What's Inside this Site:

The Worldwide Thread Comparison Chart has the most common thread ticket sizes used in the world. The chart gives information for six major thread constructions.

The six thread constructions include:

• Cotton wrapped polyester core (D-Core®) used for sewing jeans, chinos, etc.
  Poly wrapped polyester core (Perma Core®) used for sewing everything from intimate apparel to Jeans.

• Spun polyester made from 100% polyester staple fibers (Perma Spun®) also used for most apparel applications. The most common thread construction used around the world.

• Air entangled (Magic®) made from 100% continuous polyester filaments that have been entangled using high pressure air. Generally not a plied construction.

• Textured - stretched - polyester (Wildcat Plus®) used primarily for overedge and coverstitch applications.

• Twisted Multifilament (Nylon or Polyester Anefil®) used for sewing leather goods, footwear, upholstered furniture, sporting goods, luggage, etc.

The Tex size is a measurement of the gram weight of 1000 meters of greige or un-dyed or finished thread. Examples include: T-18 - T-27 for light weight sewing; T-30 - T-50 for medium weight sewing, etc.

The Metric size is the most common system used in Europe and is the number of 1000 meter hanks per kilogram (or number of 496 yd hanks per lb.). Examples include: 180 - 120 for light weight sewing, etc.

The Yarn size is a measurement used for the number of 840yd hanks per pound and is many times also referred to as the spun size. The yarn size generally includes both the yarn size and number of ply. Examples include: 46/2 representing 46's cotton count - 2 ply.

The average single-end break or SEB is measured in pounds and is only for comparative purposes and should not be used for minimum strength requirements.

The needle size listed is the minimum needle size recommended for the particular thread size. Generally using a smaller needle size will result in excessive thread breakage. The first number is the metric needle size (70) and represents the thickness of the hole the needle will make in the fabric. The second number is the Singer number system. This number can be converted to fractions of an inch by taking the Singer number and multiplying times 2 and then adding 8. A size 12 Singer needle then will make approximately a size .032 inch hole in the fabric.

In Hong Kong, a common ticket system used for spun polyester is using the yarn size but dropping the "/". Therefore, a 50/2 yarn size is called a 502, a 60/3 yarn size is called a 603, etc.