3D Printing Info

Filament comparison

HIPS vs PA6

Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.

HIPS guidePA6 (Nylon 6) guide

2 selected · all documented properties

Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore HIPS comparisonsMore PA6 comparisons
HIPS vs PA6 — documented properties and sources
PropertyHIPSABSPA6 (Nylon 6)PA
Market snapshot
Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots$29.99/kg median; $27.99–$32.00/kg across 3 dated product listings$104.00/kg median; $38.99–$136.00/kg across 3 dated product listings
Identity & Market
Base polymer / chemistryHigh-impact polystyrene — polystyrene toughened with a butadiene rubber phase[1][2]Polyamide 6, ring-opened from caprolactam — the most hygroscopic of the common nylons[3][4]
Densityg/cm³1.04 (ISO 1183)[1]1.06 (ISO 1183, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[5]
Typical priceUSD/kg1 kg spools cluster near 31[6][7]1 kg-equivalent spools span 39–136; the middle of the market is about 104, though budget unfilled PA6 has now arrived at 39[6][8]
Price range across brandsUSD/kg28–32 across brands; YXPOLYER 28, Push Plastic 30, 3DXTech 32[7][6][9]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[6][8]
Market availability1–5Available from several mainstream brands[6][7]Niche, a handful of specialist brands[6]
Spool sizes & diameters1.75 and 2.85 mm; 1 and 3 kg spools[7][6]1.75 and 2.85 mm; 500 g and 750 g spools[6]
Typical applicationsBreak-away and d-limonene-soluble support for ABS and ASA, and a light model material in its own right[2]Wear parts, bushings and gears where PA6's toughness and abrasion resistance matter more than dimensional stability[3]
Printing Parameters
Nozzle temperature°C230–245 (Simplify3D)[10]220–260 (Polymaker); 225–265 (Simplify3D)[3][11]
Bed temperature°C100–115 (Simplify3D)[10]70–100 (Polymaker); 70–90 (Simplify3D)[3][11]
Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5Enclosure recommended[12]Enclosure required (passive)[13][3]
Part cooling fanPart cooling fan not required[10]Part cooling fan not required (Simplify3D)[11]
Bed surface & adhesion aidGlue stick, glass plate, Kapton tape or PET sheets[10]PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[11][3]
Warping tendency1–5Moderate — needs adhesion aid or draught shield[12]Not documented
Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[10]Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[11][3]
Stringing / oozing tendency1–5Slight — HIPS oozes less than ABS[10][14]Moderate — retraction tuning needed[3]
Overall printing difficulty1–5Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[12]Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning; the filament must be kept dry throughout the print[3][15]
Hardware Wear & Reliability
Nozzle hardness required1–4Brass fine indefinitely[12]Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[3]
Abrasiveness1–5Non-abrasive[12]Non-abrasive when unfilled[3]
Nozzle clog risk1–5Low — no special hot-end required, no drybox and no hardened nozzle, and 3DXTech states drying is not needed[10][16][2]Very high — frequent jams without careful setup; wet nylon pops and cracks in the melt[17][15]
Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5Slightly sensitive[10]Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[11]
Hotend requirementNo special hot-end required[10]May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[11]
Moisture Behaviour
Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5Low (0.1–0.3 %) — Simplify3D lists water resistance as a headline property[10]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[15][18]
Drying temperature & timeNot documented100 °C for 8 h (Polymaker CoPA); storage below 20 % RH[13][19]
Symptoms when wetBubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[15]Popping and cracking during extrusion, then defects that Polymaker describes as very hard to diagnose[17]
Effect of moisture on strengthPolymaker rates ABS moderate-sensitivity and publishes no dry-versus-conditioned figures; absorbed water flashes to steam in the hotend and shows as bubbling and poor layer adhesion[15]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 %[13][17]
Storage requirementSealed with desiccant; less critical than for the polyamides[15]Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant; Polymaker says nylon often needs to stay in a dryer while printing[19][15]
Hydrolysis at melt temperatureNot documentedPolymaker 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[13][19]
Mechanical Properties
Tensile strength (XY)MPa40 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[1]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)[5][20]
Young's modulusMPa1350 (printed XY, ISO 527) — the lowest modulus of the styrenics here[1]2110 (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2232 printed XZ and 1817 ZX (ASTM D638)[5][20]
Elongation at break%18 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[1]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)[5][20]
Flexural strengthMPa70 (printed XY, ISO 178)[1]78 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 97.2 printed XZ and 82 ZX (ASTM D790)[5][20]
Flexural modulusMPa1600 (printed XY, ISO 178)[1]2200 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2196 printed XZ and 1879 ZX (ASTM D790)[5][20]
Other impact dataNot documentedIzod 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[20]
Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPaNot documented36.5 ultimate and 28.9 at yield printed ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH, ASTM D638)[20]
Brittleness1–5Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[1]Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[3]
Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / RockwellNot documentedShore 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[21]
Creep resistance / sustained load1–5Moderate — no printed-HIPS creep test found; Tg of 100 °C keeps room-temperature service far below softening[1][10]Moderate[3]
Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5Moderate[1]Excellent — living hinges viable[3]
Elasticity / flexibility1–5Rigid[1]Semi-flexible[17]
Z strength as % of XY%Not documented54 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned, ZX against XZ ultimate tensile, ASTM D638); 59 on the yield figures[20]
Wear resistance & frictionNot documented3DXTech sells a dedicated wear-resistant PA6 grade; abrasion resistance is the usual reason to choose PA6 over PA12[6]
