) (not resistant) |
| Moisture sensitivity | limited | Moisture content before melt processing (absorbs) |
Density and price
Its three products give a density of 1,240–1,450 kg/m³. No PLA-NF product has a price in the sample.
| As each sheet publishes it | Extrudr FLAX | Nanovia PLA Flax | Filamentive Hemp PLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Density | 1,450 kg/m³ | 1,250 kg/m³ | 1,240 kg/m³ |
Other properties, as published
7 more properties are published, each under its own sheet's test conditions, so they are listed, not ranked.
The 7 properties, lowest to highest
| Property | Products | Lowest–highest |
|---|---|---|
| Melt mass-flow rate | 3 | 6–15 g/10 min |
| Decomposition temperature | 1 | 240 °C |
| Fibre content | 1 | 10 % |
| Melt volume-flow rate | 1 | 20 cm³/10 min |
| Mould shrinkage | 1 | 0.3–0.4 % |
| Tensile strain at strength | 1 | 2.4–2.5 % |
| Water absorption | 1 | 1 % |
Estimated values
No product publishes values of elongation at break (XY) and HDT at 0.45 MPa that can be ranked, so the selector estimates them from the products' related values and similar materials. An estimate is a range, never a product's value, and nothing above rests on it.
| Property | Likely | Plausible | Precision | Beside what is published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elongation at break (XY) | 2–21 % | 1–42 % | a factor of 10.5 between its ends | one product gives 22.3 % without a stated orientation, above the likely range |
| HDT at 0.45 MPa | 46–61 °C | 43–64 °C | 15 °C between its ends | two products give 55 °C without a stated test load, inside it |
What likely and plausible mean
Tested against known values, a likely range held the true value 8 times in 10, and a plausible range 19 times in 20. How the estimates are made.
Sources
6 documents from 4 publishers (3 data sheets, 2 makers' product pages and guides and 1 printer document), read 10 Sep–19 Oct 2026. Each value on PLA-NF'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 3 products.
Known gaps
- Moisture and chemicals: No exposure, solubility or moisture record from its own sources. Its base polymer's published behaviour is shown instead, labelled polymer-level.
Every document (6), by publisher
| Publisher | Documents | Values | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extrudr | 2 | 25 | 1 |
| Filamentive | 2 | 12 | 1 |
| Nanovia | 1 | 10 | 1 |
- Bambu Lab, H2C Filamant Printing Guide | Bambu Lab Wiki
- Extrudr, FLAX Filament – Made from Renewable Raw Materials | Extrudr
- Extrudr, TECHNICAL DATA SHEET FLAX
- Filamentive, Hemp Based PLA – Sustainable 3D Printing Filament - 1.75mm, 1 kg - Filamentive
- Filamentive, Hemp PLA Technical Data Sheet
- Nanovia, Nanovia PLA Flax : Flax fiber reinforced : Nanovia