How to store thread so it stays usable?

[Betty J.]

Thread can go bad, am I right? I suppose keeping it out of the light would help. Anybody know anything about it???

Jan

[Eileen K.]

As nice as those cute wall racks are, the best storage for thread is out of the light and safe from dust and low humidity. If it's dusty, it will create more lint and if it gets too dry, it'll break.
eileenkny

[Eileen K.]

Hi, Eileen. Looks like too dry is bad as is too humid. Thanks, Jan

[Eileen K.]

Hi, Eileen. It sounds like it's bad if it gets too dry and if it gets humid. Probably those plastic boxes might help. But that may not be acid free. I was thinking how we are told how to store our quilts in acid free stuff. Thanks, Jan

[Eileen K.]

Hi, Eileen. It sounds like it's bad if it gets too dry and if it gets humid. Probably those plastic boxes might help. But that may not be acid free. I was thinking how we are told how to store our quilts in acid free stuff. Thanks, Jan

[Hannelore N.]

I'm hiding under the table, in case the quilt police is around........

You can, of course, avoid the dry/damp/sunlight situation to some extent if you use polyester thread.

Lorchen

[Hannelore N.]

Lorchen, you crack me up :lol:

[Judith M.]

What is the best way to store thread? I have noticed that it does gather dust when left out on racks. This can't be good. Do the plastic storage containers work? As I am trying to organize my room I am trying to find the best solution.

[Paula D.]

Other than threads on wooden spools from your grandma's basket, has ANYONE had thread go bad? It's not like bananas, for goodness sake! :shock:

[Paula D.]

I have had problems with dust because I left spools in an open basket (looked really pretty on the table) so now I store them by colour groups in ziplock bags in a bigger basket!

[Paula D.]

I put mine in a thread caddy and yes it is plastic.

[Jo H.]

I have had thread not work well for no apparent reason and I have often wondered whether age plays a factor or whether other things contribute to a thread not working well. For instance, I've had more problems with white thread than any other thread including black. I've actually switched brands several times thinking that a manufacturer had changed the way they make a thread.

My non-scientific rational is that (at least in my shop) that weather plays a function in how the thread acts. There's no other reason for it, so it must be something like that. I also have more problems in the winter than in the summer and wondered whether it could be caused by the warmth from the heater. I keep my Superior threads in plastic thread bins and my large commercial cones on a racking system that is open but I go through the commercial thread pretty quickly.

[Betty J.]

Hmmmm....I have always stored my thread in some form of plastic or metal bins or plastic bags. I even have some thread some might consider "antique", by which I mean it is as old as I am. :lol: :lol: (I occasionally use some of these antique threads, but only in the smallest quantities because it used to belong to my mom and I'm just using it for the "magic" it must surely still have in it from having been held by her talented hands. The rest I just keep in the metal boxes she and my mother-in-law had just to look at from time to time. Some of this was what I used to learn to sew from her instructions when I was 3 or 4 to when I left home.)

I also have some real antique threads that I keep around for fun and don't use.

I never have had any problems with (non-metallic) threads that are made well when I have a good needle. The only threads that gave me problems were cheap bargain threads and they broke and split and fuzzed until I threw them away.

[Eileen K.]

I've had thread dry out so it breaks continuously on the longarm. Now, remember, that machine sews at incredibly high speed. My "active" thread, the cones I use a lot, I keep on hooks on a pegboard inside little plastic bags. Some, like King Tut thread, I keep the wrappers. The thread I haven't started using yet I keep in drawers in a filing cabinet.
Light and dry air are the enemies of thread, even polyester!

[Eileen K.]

I store my thread in those little sets of drawers that are sold for keeping screws and nails in from the D-I-Y stores. If you are uncertain about which size you need, just slip a couple of your spools in your pocket and you can check in store which they fit.

For larger cones, they live in the second drawer down of the unit underneath.

Older natural fibre threads do rot, same as fabric. And different colour dyestuffs affect the same base fabric differently, which is why a blue fabric could have a different 'hand' to a yellow or red, this will also affect rate of deterioration.

I also have some very old Pearsall's silk floss thread, and the to tell if they are totally past it for using is if you can rotate the thread whilst holding onto the spool with the other hand, if you can't you are probably ok for careful hand sewing.

Rosemary