replace the crappy with decent a little at a time - as you can afford it. caddy stays nicely "decorated" but you'll end up with thread you can use safely. :P
i'm a "thread is thread is thread" person myself - except when it comes to the quilting phase. all the angst and debate over which threads are best and worst makes my head hurt. this brand - that brand - need a second mortgage to buy it, etc, etc, etc. it also irritates me because i know how it must feel for people who can only afford what they can afford to witness said debate raging among the privileged.
i have happily used both dirt-cheap and the Coats & Clark Dual Duty for years. but, since i do like the 100% cotton Coats & Clark hand and machine thread very much (but can only get a few colors locally) AND i wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about, i went in search of reasonably priced 100% cotton all-purpose thread. i hate to admit it, but it did seem to perform better in the few tests i've done so far.
i got it from threadart.com. spool for spool it's less expensive than the C&C Dual Duty even with shipping. but i can't see tossing all the C&C soooooo i guess i'll switch gradually to the cotton as i use up the C&C.
that's my 50 cents worth. (a huge leap from 2, i know, but have you seen the price of gas and milk lately?)