There's a tiny knob missing from my hands-free car kit, which I keep meaning to replace. The thing is, I don't think I can buy parts for it, so I probably need to fork out for a whole new system, which, frankly, I'm reluctant to do. Sound familiar? How many broken thingamajigs do you have around your home – and how many items have you chucked out with the rubbish?

But what if you could design replacement items such as dishwasher parts, cord pulls and oven knobs, or even invent a new product and then "print" it out? That's right, print it. We're not talking paper and ink, but actual three-dimensional products that are printed out layer, by layer using a range of materials, such as plastic, powder, metal, and even chocolate, which are then bound together to form solid objects. Amazing eh?

While you're just processing that concept, let me take you back to the early days of 3D printing, because although this technology may be new to you, major manufacturers have been using it for decades. Originally called rapid prototyping, it has become an essential tool, enabling designers to quickly and easily produce a sample product, which can then be tested, tweaked and re-printed, all within a matter of days.

As with all new technologies, the early adopters were those with the most cash to splash. "3D printing in general has been around since 1986 or thereabouts," says Jake Durrant, senior lecturer at Ravensbourne digital design college. "But the uptake in industry has been governed by the disposable budgets of companies, so aerospace and Formula One were some of the first."

Jake's colleague, Jon Fidler, used to work for Alpha Form, a company that fabricates parts for teams such as McLaren, Red Bull and Super Aguri. He says rapid prototyping was used to help with the constantly evolving design of the racing cars, as well as producing complete dummy cars for validation of design. "Components, such as the spoilers, are very complex shapes and they can be printed within 48 hours using printers, which gives a turn around of days rather than weeks compared to using more traditional methods of production."

One of the reasons the cost of rapid prototyping was so prohibitive in the early days was because the patents on the various methods used, meant a handful of companies had an effective monopoly over the emerging technology. As a result there was a very protective spirit around the 3D industry and it remained an industrial process that only the chosen few were privy to.

However, over the years, the technology has improved and simplified, opening it up to a broader market; an increasing number of manufacturers now use rapid prototyping – or 3D printing as it is now known in the mainstream. Chances are the shoes on your feet, or the coffee pot in your kitchen started life as a 3D printed prototype. Converse has been using 3D printers since 2004, which enables the shoe company to get more products to market more quickly, while Alessi has been able to improve it's best-selling La Cupola coffee-maker for 70% less cost and in a fraction of the time.

One of the key innovators in bringing 3D printing to the masses was a lecturer from Bath University. In 2004, Adrian Bowyer invented a machine that could print around 50% of its own parts, and in 2008 it successfully managed to print itself. We're told that the "child machine was quickly put to work to make grandchild parts". Not only does this smack of child labour, it also sounds vaguely incestuous. But this ability to self-replicate means that unlike earlier 3D printers, the RepRap (replicating rapid-prototyper) offered little financial gain. It is for this reason that Bowyer decided to make his designs open source (so anyone can access them), and subsequently build their own printer, using materials costing around £250. The benefit for Bowyer is that he has been able to adapt and develop his design collectively.

It is this collective ethos that is now key to the development of 3D printing. Since RepRap first appeared on the market there has been an influx of garage startups producing affordable, open source machines that you build yourself, which in turn have spawned thousands of DIY designers. "The RepRap was a very good breeding ground for innovation but as same time very chaotic for new users," says Erik de Bruijn, who was one of the first RepRappers to replicate functional parts. "So I decided to create the Ultimaker which enables users to get printing in a single day – it wasn't designed to self replicate."

Neither was the Makerbot, although a year or so after its launch in 2009, one of its users managed to do just that. And in the true spirit of open source, he then shared his designs enabling others to follow suit. According to Bre Pettis, founder of the company, when they started they just wanted to make the cheapest 3D printer kit that anyone could put together; that actually worked. But now, with the help of the Makerbot community, they're making their printers better and better. "It's good for business to give our users access to our plans and design files. They're our R&D department, so we get to benefit from any changes they make." His second-generation printer, called the Thing-O-Matic, retails at just $1,299 (£824).

The Makerbot Thing-O-Matic 3D printer. Photograph: Makerbot Industries

"It has 90% of the functionality of professional printers, but at 1% of the price," says Pettis. These prices aren't just democratising 3D printing; they're democratising manufacturing. "We make 3D printers to offer an alternative to consumerism," Pettis continues. "Nearly three years after we began, there are now 6,000 folks with Makerbots and they get to make a choice between buying something and 3D designing and printing it."

