A couple years ago, my mom found a large stash of thread that had been her mother's. Mom doesn't sew much anymore (mostly because I have her machine :twisted: ) so she gave it to me. I've only just now gotten around to really digging through it, and I think some of it might have deteriorated too much to be useful.
It's a mix of cotton, polyester, and cotton-wrapped polyester from a whole bunch of brands; most seem to be from the 70s and 80s but I know there are some older ones in there, too. I'm assuming the synthetics are still ok, but I don't know about the cottons. Some, I know, are too brittle. I can snap it easily. Is it reasonable to assume that if it seems ok with a break test, it'll be ok to use, or should I run them through the machine to check for shredding too?
Hopefully I'll be able to salvage some of it--there's a really good variety of colors, and most of the spools are nearly or completely unused. Even if I can't keep any of it, I did find a handful of gorgeous half-full wooden spools that might be from the 40s, so at least I got some decorations out of the stash. :-D