Thread extra linty
 

I love Aurifil for my sewing machine and my longarm loves KingTut. I buy as I need, and have noticed that the past few years the cotton thread seems extra linty. I just finished quilting one and I had to pause about halfway through every row to clean the lint. I never had the serious lint problem until the past few years, and I am debating going to full poly threads on my longarm since the price of KingTut has skyrocketed.

Anyone else experiencing exceptionally linty threads?

I didn’t like Aurifil on my combo sewing/embroidery machine. It was gritty and snagged through the machine. Lots of lint. Quilting projects are done in the hoop (embroidery machine). I love using Glide thread and it’s become my go to thread along with other embroidery threads.

I use to use Aurifil and Masterpiece. Both great threads. I haven't bought any more of it since I was given a cone of Guttermann Mara 120 poly wrapped poly core thread. Now it is all I use for piecing. The price is economical about $5 for 1,093 yard spool or 5468 yard cone for $17. I buy it from Wawak.com I have used it for machine quilting with no problem. I like Glide and all the colors available.

The person who gave me the cone of Mara suggested for me to try the Amann Saba all purpose poly wrapped poly core thread too.

I've taken to using Innovatech thread because I can get it locally. I can't easily get my hands on King Tut, and shipping costs are exorbitant. I really like the Innovatech, it's a 40 wt poly-wrapped poly and runs beautifully in my longarm. I also had problems with Aurifil similar to what Rhonda describes. Thinking about trying some Glide, too. I have lots of longarm friends who use it and absolutely love it, and it's polyester.

I use Aurifil, Craftsy, or Connecting Threads for piecing only, and have several spools I bought about 3 years ago. Seems like I will never use it all up. But I would like to try a polyester thread for quilting. Have priced King Tut before and was shocked at the price. I may have to shop around to find something that not only I like but that my machine will accept for quilting.

I have a good supply of Superior SoFine 50 weight poly thread and can use that for just about anything, on the longarm, for piecing, in the bobbin. I really like it because it is not very linty and is multi use. I also do have a good supply of aurifil having built my thread supply over the years when they go on sale. I am not thinking much of changing anything for two reasons, i like my thread and my ample supply. I do have a supply of King Tut and used to use that on my other midarm but honestly, I haven't even tried it on my APQS as I now longer want thread that shows much on the finished quilt. My piecing is that star of my quilts, not the quilting part as I am not very good at feathers, wreaths, and such.

I watched a Leah Day video years ago and she uses Isacord for machine quilting so I bought some and love it. I don't have a LA but I FMQ on my Bernina. Isacord is poly.

I don't enjoy using 100% cotton threads like Aurifil because of the lint. I usually use a thin poly (like Bottom Line or So Fine) for piecing. For quilting I use whatever thread will give me the effect that I want to achieve. If I'm just doing edge to edge rather than custom quilting, I find that either Glide or Isacord work great with few issues and virtually no lint. For more decorative effects I like to use various metallics, silk, threads that are super thick (think 12 wt.), super thin (think 100 wt.), etc. just depends on what the quilt wants when I go to quilt it.

Some threads require more adjustments of tension, stitching speed, etc. when quilting than others, but I've found that all my machines do well with just about anything I throw at them.

Rob

I have used Madeira for embroidery and machine quilting because it came with my machine. I now use Connecting thread for piecing. But...even knowing better, I bought a few cones of thread (not marked) at a yard sale. I used one to machine quilt a Christmas throw quilt. I had to stop several times to clean the machine. I threw it out. Lesson learned.

Most all the good brand threads are manufactured with the new methods. I was told Missouri Star poly is the same as Omni by Superior. Omni is very good for machine quilting. I have some Wonderfil and it's very good. Too many brands to get confused over. I have Sew Complete sampler pack from Superior and it's excellent and inexpensive. Signature cotton thread is very good too. Also Quilter's Select threads are great. The list goes on and on.

I haven't noticed Aurafil being any lintier than it ever has been. I have, however, noticed some fabrics I use being a lot lintier. I love Glide for FMQ and tried Isacord. I like it, too. I'm thinking of doing some piecing with Glide to see how it goes.

I use almost anything for piecing even the dreaded coats and clark. Sometimes for a project it doesn't matter. I do use a lot of Aurifil for piecing some things and that doesn't seem lintier to me. I can also FMQ with aurifil if I like the color. I do have Isacord mostly, some Glide and some Omni. I also sew with serger thread and sometimes quilt with it too. So far nothing bad has happened. I did get some Madiera because I liked the color but it kept breaking thread on quilting no matter what needle I used. I'm using it up on scrap quilts for piecing. It seems to do okay with that. It wasn't old and seemed fine on the spool and with the break test. My sewing room gets very dusty. I think the combination of fabric, thread and batting contributes because none of the other rooms get that dusty.

I use Connecting Threads cotton threads and yes, they are very linty but I clean my bobbin area every time I change my bobbin. I also love their polyester threads which are very strong. I've used my embroidery threads as my Innova seems to like most any thread I throw at it, even the metallic threads. Cleaning out the bobbin area is just a given thing along with cleaning off the rails from time to time and the wheels. Just part of the job of quilting. I keep scraps of batting to clean my rails and wheels with alcohol. Just use and throw away as it was a small scrap in the first place.

Just watched some videos on Youtube about lubricating thread.
I know Sharon Schamber was the first to come up with this and
the Youtuber acknowledges that. Just haven't tried it yet.
Apparently it also helps with lint. Might give it a try some day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xRjSAbl_NU

Thanks for the link, I will give this a try.

I found King Tut variegated horrible. I use Aurafil for piecing on my sit down and also for quilting. I have a Janome 6500 and it is a thread snob. For the longarm, I feel ike I own them all, SoFine, Glide etc., but I prefer OMNI poly core wrapped. It is cheap too compared to other options. It might depend on the longarm you use also and the style of quilting. INNOVA, 26 in., lightening stitch on 12 ft table. I agree that I can use any thread on the INNOVA.

Superior used to make a variegated called "Rainbows", it was so awful they discontinued it. They have come out with better quality thread that is variegated.