The first prints I did on my Mendel90 were from clear PLA. These came out really well. However, I changed to fire engine red PLA from Faberdashery and I just could not get it to stick to the glass bed.
In the pub with nophead on Friday lunch and he suggested I increase the hot end temperature. This didn't help, even when I also raised the bed temperature.
I've used this PLA on my other printer with no problems, so I decided to try replacing the glass bed. I bought some 0.9mm aluminium sheet from ClickMetal ordered to match the heated bed dimensions. I then covered this with kapton tape. The next print I did the PLA stuck well and completed as expected:
Another reason for me taking this approach is that I regularly print parts in ABS that have a large surface area in contact with the bed. I use kapton tape as these parts tend to lift from the bed, and ABS sticks very well to kapton. The problem I have is that it sticks so well the only way to get the parts off is to flex the bed. Obviously it is easier to flex a thin metal sheet than one of glass.
Here is my Mendel90 doing its first ABS print:
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