Thermal Properties
HDT at 1.8 MPa°CNot documented93 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned, ASTM D648 at 264 psi)[20]
Glass transition (Tg)°C100 (DSC)[1]105 (DSC, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[5]
Melting point / Vicat°CAmorphous — no melting point[1]Not documented
Continuous service temperature°CBounded by a glass transition of 100 °C; no loaded-bar service figure is published for HIPS[1]Not documented
Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·KNot documented81.0 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[21]
Flammability / UL 94Flammable; no UL 94 rating published[1]Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the unfilled filament grades surveyed[5]
Environment & Chemical
UV resistance1–5Months outdoors before embrittlement — polystyrene yellows and chalks under UV[22]Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows and chalks under UV[3]
Chemical resistanceDissolves completely in d-limonene — the basis of its use as a soluble support[2]Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis — the usual reason to choose a polyamide[3]
Water / humidity resistance in service1–5Not documentedAbsorbs water, properties shift — a conditioned part is measurably softer and larger than the same part dry[17][13]
Food contactNot food safe[22]Polymaker notes medical-grade variants exist, but standard filament is not food-contact certified[3]
Biodegradability / compostabilityNot biodegradable[22]Not biodegradable[3]
RecyclabilityNot accepted in household plastic collection[22]Mechanically recyclable but not accepted in household plastic collection[3]
Electrical & ESD propertiesSurface resistance above 10¹³ ohm/sq — insulating (ASTM D257)[1]Not documented
Health & Safety
Fume toxicity1–5High — hazardous VOC such as styrene; enclosure and filtration needed[4]Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[4]
VOC emission rateµg/min12–113 styrene, the range measured across ABS and the one HIPS filament tested[4]Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[4]
Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min≈4 × 10⁹ median for the HIPS filament tested, an order of magnitude below ABS but forty times PLA[4]≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[4]
Hazardous species emittedStyrene was the only dominant VOC identified for the HIPS filament tested[4]Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament — the largest single-VOC emission rate measured in the study[4]
Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5Enclosure with carbon and HEPA filtration[4]Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[4]
Post-Processing
Sanding & machiningSands and paints readily, like ABS[22]Sands poorly — the toughness makes it gum rather than powder[11]
Gluing & solvent weldingSolvent-welds with d-limonene, and with acetone via its polystyrene backbone[10][2]Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[11]
Vapour / chemical smoothingd-limonene attacks the surface; acetone smoothing is far less effective than on ABS[2][10]No practical vapour smoothing[11]
Support material pairingUsed as the support material itself — dissolves in d-limonene, or breaks away from ABS and ASA[2]PVA dissolves cleanly against nylon; Polymaker sells a break-away PolySupport for PA12[11]
Dimensional accuracy & detailNot documentedParts grow as they absorb moisture after printing; Polymaker declines to publish a standard dimensional allowance because it depends on geometry and infill[17]
Solvents & Solubility
Soluble ind-limonene, 12–24 h submerged with occasional agitation; acetone also dissolves it, and xylene does so at 23 °C.[23][24][25]Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~50 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — laboratory reagents.[26]
Softened or crazed byLimonene also disrupts layer adhesion in some ABS and ASA grades, so an ABS model can flake apart in the same bath.[27]Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it.[26]
Solvent welding & smoothing agentLimonene welds and lightly etches it; acetone welds through the polystyrene backbone but smooths less well than ABS.[23][27]None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[26]

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

  1. 3DXMAX HIPS Technical Data Sheet 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
  2. 3DXMAX HIPS — product page 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
  4. 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
  5. iOn PA6-based Nylon Alloy Technical Data Sheet v2.0 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
  6. 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
  7. Push Plastic product catalogue Push Plastic · 2026-08 · vendor
  8. YXPOLYER PA6 Black 1 kg — product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
  9. YXPOLYER HIPS product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
  10. HIPS — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
  11. Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
  12. ABS / ASA / PC Usage Guide Bambu Lab Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
  13. PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
  14. ABS — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
  15. Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
  16. Filament Material Guide Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
  17. Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
  18. Fiberon PA612-CF15 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
  19. PolyMide CoPA — Technical Data Sheet page Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · tds
  20. FDM Nylon 6 — data sheet (conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH) Stratasys · 2017-11 · tds
  21. TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
  22. ABS — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
  23. D-Limonene — FDM post-processing guide Filament2Print · 2026-08 · review
  24. Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
  25. US 5,278,282 Polymer recycling by selective dissolution — xylene dissolution temperatures Nauman & Lynch, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute · 1994-01 · paper
  26. Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
  27. HIPS — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc