Best Materials for Outdoor 3D Prints: PETG, ASA, and Beyond

Not all 3D printed parts live on a desk. Once you start mounting brackets outside, adding enclosures to equipment, or building parts for vehicles and yard projects, material choice matters a lot. Sun, heat, cold, and moisture will quickly expose the limits of “normal” PLA prints.

In this article, we’ll look at the best materials for outdoor 3D prints—focusing on PETG, ASA, and a few other options we regularly run on our Central Ohio 3D print farm. The goal is simple: help you choose a filament that will actually survive where you plan to use it.

Why Outdoor 3D Prints Fail

Before picking a material, it’s helpful to understand why outdoor prints fail in the first place. The main enemies are:

• UV exposure: Sunlight breaks down some plastics, making them brittle and faded.
• Heat: Dark parts in direct sun can get hot enough to soften or warp.
• Moisture and temperature swings: Repeated wet/dry or freeze/thaw cycles stress the material.
• Mechanical load: Wind, vibration, or weight can cause cracks over time.

The right material choice—and good design—helps your parts stand up to all of that instead of failing after a single season.

PLA Outside: When It Works and When It Doesn’t

PLA is great for indoor parts and prototypes, but it’s not usually the best choice outdoors. It can work for:

• Short‑term fixtures or jigs used for a limited time.
• Decorative pieces in shaded locations.
• Parts that won’t see much heat or load.

But PLA’s relatively low heat deflection temperature and limited UV resistance mean it can soften, warp, or become brittle if exposed to full sun or hot environments for long periods.

Why PETG Is a Strong Default for Outdoor Use

PETG is often our first recommendation for outdoor‑capable parts because it balances printability with durability. Compared to PLA, it offers:

• Higher temperature resistance (less likely to droop in a hot car or in the sun).
• Better impact resistance and layer adhesion.
• Reasonable UV resistance for many real‑world uses.

We like PETG for:

• Mounts and brackets on outdoor equipment.
• Enclosures and covers near the house or shop.
• Garden and yard fixtures that see some weather but not constant abuse.

On a dialed‑in print farm, high‑quality PETG from vendors like Polymaker is very reliable for both prototypes and production runs.

ASA: The Workhorse for Sun and Heat

When we know a part will live in direct sun and may see significant heat—think automotive, marine, or exposed outdoor fixtures—ASA is usually the go‑to material.

ASA offers:

• Excellent UV resistance (much better than PLA or standard PETG).
• Higher heat resistance suitable for under‑hood or sun‑baked surfaces.
• Good toughness and dimensional stability when printed correctly.

We use ASA for:

• Automotive brackets, sensor mounts, and trim pieces.
• Outdoor enclosures and junction boxes.
• Long‑term fixtures that will see sun, heat, and weather day after day.

ASA can be more demanding to print, which is where a tuned 3D print farm—with the right enclosures, profiles, and experience—really helps.

Other Materials to Consider for Outdoor Parts

Depending on your application and budget, there are a few other options worth mentioning:

• PC blends: Excellent strength and heat resistance, but more difficult to print and sometimes overkill.
• Carbon fiber reinforced filaments: Very stiff and stable, great for structural parts, but more expensive and abrasive on nozzles.
• TPU (flexible): For gaskets, vibration dampers, or parts that need to flex in outdoor environments.

On our farm, we usually start with PETG or ASA and only reach for these more exotic materials when the use case truly demands it.

Design Tips for Outdoor 3D Printed Parts

Even with the right material, design still matters. For outdoor parts, we recommend:

• Adding fillets and generous radii at corners to reduce stress concentrations.
• Orienting layers so loads run along the layer lines when possible.
• Using adequate wall thickness and infill for the loads expected.
• Designing for drainage so water doesn’t pool in recesses.

These are the same principles we apply when we help customers design or refine parts for outdoor use at our print farm.

Not Sure Which Outdoor Material to Pick? We’ll Help.

If you have a part that needs to live outside—or in a hot or demanding environment—you don’t have to guess which filament will work. Tell us what the part does, where it will live, and how long you expect it to last, and we’ll recommend the right combination of material and print settings.

Share your files and requirements through our 3D print farm intake form, and we’ll come back with material options, pricing, and lead times. Whether you need a single outdoor prototype or a full production batch, JC Studio For You can help you choose the right material and produce parts that are built to survive outside.