Why We Use PLA for Our 3D Printed Fidget Toys
If you’ve picked up one of our Mellow Fidgets clickers before, you’ll probably have noticed that it feels a little different from the smooth, injection moulded plastic you might be used to.
That’s intentional, and it’s actually become one of our favourite things about 3D printing our fidgets.
Most of our fidget toys are made using a material called PLA, and there are a few reasons we’ve chosen to use it across so much of the Mellow Fidgets range.
First Things First, What Is PLA?
PLA stands for Polylactic Acid.
Unlike many conventional plastics that are made from fossil based resources, PLA is a bio based plastic made using renewable plant derived materials, commonly from sources such as corn starch or sugar based crops.
The end result is a lightweight, durable material that’s brilliant for 3D printing and gives us the freedom to turn all of our slightly weird and wonderful fidget ideas into actual products.
And we have a lot of weird and wonderful ideas.
That 3D Printed Texture Is Actually Part of the Appeal
When we first started making fidgets, one of the things we weren’t necessarily expecting was just how much people would enjoy the texture of the 3D print itself.
3D printed products are created one layer at a time.
If you look closely at one of our clickers, you’ll see tiny layer lines across the surface. Run your fingers across it and you can feel them too.
In traditional manufacturing, those lines might be seen as something that needs smoothing away.
For a sensory product?
They’re kind of brilliant.
We’ve had feedback and comments from members of the autistic community telling us that they actually prefer the slightly textured feeling of our 3D printed products.
Rather than being completely smooth plastic, there’s another little bit of tactile feedback there. You can rub your thumb across the layers, trace the shape of the print and feel the subtle ridges beneath your fingertips.
For people who enjoy tactile sensory input, that can be just as satisfying as the click itself.
It’s one of those happy accidents that has become part of what makes our fidgets feel like Mellow Fidgets.
Why PLA Works So Well for Our Clickers
Our clickers are probably the perfect example of why we love working with PLA.
We can design the outer shell digitally and print it around the shape and mechanism we need, giving us an enormous amount of creative freedom.
That’s why one week we’re making crystals and the next we’re making bread baskets, fried chicken buckets or something equally ridiculous.
But underneath all the fun designs is a genuinely satisfying sensory experience.
You get the tactile layer lines and shape of the PLA shell combined with the crisp mechanical click of the switch.
So there’s something to feel and something to click.
It Lets Us Make Smaller Batches
Sustainability isn’t just about what something is made from. It’s also about how much you make in the first place.
Traditional plastic manufacturing can involve moulds, large production runs and huge quantities of identical products.
3D printing works very differently.
We can make products in small batches and adjust what we’re producing depending on what people are actually buying.
If everyone suddenly decides they’re obsessed with a particular clicker, we can make more.
If something isn’t popular, we don’t need boxes containing thousands of them sitting around gathering dust.
It also allows us to experiment with new designs without committing to huge manufacturing runs.
For a small business like ours, that makes an enormous amount of sense.
Less Material Where We Don’t Need It
Another clever thing about 3D printing is that a product doesn’t necessarily need to be completely solid inside.
We can control how a product is constructed, including its walls and internal structure, so we’re not simply creating a giant solid lump of plastic where it isn’t needed.
That means we can create products that feel sturdy and satisfying in your hand while being thoughtful about the amount of material we’re using.
Plant Based Doesn’t Mean Throw It in the Compost Bin
This is an important one.
You’ll sometimes see PLA described online as biodegradable or compostable, but that can be a little misleading without context.
PLA can be compostable under specific controlled conditions, but that doesn’t mean you can chuck your old fidget into your garden compost and expect it to disappear alongside the banana skins.
Certified compostable plastics generally require particular conditions and often industrial composting facilities.
So while PLA’s plant derived origins are one of the reasons we like working with it, we don’t want to pretend our fidgets magically disappear when you’re finished with them.
We’d much rather make something you’re going to keep clicking, spinning, rubbing and fiddling with for a long time anyway.
What About Safety?
PLA is widely used for consumer products, but the safety of any finished plastic product also depends on things such as pigments, additives, additional components and how it’s manufactured.
That’s why we don’t describe our standard fidget toys as products designed for eating, chewing or putting in your mouth.
Our clickers and sensory fidgets are designed for your hands, not your teeth!
You’ll find more information about using and looking after your Mellow Fidgets safely on our Product Safety & Care page.
Why 3D Printing Makes Sense for Mellow Fidgets
One of our favourite things about running Mellow Fidgets is being able to make things differently.
We aren’t ordering thousands of identical plastic toys from a giant production line.
We’re designing products, testing them, printing them ourselves and listening to what the people actually using them tell us.
Sometimes that feedback changes what we make.
Sometimes it gives us an entirely new product idea.
And sometimes it teaches us that something as simple as the tiny layer lines left behind by a 3D printer can be one of the things somebody loves most about their fidget.
That’s exactly the sort of thing Mellow Fidgets is about.
Fun to look at. Satisfying to click. Lovely to fiddle with. And made a little differently.