Story of Magigoo

All-in-one 3D Printing Adhesive

Stick and release your 3D prints with ease…even when printed upside down. 

Want to know more about how Magigoo came to fruition? Check out our history in this article!

Why Did We Come Up with Magigoo?

Some two years ago, Thought3D was offering 3D printing services to other clients and many prints unfortunately were failing. Printing was a frustrating and unreliable process where we had to throw away a lot of plastic or stay babysitting the whole print.

We researched about this and found out that it was very common pain in FDM/FFF setting. First layer issues came up in most of the forums.

So we tested many of the solutions that were suggested in different blogs, videos and forums but none of them worked to our satisfaction. Sprays were easy to apply, but hard to source and the spray built up on our printer parts. Different tapes were onerous to apply and a real headache to take off. Special surfaces e.g Buildtak wore out far to quickly due to damaging the surface or over adhesion. Some other products left such a strong smell in the room that we could not bare it to stay there.

What’s the magic about Magigoo?

Keith, one of our team members while pursuing his Ph.D in Material Sciences came up with a chemical formulation that that solves many if not all of these issues. This is how the Magic Goo came to life – a magic glue that is easy to apply, that does not smell and that releases easily and is easy to clean and transport.

	Easy Application Applying Magigoo is as easy as child’s play. Just shake it like you mean it, press against the build plate to get Magigoo flowing and spread it in a thin even layer.
	Easy Release Magigoo’s adhesive properties are designed to release the 3D print one the build plate has cooled. You will hear a distinctive “crackling” sound during the cooling process. Once cooled, 3D prints can easily be removed without the use of tools or any excessive force.
	Long-lasting Print and print and print some more. With one Magigoo 50ml bottle, you’ll be able to print over a 100 prints. Apply every time for usre adhesion, do not risk a failed print.
	Multi-material Magigoo works with the most commonly used plastic filaments such as PLA, ABS, HIPS, PET-G, and even some brands of Nylon
	Odourless Magigoo is totally odourless. You won’t be bothered by any strong smell, be it in a closed room or educational workshop with kids. Its odourless property makes it more enjoyable and practical to use.
	Non-Toxic The unique formula of Magigoo makes it safe to use for intended purpose. If there is skin contact just rinse with water and you will not transform into any kind of monster.

What were the guiding principles of Making Magigoo?

When Magigoo was developed, it was not done with a product in mind. We wanted to solve our own problem first. We used it from a Nutella jar and had never even imagined to put it out there as a product. It was just after an encounter with Dutch 3D printer manufacturer Leapfrog in early 2015 when our attention was drawn to a wider industry and market. Having confirmed that many of our peers had the same issues pulled us to package this goo and we are glad our values show right in the benefits of Magigoo.

• We made it for us to like it – we wanted to print without any frustration
• We made it for you to like it – its fun, thoughtful and no-mess solution
• We made it for your partner to like it – freeing up our time we had more time to spend with friends and family
• We made it for environment to like it – we believe its important to create something that is not taxing on the environment. Magigoo formulation has no toxins and is safe to use
• We made it for our and your printers to like it – it is easy to clean up with just damp cloth or water.

Perfecting the user experience

Having released our product to the public, we have gathered a lot of feedback ever since and our packaging, as well as branding, looks and feel has changed a lot over time and we can say with 100% certainty that it will be kept that way until we have the ultimate user experience.

“Magigoo is a great product to have in your 3D printing tool kit when trying to solve the dreaded issue of getting those 3D prints to stick. Depending on how big you are printing the adhesive can really last a long time and the initial cost will easily repay itself in saved filament from not have failed prints. Also, this will help if you are 3D printing a large volume of prints. If you have a deadline to meet, then you can’t afford for prints to be peeling off the print bed. “ You can read full story from Philipp in our Testimonials section

It has to be fun

As we are makers ourselves and we love small fun projects above all we have tried to keep that part of our Magigoo culture. It was quite a challenge to explain the differences in one sentence, so we came up with a video. Our twist to the story had to be explanation of sure adhesion and easy release and that’s how printing upside down was born. Check it out in our video.