I am sure this has been addressed before, but I am new to this stuff and I could not readily find it. I want to make a very simple water bottle "topper" that will allow me to put it on a standard water bottle (such as Ozarka or Aquafina or whatever) and has a large mouth for easily refilling the bottle with a water fountain. I do not think it would be a big concern, but does anyone think this would necessarily be harmful to have the water I am drinking coming into contact with the 3D printed material in this manner? I wouldn't actually be drinking out of the 3D printed part, it would just momentarily come into contact with the liquid as I am filling the water bottle. For what it's worth, I have seen a few 3D printed objects that adapt to a water bottle for watering plants and animals (pets), but not so much for humans. Thanks!
Officially the only certified food safe material is Ceramic. And that is because of the certified process of glazing the pieces. All other materials are for decoration only. So if you use another material, it's at your own risk and we'd suggest a food safe coating.
Take a look at the videos on this blog posting: https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/1631-Want-to-See-3D-P rinting-up-Really-Close-3D-Printed-Nylon-at-200x-Magnificati on-VIDEO.html As you can see, with the Nylon (WSF) material, the spacing between granules leaves a LOT of space for contaminants to adhere and/or seep into the material. The same gaps are going to make the stuff very hard to clean. I wouldn't want food anywhere near this.
Wow, that is pretty interesting. Hard to wrap my mind around what I am looking at, even with the human hair comparison.