Nylon thread quality issues

[CowboyBob]

I bought some polyester thread 10 yrs ago that was wrapped in plastic & in a box & it was dated 1987 & we still have a few spools left & it is still strong thread.Nylon thread seems to loose its strength as it gets older.We had some that we've had to throw away that was 12 yrs old,but different manufactures & this could of been in a window .

[Constabulary]

Switch from Nylon to Polyester and maybe this will solve the issue.

Belief it or not - I´m sometimes even using 16/4 cotton thread that is older than me - how do I know it is older - well, its dated 1968! I´m also using a lot of polyester thread from size 40 to 11/3 (metric). Also some Cotton / Poly from different mfg´s. I have polyester thread spools where even the plastic spool broke because of its age or is faded by sunlight BUT all the thread is absolutely perfect working - no matter if I run it in a Singer 111, Singer 29K, Singer 307 zigzag or 45K. It´s not because I´m a Cheap Charley (well, maybe a little bit) but this thread just works great and why throwing it away when its still working well? I do not use nylon thread at all (have some CONSO #69 prewound but I don´t think I ever used it)

Odd Chinese nylon thread from an unknown manufacturer on which an importer puts his own label on may work for work a while but in the end you never know where this thread is coming (which manufacturer) from and if you get the same thread with your next order. Different manufacturer - same label - so how can you (as a consumer) know its always the same quality from the same manufacturer? Of course all sellers / importers claim their thread is top quality thread and they sell them for years and come from a known factory... bla bla bla. Really? Who in the nowadays world is still buying that? In the end the customer has to deal with this stuff.

I don´t know many US Mfg´s brands but I have some COATS Koban (now named Dual Duty) thread and some from Polyester from Synthetic Thread Co. Inc. in PA that is working very well. But most of the other thread I´m using come from German manufacturers mainly Ackermann / Aman (SYTON / SERAFIL & SABA) or some Gruschwitz (GETAFIL) - I have zero issues with this even sometimes quite old thread!

So I really think a lot depends on the manufacturer. Buy thread from known manufacturers (google it) and not thread with just a "sellers label" and I´m sure you will have a constant quality and less thread issues. And I really would try some quality Polyester thread from a well known manufacturer instead of nylon.

Some pictures of my worse thread spools - all this thread is working perfect and all come from known manufacturers.

 

 

 

 

 

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

I'm doing a bit of research on nylon thread and found this post.

I have an issue with a brand  of thread, not nylon, but polyester . While the quality of the thread is  OK,  its so tightly wound on the spool it causes tension issues on my saddle machine, almost as if its caught on something. So what I do before using it,  is I manually unwind a few metres etc.   of thread from the spool by hand , re-wind it back on , and then sew, and it sews fine after that.

I'm wondering if theres a bit too much bonding agent on the thread. 

I only tried it because its a bit cheaper than my regular brand ,and every dollar counts when you're a small operator. 

HS 

[DonInReno]

That's the same issue - the older the thread gets the worse the problem will be.  The bonding waxes all eventually dry out and it really doesn't matter if it's polyester or nylon - if you can find someone with a spool rewinder it takes care of the problem as the thread is transfered to a different spool. 

[Handstitched]

G'Day, thank you so much for your reply.

Unfortunately  , I don't know anyone with a spool rewinder, so I'll just keep doing it by hand. 

I done enough research now to convince me to stick with polyester for its UV properties . I also  use a  M40 poly UV bonded thread on my Seiko,  that I use on horse rug repairs, its super strong and just perfect for my needs.( I can even use it on my  old Pfaff 60 machine)  I thought about using a nylon thread  because it can be a bit cheaper than poly, I have noticed. And while its strength is pretty much the same as poly, its UV property is  not as good. 

HS