Pros/Cons of using Polyester thread to quilt?
 

I have been using cotton thread to quilt with. I started looking at Superior Threads varigated threads and they are polyester. Can anyone give me some information about using polyester vs cotton for quilting?!! :shock: Thanks!

The only con I can think of is that high heat from an iron can melt it and break the stitching. Most people don't iron or press finished quilts, so that's not a problem. But, for piecing that can be an issue.

I've used a hot iron on polyester thread and it has never melted on me. I've also quilted with polyester thread (Glide), washed the quilt in hot water and dried in a hot laundromat dryer without any hint of melting. I do think that, for piecing, you want to test polyester thread with an iron before using it. Lately I have been using a 60wt polyester thread in the bobbin for piecing, but before using it I tried to melt some strands of it with my iron on its hottest setting and was not able to.

Glide is my favorite thread for quilting on my midarm frame setup. Before I got the frame, my thread of preference for quilting on my domestic machine was Aurifil 50wt 2-ply cotton. I think I would like Glide for my domestic machine also, but have had no occasion to try it. (Aurifil in both top and bobbin is still my all-time favorite thread for piecing.)

The biggest advantage I have seen to using polyester thread is that there is ***so*** much less lint than with cotton thread. Aurifil is the only cotton thread I have used that creates very little lint, but it's still a little more than polyester thread produces. Most poly threads have a little bit of shine to them (Glide does, anyway) and I like that; it brightens up the quilt in a very subtle way.

There seem two be two camps in the quilting world - cotton thread only camp, and the rest of us camp. I am in the second one. In my opinion, there are no rules because they impede creativity. Go poly! By the way, I recently discovered Glide and it was love at first stitch.

Thread is a personal quilter's preference. Use the thread you and your machine like and the thread you can afford. You could invest a small fortune in thread and I haven't found it necessary. I save my special threads for special projects and use polyester thread on all of my everyday and frequent wash quilts. I have not had polyester thread melt, break or cut through quilting fabric as some quilting rumours have reported. I had a friend give me a whole bag of polyester thread that she was sure wouldn't work for her quilting and I've been happily using it ever since.

I love love love polyester for quilting...but I learned to quilt from a real cotton purist! :) I generally piece with cotton because of that ironing issue and also because nobody really knows for sure if over time polyester will be harder on your quilt seams...but for quilting, I almost exclusively use polyester. No lint and it comes in very fine or thick weights so you can create different effects and textures. The only real con in my mind is that polyester is a synthetic fiber...so in 80 years your natural cotton will fade but the polyester thread will not. If that is a concern to you, you might want to stick with cotton. I'm not going to be alive in 80 years so I'm quilting my heart out NOW without concern! :)

Here is an excellent article about thread: http://www.superiorthreads.com/newsletters/642/

I have gone to a presentation by a representative of the YSL brand of thread. It was at the quilt guild so she knew we were quilters. Her advice was to test the thread for results in your machine and use whatever strikes your creative fancy without regard to what it is made of.

I use polyster thread a lot - I did have an iron that got super hot and had to watch so I wouldn't melt the thread (which I did a couple times). Got rid of the iron and kept the thread. :)

I use what ever thread strikes my fancy for the project and have good results with both poly and cotton. The only melting problems has been with the clear threads and high heat in commercial dryers. Made my nephew a quilt while he was in St. Jude and the high heat of the dryer melted the clear thread (don't use it anymore) I quilted the finished quilt with.