Comparison
Anycubic Wash & Cure Station vs Resin Filter Funnels (Disposable): Which Should You Buy? (2026)
| At a glance | Anycubic Wash & Cure Station | Resin Filter Funnels (Disposable) |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | ★★★★⯨ 4.6/5 | ★★★★⯨ 4.6/5 |
| Price | $70-110 | $8-15 |
| Best for | Anyone with a resin printer — buy it at the same time. | Every resin printer owner, every pour-back. |
| Guarantee | Amazon return policy applies | Amazon return policy applies |
| Check Today's Price → | Check Today's Price → |
This one's a strange matchup, so here's the honest answer up front: these two aren't competitors. The Anycubic Wash & Cure Station is a $70-110 piece of post-processing hardware. The disposable filter funnels are an $8-15 consumable you use every time you pour resin back into the bottle. One finishes your prints; the other protects your vat and your LCD screen. The real question isn't which — it's which one first, and whether you need both.
Short version: you'll end up with both. But if you're working a budget, the order matters, and it's probably not the order you'd guess.
The picks
Anycubic Wash & Cure Station
If you print resin, this is not optional — it automates wash and UV cure.
$70-110 · Amazon return policy applies
Every resin print comes off the plate soft, tacky, and coated in uncured resin. It has to be washed — usually in alcohol — and then UV-cured before it reaches full strength. That's not optional; it's how the chemistry works. You can do it by hand with pickle containers and sunlight, and plenty of people start that way. The station's argument is consistency and mess control: the wash gets resin out of crevices that hand-swishing misses, and the even UV cure means no soft, tacky spots where light didn't reach. At 4.6 stars, buyers clearly think the trade is worth it. Real caveats: it only matters if you print resin, it claims permanent bench space, and sizes vary — check that it fits your printer's prints before ordering, because a station that can't hold your tallest model is a decoration.
Resin Filter Funnels (Disposable)
Strain cured bits out of resin so they don't ruin the next print.
$8-15 · Amazon return policy applies
This is the unglamorous one, and it arguably matters more. When a print fails — and prints fail — cured flecks stay behind in the vat. Pour that resin straight back into the bottle and the debris returns next print, where a hard chip pressed between the film and the LCD can wreck a screen that costs more than a year's supply of these funnels. Paper filter funnels strain that junk out during pour-back. Downsides are what you'd expect from a disposable: single-use waste, a supply you have to keep restocked, and thick resins drain through them slowly enough to test your patience. But at $8-15 a pack, this is the cheapest screen insurance in the hobby. Also 4.6 stars — for a paper product, that says something.
How to actually decide
If you can only buy one today, buy the funnels. That sounds backwards, since the station is the "real" product. But the funnels prevent expensive damage, while the station mostly adds convenience and consistency to a job you can do manually. A damaged LCD ends your printing until you replace it. A hand-washed print just takes longer and comes out a little less even.
That said, "funnels first" has a short shelf life. Hand-processing resin gets old fast — it's the messiest, smelliest part of the hobby, and the safety angle is real: less open alcohol on your desk, less skin contact with uncured resin. Most people who tough it out manually for a few months buy the station anyway and wish they'd done it sooner.
Who should skip these
If you run a filament printer, skip both — nothing here applies to FDM. And if you're still deciding whether to get into resin at all, price these into the machine. A wash-and-cure setup plus consumables is the true cost of resin printing; the printer's sticker price alone is a lie of omission.
Bottom line
Wrong question, easy answer. The funnels are a mandatory consumable — buy them with the printer and use one every pour-back, no deliberation required. The station is the upgrade that makes resin printing livable, and it's worth getting sooner than you think. Both, funnels first if forced.