Foaming TPU (LW-TPU) prints at about 225 °C with a 45 °C bed and 30% part cooling. Usable range 200–250 °C nozzle, 25–60 °C bed. No enclosure needed.
LW-TPULightweight TPUVarioshoreFoaming flexible
Starting settings
Nozzle
200–250 °C (start 225)
Bed
25–60 °C (start 45)
Part fan
0–50% (start 30%)
Wall speed
10–30 mm/s
Max volumetric flow
3 mm³/s
Shrinkage
0.6%
Softens at
-35 °C
Enclosure
Not needed
Nozzle size
0.4 mm or larger — 0.6 mm recommended
Nozzle material
Brass is fine
Drying
50 °C for 6 h
Speed
Slow, 10–30 mm/s. Expansion needs dwell time at temperature, so speed and density are linked here in a way they are not on any other material.
Bed surface
Clean smooth PEI at 45 °C.
Nozzle
0.6 mm suits it — the foamed extrusion is wider than the nozzle, and a bigger opening makes that easier to control.
What bites people
Temperature is a DENSITY setting on this material, not just a melt setting. Cooler prints denser and firmer, hotter prints lighter and spongier — a temperature tower here is reading softness, not surface quality.
Flow must come DOWN as temperature goes up, or the expansion over-extrudes. Roughly halve the flow at the hot end of the range; the exact figure is a per-spool measurement.
The extrusion is wider than the nozzle once it expands, which throws off any dimensional calibration done with a normal material.
Everything true of soft TPU is still true here — slow speeds, minimal retraction, direct drive preferred.