Polymaker PolyFlex TPU95
Manufactured by Polymaker
Quick Summary
PolyFlex TPU95 is the flexible filament to start with. At Shore 95A it is soft enough to make a phone case that actually flexes and stiff enough that a normal extruder can push it without the filament coiling up inside the gears. It prints at 210-230 °C, sticks to almost any bed without help, and stretches past three times its length before it gives up.
Print Settings That Work
The data sheet gives 210-230 °C nozzle, 25-60 °C bed, and 20-40 mm/s. Speed is the setting people ignore and then blame the filament for. TPU needs time for the melt to keep up with the extruder, and every jam story starts with someone running it at PLA speeds.
Set retraction near zero on a direct drive, 1 mm at most. Turn off any filament-loading acceleration spikes. Keep the spool path free of sharp bends so the filament cannot buckle. Part cooling at 30-50% keeps overhangs tidy without hurting layer bonding, which is excellent in TPU anyway.
Print Quality
Layer adhesion is the strongest of any material on this site; a properly printed TPU part tears before it delaminates. Bed adhesion is equally strong, sometimes inconveniently so on smooth PEI, where a thin part can be a fight to remove. Surface finish is matte and slightly rubbery, and vertical walls come out clean if you keep speed constant.
Stringing exists. Because you cannot retract much, travel moves leave wisps. Design fewer travel moves, or accept a minute with a heat gun afterwards.
Where It Falls Short
TPU is genuinely moisture hungry. A wet spool pops and foams and produces weak, rough parts, and it can go from fine to unusable in a humid week. Store it sealed with desiccant and dry at 55 °C for 6 hours when in doubt.
Spools are often 750 g rather than a full kilogram, which makes the price per kilo higher than it first looks. And the material is unforgiving of high speed, so a large flexible part takes real time.
Verdict
For gaskets, drone bumpers, watch straps, and anything that has to bend and come back, PolyFlex TPU95 is the safe pick. It is more expensive than budget TPU and the reward is consistency: even diameter, even feeding, no surprise jams halfway through a five-hour print. Buy softer NinjaFlex only when you specifically need the extra squish and have a direct drive to feed it.
- Polymaker PolyFlex TPU95 vs ninjaflex tpu — NinjaFlex is softer at 85A and more rubbery in the hand, but far fussier to feed. PolyFlex 95A prints on more machines and is the better first flexible filament.
- Polymaker PolyFlex TPU95 vs sunlu tpu 95a — SUNLU is the budget 95A and prints acceptably; PolyFlex is more consistent in diameter, which matters more with flexibles than with any rigid material.
What temperature should I print PolyFlex TPU95 at?
Polymaker specifies 210-230 °C at the nozzle with a 25-60 °C bed and print speeds of 20-40 mm/s. 225 °C at 30 mm/s is a good starting point; going faster is the single most common cause of jams.
Can I print PolyFlex TPU95 on a Bowden printer?
Yes, with care. At Shore 95A it is stiff enough to push through a short, well-constrained Bowden tube if you slow to about 20 mm/s, disable retraction or keep it under 2 mm, and make sure the extruder path has no gaps for the filament to buckle into.
How strong is TPU 95A compared to PLA?
Differently strong. It will not carry a load like PLA, but it stretches more than three times its length before failing and absorbs impact instead of cracking. For gaskets, bumpers, and hinges that is exactly the property you want.