Embroidery thread for commercial embroidery machines

By Anonymous (not verified) on Feb 27, 2006

Hi everyone! I've been doing company logos for only a couple of months and I've always wondered what brand of thread other commercial embroiderers prefer. And how come there is a large difference in price between thread brands? Thank you!

By Marc on Feb 28, 2006 - 12:47 AM EST

Welcome to the forums, lorette :)

You will find commercial embroiderers praise Isacord by Ackerman, Madeira, Marathon, and Robinson-Anton. There may be a few others I might have missed, but you won't be disappointed with the ones I listed. As to your question about the difference in thread pricing, there sure are cheaper kinds out there. I have not tried all the cheapest thread brands, but you will find that you generally get what you pay for. Some may be cheaper, but quality may not be comparable to popular brand names.

You don't want to be a cheapskate when it comes to embroidery thread--not saying that you are :). Simply, poor quality thread means more thread breaks and other problems. Don't just consider the present quality of the thread; consider what happens from then on. I can't remember the brand I tried last year or the year before, but the thread bled after the first washing. There was another brand that I tried that had the outer surface of the cone coated in what seemed to be a wax-like substance to make the thread appear to have wonderful sheen. What a trick! After the first thread layer was gone, the remaining thread was much, much duller. So stick with popular brand names--they've been tried and tested by commercial embroidery shops everywhere.

It makes no sense to save a few bucks on thread when you have to pay for it in lost time fixing thread breaks, removing embroidered stitches, and other problems that may lead to unsatisfactory results or spoiled goods that you may end up footing the bill, and much worse--losing a customer.

By Anonymous (not verified) on Mar 2, 2006 - 5:19 PM EST

I agree completely Marc. I've had my share of cheap embroidery thread in the past. Being a newbie to embroidery, I thought all threads were basically the same. I thought I was just getting a good deal and the people buying the popular and more expensive brands were just getting ripped off. Boy was I wrong!

By Anonymous (not verified) on Mar 3, 2006 - 1:19 PM EST

I've also had much stress over the quality of stitches and production interruptions due to thread breaks and bird nesting in the past when I was just starting out. I don't know how many customers did not become repeat customers because of quality issues after the order has long been completed like after the items have gone through the washing several times. I would have never found out about aftermath issues had my wife not embroidered household items and used and laundered them regularly. I've learned my lesson.

By Superdave on Sep 6, 2021 - 10:47 AM EDT

I have never used any of the cheap thread. I figure that if you NEED to save money on consumables then you need to consider your pricing on finished products. You shouldn't be losing any money because it should be builtin to your pricing. If you need to make a couple of cents to cover your consumables then I would rethink what your charging. By the time you save a nickel you will have spent more on lost materials and time, probably 10 times more then you saved.
I suggest you figure out your cost and profit margin and then go from there. I figure on a new 5000 cone I actually make about 30$ off of each cone I use, that I don't consider profit, I consider it to belong to my company and I use it for more thread (different colors, and type).
Just my thoughts. Good luck