---
title: "EngineerDog explains why stressed plastic turns white"
description: "Ever notice when you over-stress plastic, the stress points tend to turn white? The color or type of plastic doesn't seem to matter, does it? So what is going on? This awesome…"
canonical: "https://www.baldengineer.com/stressed-plastic-turns-white.html"
author: "James Lewis"
date: "2015-10-01T13:00:51Z"
lastmod: "2015-09-28T00:07:59Z"
categories: ["around-the-web","blog"]
tags: []
---

# EngineerDog explains why stressed plastic turns white


[![Polymer Crazing via engineerdog.com](/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/crazed-polymer-from-engineerdog.com%5F-300x225.jpg)](/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/crazed-polymer-from-engineerdog.com%5F-300x225.jpg)

Polymer Crazing via engineerdog.com


Ever notice when you over-stress plastic, the stress points tend to turn white? The color or type of plastic doesn't seem to matter, does it? So what is going on? This awesome post from EngineerDog [explains why stressed plastic turns white](http://engineerdog.com/2015/07/31/why-does-plastic-turn-white-under-stress/).

If you're starting to work with ABS on your 3d printer, it will help to understand what is happening to the polymer chains. It's a process called crazing.

One good reason to learn about crazing is there is a way to fix it. So check out E [ngineerDogs' explanation for more](http://engineerdog.com/2015/07/31/why-does-plastic-turn-white-under-stress/).