Wearable Wavy Shoes: Your Guide to 3D-Printable Footwear

You don’t need a factory to try experimental footwear anymore. 

With Benoit Perocheau’s Wearable Wavy Shoes, you can print a pair at home and see what 3D-printed comfort feels like in real life. These aren’t just concept renders. They’re functional, wearable shoes with a sculptural “wave” profile that looks like modern art and feels closer to a soft slipper than a structured sneaker.

The experience is impressive, but it comes with trade-offs. If you go in with the right expectations—and the right settings—you’ll get far better results.

What Makes Wearable Wavy Shoes Different

You’ll notice the design instantly. The shoe body uses a flowing, undulating geometry that turns the upper and sole into one continuous form. It’s available as a free model on MakerWorld (Model ID: 539134), with sizes that typically range from US6/EU39 to US12/EU45.

Before you jump into printing, it helps to understand why this model is so approachable for makers.

Why the Model Prints Without Supports

Even though the geometry looks complex, the design is optimized to print without support structures when oriented correctly. That means fewer failure points, less cleanup, and a cleaner surface finish.

Why It Feels Like a DIY Footwear Shift

When you can print footwear on demand, you’re not just buying a product. You’re producing it. That changes how you think about sizing, color choices, firmness, and even iteration. You can treat footwear like a customizable project instead of a fixed purchase.

Materials and Printer Requirements

TPU is non-negotiable here. The shoe depends on flexibility to work at all, and rigid filaments won’t deliver the intended comfort or fit.

To keep things simple, focus on the material and the hardware fit first.

Filament Choice

You’ll want TPU 95A as your baseline. It offers the right balance of softness and structure for indoor wear. If you’re trying to reduce print time, high-speed TPU can help, but you’ll still need clean filament handling and stable extrusion.

Build Surface

A textured PEI plate is commonly recommended because it improves adhesion without requiring a brim. That keeps the base cleaner and reduces post-print trimming.

Recommended Settings

The designer’s settings lean toward a lightweight, cushioned result:

• Infill: 9% gyroid

• Walls: 1 wall loop

• Shells: 2 horizontal shells

• Layer height: ~0.28 mm for faster printing

How to Print Wearable Wavy Shoes

You’ll get the best outcome when you treat orientation and TPU handling as the real “difficulty level” of this project.

Start with the basic workflow, then adjust based on what your printer likes.

Step-by-Step Printing Workflow

You’ll want a printer that handles flexible filament well, and direct drive usually makes TPU easier to control.

A reliable approach looks like this:

• Download your size from MakerWorld

• Orient the model nearly vertical, using the flat spot on the sole as the build contact

• Print slowly enough to keep TPU extrusion stable

• Let the shoe cool fully before removing it

Managing Stringing and Cleanup

TPU can string even when everything else is dialed in. If stringing shows up, retraction tuning can help, but don’t overdo it. For light strings, a quick heat pass can clean up the surface.

Comfort and Wearability

This is where expectations matter most. You’re not printing a running shoe. You’re printing a soft, experimental slip-on that prioritizes feel and novelty over support.

To interpret user feedback correctly, separate indoor comfort from outdoor performance.

What Comfort Feels Like

Many makers describe the sensation as extremely soft—often compared to “walking on clouds” or “marshmallows.” The shoe flexes and compresses underfoot, and the geometry helps distribute pressure in a way that feels cushiony for short wear sessions.

Where Wearability Starts to Drop

The same flexibility that makes it comfortable also reduces structure. You’ll get limited arch support, and outdoor durability tends to fall off quickly. Larger sizes can also look bulkier because the wave geometry expands with the footprint.

Real User Feedback

Community comments tend to cluster around the same themes: comfort wins indoors, durability struggles outdoors, and printing can be trickier than it looks.

If you want a quick reality check, here’s what makers report most often:

• Plush feel for indoor, casual wear

• Adhesion and TPU stringing as common print hurdles

• Outdoor use leading to faster sole wear

• Sizing advice often leaning toward printing one size up for comfort

Limits and Smart Expectations

These shoes work best when you treat them as a wearable print experiment. You’re exploring what home-fabricated footwear can feel like, not replacing your daily shoes.

If you want the best experience, keep them in the role they naturally fit: indoor comfort footwear with a futuristic aesthetic.

Customization Ideas You Can Try

The design is a great base for personalization, even if you don’t edit the model.

You can experiment through slicing choices:

• Change TPU color for bold, sculptural looks

• Adjust infill slightly to tune softness vs. firmness

• Modify surface texture through slicer settings for grip changes

What This Model Suggests About Printed Footwear

Wearable Wavy Shoes show you what’s already possible with consumer printers and flexible filament. You get on-demand production, personal control, and a design that feels genuinely different from standard slippers.

If you print them with realistic expectations and careful TPU setup, you’ll walk away with a pair of shoes that’s less about perfection—and more about what it feels like when you become the maker.