I got a lot of breakage with aurifil too. Was not impressed

I use aurifil 50 wt, and it does break. It doesn't break while I am using it, but if I tug on a length of it, it breaks pretty easily. But I love it for the bobbin, and I will probably continue to use it.

I've not experienced any breakage with Aurifil on my domestic machine and use it often. I also have purchased CT thread and while it doesn't give me any problems either, it seems more linty. Sorry you are unhappy with your Aurifil purchase.

This happens to me, too, so if I know I want to bury threads (I sometimes backstitch for charity quilts that are going to be washed a lot), I use Mettler or Connecting Threads.

I love Aurifil 50/2 thread. I use it a lot for piecing & applique. I also use it for quilting on one of my machines I have never had a problem with it breaking except when my needle needed to be changed or the tension wasn't right. In my experience with it, it has been great. It will break with a tug but so do my other 50/3 cotton threads.

Thanks for the feedback. I was taught in a class to test all thread before using with a tug. And I did not have to pull very hard on it. It worked fine on my machine. These charity quilts can get some rough treatment so I will not use it for them and save it for something where I want precision. I bought it from Craftsy so am not trying to return it.

I quilt on an HQ16 and use Connecting Threads Essential Pro on that. It is fabulous. I don't have a bobbin winder and buy prewounds from Superior Threads. Bottom line I believe.

That's where I bought mine too. I went upstairs yesterday to tug on a variety of threads after this discussion and of the ones I tugged on, Aurifil 50wt definitely broke with the lightest pressure. I even tried a couple different spools of it, cones and medium spools with the orange spindle.

Connecting Threads 50wt broke with a little more pressure than the Aurifil.

It was much harder to break the poly serger cone thread that I bought as a newbie (not knowing you're not supposed to piece/quilt with that!) so I feel better about having made several quilts with it! I had to pull a couple of times to figure out how much pressure to use. It finally stretched a ton before it snapped.

I couldn't break the Coats and Clark machine quilting 30wt thread that I used to buy before I knew anything about weights of thread. It actually hurt my hand a little.

For machine quilting I use the 40wt. Aurifil thread, no problems with it at all. I also use 50wt. Aurifil for piecing my quilts, never had any problems with it breaking at all. I use Aurifil in all of my machines new and antique.
Why is it necessary to yank on the thread before you use it?
Sharon in Texas

I really think the tug test is more useful for determining if an old thread has dry rotted.

It's not really necessary, but I was doing it because I know that sometimes I have to tug a little to get a knot to bury when machine quilting. Aurifil 50wt has broken during that process for me, and it's super annoying, so it was educational for me to know how each thread behaves.