Is Hobby Lobby Filament Worth It? (Honest Answer)

If you've walked through a Hobby Lobby recently, you may have noticed something new on the shelves: 3D printer filament. It's sitting there between the foam boards and the Cricut supplies, and if you're new to 3D printing — or just need a spool in a pinch — you might be wondering whether it's any good.

Here's an honest look at what you're getting when you buy filament at a craft store, and what you might be missing.

What Hobby Lobby Actually Carries

Hobby Lobby's filament selection is small. You'll typically find a handful of PLA spools in basic colors — white, black, maybe a few primaries. The brands rotate, but they're generally entry-level options aimed at beginners or casual hobbyists who picked up a printer on a whim.

For someone printing their first benchy or a simple phone stand, that's probably fine. PLA is PLA at the most basic level — it melts, it extrudes, it sticks to the bed. But if you've been printing for more than a week or two, you already know there's a massive difference between "it works" and "it works well."

The Convenience Factor

The biggest thing Hobby Lobby has going for it is convenience. You're already there picking up paint or picture frames, and you can grab a spool without waiting for shipping. That's real value, especially if you're mid-project and your printer just ran out of filament at 80% completion.

But convenience comes with trade-offs:

• Limited colors: You're choosing from maybe 8-12 options. If you need a specific shade of teal or a matte finish, you're out of luck.
• Limited materials: Don't expect PETG, TPU, ABS, ASA, or specialty filaments. It's almost exclusively basic PLA.
• No expertise on staff: The employees at Hobby Lobby are helpful people, but they're not 3D printing specialists. If you need advice on print temperatures, retraction settings, or material selection for a specific application, you're on your own.
• Higher prices per spool: Craft store markup is real. You're often paying $25-30+ for a standard 1kg spool that you could get for significantly less from a dedicated filament supplier.

When "Good Enough" Isn't Good Enough

Here's where it gets real. Filament quality varies enormously between manufacturers, and it matters more than most beginners realize. Diameter consistency, moisture content, pigment quality, and spool winding all affect your prints.

Inconsistent filament diameter causes under-extrusion in some layers and over-extrusion in others. Poor winding leads to tangles that can ruin a 12-hour print. And if the filament has absorbed moisture (which happens fast in open retail environments), you'll get stringing, bubbling, and weak layer adhesion.

A dedicated filament retailer stores their stock properly, rotates inventory, and can tell you exactly what you're getting. A craft store treats filament like any other shelf product — it sits there until someone buys it.

The Selection Problem

3D printing has exploded in the last few years, and the materials available have exploded with it. Beyond standard PLA, serious makers are using:

• PETG for durability and water resistance
• TPU for flexible parts like phone cases and gaskets
• ABS and ASA for heat resistance and outdoor applications
• PLA+ for improved strength over standard PLA
• Silk, matte, and specialty finishes for aesthetics
• Carbon fiber and glass fiber composites for engineering applications

At Hobby Lobby, you're getting maybe 1% of what's available in the filament world. That's fine if you literally just need white PLA today. But if you're trying to find the right material for a project, a craft store can't help you.

What a Dedicated Filament Store Looks Like

At Forgely, we carry over 600 filament SKUs. That's not a typo — six hundred. Every material type, every color you can imagine, from brands like Eryone, Ziro, and our own Forgely-brand filament that we manufacture right here in Utah.

When you walk into our Roy, Utah store, you can see and feel the filament before you buy. Our staff actually prints — every day. They can tell you which PLA has the best matte finish, which PETG handles bridging well, and which TPU shore hardness you need for your specific project.

That's the difference between a place that also sells filament and a place that lives and breathes filament.

The Bottom Line

Is Hobby Lobby filament worth it? If you need a single spool of basic PLA right now and there's a Hobby Lobby closer than any other option, sure — grab it and get printing. No judgment.

But if you want better selection, better prices, expert advice, and filament that's been stored and handled properly, you deserve a real filament source. That's what we built Forgely to be.