3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
BVOH vs PA6
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | BVOH (soluble support)SUPPORT | PA6 (Nylon 6)PA |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $165.72/kg median; $165.72–$165.72/kg across 1 dated product listings | $104.00/kg median; $38.99–$136.00/kg across 3 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Butenediol vinyl alcohol copolymer — a vinyl alcohol copolymer that dissolves faster and in cooler water than straight PVA[1] | Polyamide 6, ring-opened from caprolactam — the most hygroscopic of the common nylons[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.06 (ISO 1183, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[4] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 166[1] | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 39–136; the middle of the market is about 104, though budget unfilled PA6 has now arrived at 39[5][6] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 166 at Fiberlogy's 500 g pricing on 3DJake[1] | 39–136 across brands; YXPOLYER 39, 3DXTech iOn Nylon 6 Alloy 104, WearX Nylon 6 136. Unfilled PA6 filament stays rare — most PA6 reaches the market glass- or carbon-filled[5][6] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[1] | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[5] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5 kg spools[1] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 500 g and 750 g spools[5] |
| Typical applications | Dissolvable support where PVA dissolves too slowly, and for materials PVA bonds to poorly[1] | Wear parts, bushings and gears where PA6's toughness and abrasion resistance matter more than dimensional stability[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 220–260 (Polymaker); 225–265 (Simplify3D)[2][7] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 70–100 (Polymaker); 70–90 (Simplify3D)[2][7] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[8] | Enclosure required (passive)[9][2] |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | Part cooling fan not required (Simplify3D)[7] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[7][2] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[7][2] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[2] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[10] | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning; the filament must be kept dry throughout the print[2][10] |
| Extruder requirement | A second extruder or a tool changer[8] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely[8] | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive[8] | Non-abrasive when unfilled[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[10] | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup; wet nylon pops and cracks in the melt[11][10] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[7] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[7] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the vinyl alcohol backbone is what makes it soluble[10][8] | Very high (>2 %) — Polymaker groups nylon with PVA as the most moisture-prone class, and its own PA6-based composites reach 2.35–3.33 % equilibrium[10][12] |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | 100 °C for 8 h (Polymaker CoPA); storage below 20 % RH[9][13] |
| Symptoms when wet | Not documented | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then defects that Polymaker describes as very hard to diagnose[11] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Not a structural material; no dry-versus-conditioned data is published[10] | Measured dry against wet on printed specimens at 6.16 % moisture (Polymaker CoPA): tensile 78.0 → 34.3 MPa, Young's modulus 2703 → 724 MPa, flexural strength 109.8 → 22.6 MPa, while notched Charpy rises 6.9 → 27.7 kJ/m² and elongation 12.7 → 13.2 %[9][11] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed with desiccant at all times[10] | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant; Polymaker says nylon often needs to stay in a dryer while printing[13][10] |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | Not documented | Polymaker requires a 100 °C dry for 8 h and storage below 20 % RH; no molecular-weight loss figure is published, and the published wet data is conditioning rather than melt hydrolysis[9][13] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 62 at break (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned to 20 °C / 50 % RH gives 67.6 ultimate and 49.3 at yield printed XZ (ASTM D638)[4][14] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 2110 (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2232 printed XZ and 1817 ZX (ASTM D638)[4][14] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 9 at break (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 38 printed XZ against 3.2 in ZX (ASTM D638)[4][14] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 78 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 97.2 printed XZ and 82 ZX (ASTM D790)[4][14] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 2200 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2196 printed XZ and 1879 ZX (ASTM D790)[4][14] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Izod notched 106 J/m printed XZ against 43 J/m in ZX; unnotched 2873 against 192 J/m (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH, ASTM D256 Method A) — a 15x anisotropy unnotched[14] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 36.5 ultimate and 28.9 at yield printed ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH, ASTM D638)[14] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Shore D 86 and Rockwell 85 (108) — the source does not name the scales on extruded unfilled PA66 stock (ASTM D2240, D785); no figure is published for a PA6 filament[15] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Moderate[2] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — living hinges viable[2] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Semi-flexible[11] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 54 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned, ZX against XZ ultimate tensile, ASTM D638); 59 on the yield figures[14] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Not documented | 3DXTech sells a dedicated wear-resistant PA6 grade; abrasion resistance is the usual reason to choose PA6 over PA12[5] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 93 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned, ASTM D648 at 264 psi)[14] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 105 (DSC, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[4] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | Not documented | 81.0 on extruded unfilled PA66 stock (ASTM D696; source states 4.5e-5 in/in/°F); no figure is published for a PA6 filament, and PA6 and PA66 expand almost identically[15] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the unfilled filament grades surveyed[4] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows and chalks under UV[2] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis — the usual reason to choose a polyamide[2] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Dissolves or disintegrates — by design[1] | Absorbs water, properties shift — a conditioned part is measurably softer and larger than the same part dry[11][9] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Polymaker notes medical-grade variants exist, but standard filament is not food-contact certified[2] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[2] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Mechanically recyclable but not accepted in household plastic collection[2] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[3] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[3] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Not documented | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[3] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[3] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Not documented | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament — the largest single-VOC emission rate measured in the study[3] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[3] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[3] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Sands poorly — the toughness makes it gum rather than powder[7] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[7] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[7] |
| Support material pairing | This is the support material[1] | PVA dissolves cleanly against nylon; Polymaker sells a break-away PolySupport for PA12[7] |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | Parts grow as they absorb moisture after printing; Polymaker declines to publish a standard dimensional allowance because it depends on geometry and infill[11] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Water: about 1 g of BVOH per 20 g of water, several hours; warmer water is faster but must not be too hot.[16][1] | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~50 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — laboratory reagents.[17] |
| Softened or crazed by | Nothing else — a vinyl alcohol copolymer resists organic solvents, so IPA or acetone will not touch it.[18] | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it.[17] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — water is a removal solvent, not a welding one.[16] | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[17] |
Material entries describe families or representative grades, not an interchangeable specification for every spool. Test methods, orientations and conditions may differ. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- Fiberlogy BVOH Natural — product page 3DJake International · 2026-08 · vendor
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Emissions of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds from Commercially Available Desktop Three-Dimensional Printers with Multiple Filaments (Azimi et al.) Environmental Science & Technology 50(3) 1260-1268 · 2016-01 · paper
- iOn PA6-based Nylon Alloy Technical Data Sheet v2.0 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER PA6 Black 1 kg — product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyDissolve S1 Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA612-CF15 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA — Technical Data Sheet page Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · tds
- FDM Nylon 6 — data sheet (conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH) Stratasys · 2017-11 · tds
- TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Water soluble (BVOH/PVA) — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Polyvinyl alcohol — KURARAY POVAL application guide Kuraray · 2026-08 · tds