When to buy thread?
05-18-2011, 07:17 PM
#41
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Grants Pass, Oregon
Posts: 3,360
Originally Posted by lheartsl
that sounds strange! I would think as long as it isn't from the year of the flood it would be ok...
05-19-2011, 02:59 AM
#42
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 8,814
Maybe she was drumming up more business for the LQS? I have about five 16-qt containers of thread that I've gotten at estate sales, and that includes embroidery thread. I have only tossed out two spools because they were fragile. The rest is perfectly fine and I've been happily sewing away with it. I think they lasted more than a year!
05-19-2011, 03:01 AM
#43
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 4,116
Different threads do have a shelf - life. However, it is mostly the embroidery threads that tend to deteriorate quickly and snap etc. if you keep your thread out of the sun and in reasonable storage, you shouldn't have too much trouble with it. I use stuff that was my grandma's and it is still going strongly.
05-19-2011, 03:01 AM
#44
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Manassas Va.
Posts: 1,233
Originally Posted by babyfireo4
I would say she was helping the lqs. If thread holds the quilt together for years and years why would it even be possible for it to go bad within one year? It just doesn't add up to me :/
05-19-2011, 03:05 AM
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Victorian Sweatshop
Posts: 863
We used to have sewing factories in my area and the thread was taking over from buying at yard sales. I set a dozen cones on the floor, ran the threads up thru an eye hook and crocheted a throw rug with them, tying in when one ran out.
Its still on the floor and wearing well. Thread is tough stuff.
Its still on the floor and wearing well. Thread is tough stuff.
05-19-2011, 03:33 AM
#47
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: long island ny
Posts: 1,337
That teacher sounds like quite a saleswoman! If a thread gives me problems out it goes but I don't throw it out just because ist is last year's model. Aren't quilts supposed to last for years???? Stands to reason that thread does too.
05-19-2011, 03:52 AM
#49
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Middle of Nowhere, Indiana
Posts: 171
I've always done the stretch and tug test on threads.
My neighbor recently brought over her stash of threads and donated them to me. She told me there was something wrong with the tension on her machine and couldn't afford to fix it. Most of these spools were most likely older than me and she was shocked when I started testing the thread. Most were so old, I hardly had to tug to get them to break. I sent her home with a spool of my newer thread and suddenly her machine is "fixed".
On a side note, a lot of the thread was on wooden spools, so now I have those to use on a craft project.
My neighbor recently brought over her stash of threads and donated them to me. She told me there was something wrong with the tension on her machine and couldn't afford to fix it. Most of these spools were most likely older than me and she was shocked when I started testing the thread. Most were so old, I hardly had to tug to get them to break. I sent her home with a spool of my newer thread and suddenly her machine is "fixed".
On a side note, a lot of the thread was on wooden spools, so now I have those to use on a craft project.
05-19-2011, 03:55 AM
#50
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: McLoud, OK
Posts: 13,264
Originally Posted by fabric whisperer
i have threads from years and years ago ~ they have been stored properly, and are still soft and strong. You can feel when thread dries out, then it is weakened and will snap and give you all sorts of fits. But you can sometimes rejuvenate an old spool by sticking it in the freezer overnight.
I have threads that say $.15 on the ends!!! my grandmother lived thru the depression, she never threw anything out! So I have thread that she bought at Woolworth's in probably the 40's and 50's, and because of the way she stored it, I am still working on using it up :)
I have threads that say $.15 on the ends!!! my grandmother lived thru the depression, she never threw anything out! So I have thread that she bought at Woolworth's in probably the 40's and 50's, and because of the way she stored it, I am still working on using it up :)
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