The design process is easier than you may think, as the software, like the machines, has being simplified. Until recently the only option was professional CAD (computer assisted design) software, which is expensive to buy and hard to master, but now there are alternatives such as Google's Sketchup! which is user-friendly and free to download. "Design is getting more and more accessible," says De Bruijn. "There are a number of websites that don't even have to install software – you can just start drawing straight away. Or if you don't want to create your own design, you can download one of 11,000 online. There is a massive sharing culture with 3D printing, which is forming the building blocks for a new age of design."

Thingiverse.com is one such place where people can share their digital designs. Here you'll find all manner of bizarre and useful objects, from a car mirror (apparently a bear attacked his car: these things happen to guys that print 3D) to Wolverine claws (not made by the same designer, but could have come in quite handy during the attack I imagine). So, if you need to replace that aforementioned broken knob, chances are someone has already designed it for you, but if you can't find one to suit you can simply adapt the design to meet your needs and aesthetics – just make sure you upload the alterations. "We live in a throwaway culture, and I think Makerbot interrupts that," Pettis says. "It adds value to what you already have by fixing them."

The Makerbot community is also working on ways to recycle the leftover plastic – and other household materials – so that you can re-use it to create more useful products. If this takes off it means we can recycle locally, rather than shipping it round the world where they turn it into something else and then ship it back again. As well as reducing our carbon footprint, using recycled materials for print purposes could also reduce our yearly spend on many essential items. Just imagine if you could recycle your child's outgrown shoes, chuck in some extra plastic or a milk bottle or two, and then remake them a size bigger.

It's somehow ironic that the technology enabling manufacturers to produce more products more quickly is also the one that could stop the consumer from consuming. Fidler, however, thinks this is still a long way off; while 3D printing may be a great tool, the end product is still very much about the person using that tool. "There will always be a need for good design," he says. "We may get to a stage where you can customise certain manufactured designs, but at the moment good products are still all about the designer."

He does have a point. You may own a top-spec digital SLR camera, but would you offer your services at a friend's wedding? And customisation of products certainly seems to be where 3D printing is heading – and not just in the home. Because one-offs can be printed so quickly and easily, the customer can make more demands on design. Bram De Zwart, the product manager at Dutch design company Freedom of Creation says that until now, products have been pushed into the market, leading to high levels of waste production. "3D printing enables much more of a pull distribution instead, so consumers can buy products that are really tailored," he says.

A turtle shell racer built from printed parts. Photograph: David Neff/Makerbot Industries

The appropriately named Alice Taylor, founder of MakieLab, a games and toys company based in London, agrees that 3D printing takes away the risk element of mass production, as you can print a product according to demand. "With traditional toys, the company comes up with an advert first to test it out," she says. "They then run the design over to China, where it is made in large numbers. Manufacturers are gambling on the fact that the end customer still wants the product. But by using 3D printing you don't have to make anything until they've hit 'buy', so it tips the whole process on its head."

This is also good news for startup companies, as they can produce something for very little cost and test the market before filling a warehouse with products that might not sell. This is exactly how the Glif iPhone 4 accessory came to market. A prototype of the tripod mount and stand was made with the help of 3D printing company Shapeways, and the two young designers then sought funding through Kickstarter where it received in excess of $130,000 in pledges before going into production. You can now buy it online at www.studioneat.com for $20, although the final product is no longer 3D printed, but injection-moulded, which is the only process they felt would "create the Glif at a level of quality we deem acceptable."

Taylor is also using Shapeways, and other prints shops, to develop a bespoke doll that you create on-line, but she is one of the few manufacturers that wants to continue using 3D printing for the customer-facing product. "The benefit of this technology is that we can make every doll unique if we want to," she explains. "So people can customise their doll to look like themselves, or a favourite celebrity if they want to." The downside of using 3D printing to build each and every doll is the cost, although Taylor says this is dropping rapidly, and also sourcing the right colours and materials. "It's really, really hard," she says. "If you want to make a traditional doll you'd go to factory in China and have a standard model tweaked. But with our doll we are literally starting from scratch, as we need to find plastics, joints and colours that will work with 3D printing. We are really pushing things."

That's the great thing about this new community of designers. You get the feeling they love a challenge, and any limitation that 3D printing throws up – such as print size or materials they will pool resources and come up with a solution. Damn, they'll probably come up with several.

"One of the greatest things about 3D printing is that there are some limitations, but as with any engineering challenge these really inspire people to push past them," says Pettis. "I'm just curious what the community will do together and what kind of problems we can solve."

• Read more about the future of printing and how to save money in everyday life