Is Maine thread too waxy?

[jnegus]

I love the fact that Maine thread is made in the USA, super tough, and gives me a ton of color options. However, they put so much wax on their stuff that I end up having to run it through a canvas rag a few times so it doesn’t clump up and mark up my projects. Has anyone else been bothered by this? How are you getting the wax down to a manageable level? Are there better made in USA options for light duty thread for wallets, notebook covers, watch straps, etc.?

[Northmount]

5 hours ago, jnegus said:

I love the fact that Maine thread is made in the USA, super tough, and gives me a ton of color options. However, they put so much wax on their stuff that I end up having to run it through a canvas rag a few times so it doesn’t clump up and mark up my projects. Has anyone else been bothered by this? How are you getting the wax down to a manageable level? Are there better made in USA options for light duty thread for wallets, notebook covers, watch straps, etc.?

Moved your post to sewing leather.

[TomE]

Maine thread does have a lot of wax that gets dry/flakey during storage.  I store it in ziplock bags.  For some projects I'll add a little cobbler's wax (mixture of pine resin and beeswax) to freshen it up.  I use heavy brown wrapping paper to burnish/smooth the wax on the threads before hand sewing.  The paper absorbs some of the wax and the friction melts it and evens it out.  For most hand sewing I am using bonded nylon thread from my sewing machine and waxing/burnishing it before use.

Edited 21 hours ago by TomE