Material Type FAQ

Tree Dee Designs Inc. is dedicated to providing customers with as much customization options as possible. Besides choosing your material colour, there are now options available for material type. We can certainly accept requests for additional material types, and we will be adding new materials all the time.

Different materials have pros and cons. Here is the breakdown:

1. PLA is the recommended material by Tree Dee Designs. Although there are stronger (impact) materials available, products have been designed using this material type and proven very resistant to forces. Temperature tolerance does max out at 50-60 degrees Celsius (122-140 degrees Fahrenheit). Considering most medical environments are maintained at room temperature, and even exterior temperatures are well below this, you may find issues if devices are left in an extremely hot environment, such as on the dash of a vehicle during a hot summer day, or next to a hot heater.
*PLA is the recommended material choice unless there is concern for devices being in temperatures higher than 50C/122F.

2. PETG offers comparable flexibility, enhanced strength and impact resistance when compared to PLA and has additional heat tolerance up to 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit). Although flexibility is higher then other materials, PLA does remain most flexible in our testing, and therefore can develop stress fractures more easily than PLA.
*PETG is the recommended material choice for customers looking for higher temperature resistance and higher impact resistance.

3. ABS has further heat tolerance beyond PETG, and withstands temperatures up to 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit) - and can withstand being boiled. ABS has a much higher impact resistance compared to PETG. ABS has a lower flexibility in devices that require a little flex (such as the Kraken device) - therefore a stress fracture can more easily develop in ABS when compared to PETG or PLA. ABS Has the added benefit of being UV resistant - meaning the colour will never fade in the sun.
*ABS is generally not recommended by TreeDee for it's devices due to the lack of flexibility. However, some customers have desired this material and we do offer it for anyone wanting much higher heat resistance and impact resistance, at the sacrifice of decreased flexibility.

4. PLA CF or Carbon Fiber is a special material Tree Dee Designs carries every now and then. It's properties are the same as PLA but the added Carbon Fiber offers pleasing ascetic properties.

5. Rainbow PLA is a special material Tree Dee Designs carries every now and then. It's properties are the same as PLA but the material is a multi-color and offers pleasing ascetic properties. This effect is only captured on products that are of a large size (like cases) but the effect is lost on smaller objects (like syringe holders) due to the small amount of material used. However, we can manually create a "rainbow" effect by switching the filament multiple times during manufacturing. For more information on this effect, please email us.

6. Coming Soon: ASA & Nylon-6 materials (currently in testing phase).