Rayon vs. Polyester - which is the best

[rosemary]

Hi everyone,

I am very confused. Last week technician came to service our embroidery machine which is a commercial one, its a Texmac 1501 machine. It had developed some issues in bobbin and tension settings. The previous owner had bought at least one starter pack, Madeira 1000M rayon viscose thread and we've been sewing using it. He recommended to stop using rayon because it creates havoc over the tension on the machine.

 

 

Additionally, these spools aren't behaving correctly on my machine, causing thread breaks when the thread unwinds from the bottom of the cone. However, the colors are beautiful!! Plus I read on AllStitch Embroidery Supplies - Your Discount Embroidery Supply Source on the pros and cons of rayon vs. polyester thread and it looks like the victor was rayon.

 

I'm thinking if you let me know what you use and your thoughts about this debate. Thanks in advance!!

[candace]

If you are embroidering any garment, polyester will be better as Rayon fades.

[nessa12]

Polyester gets bleached (though I would be careful with the red ones), and can make thread breaks, does not gets old or brittle and off course is cheaper.

Rayon has loads of color availability, has greater sheen as well as its is the "traditional" kind of embroidery thread. I started off with rayon since it came with my first machine. I was happy then I opted for polyester some years later because it simply ran better and was cheap. I've some rayon shades which I required ( mostly for PMS matching) and those were not available in Madeira poly. 

 

Some will usually say you must not mix rayon with poly in same design because every type needs different bobbin tension.

 

But I've mixed both a many times and has no problems at all.

[denpopov]

If bleach falls on rayon the color will get out of the threads but in polyester this will not occur.

[diver361]

Which brand you using? I like Robison Anton and Isacord..

[rosemary]

How is PolyNeon? 

[AlexAbramov]

 Many shops that use rayon will make use of  black, white and red in polyester to lessen down time as well as other running problems with thread red.

 

When polyester thread was introduced its colors did not look nice like rayon colors therefore many people did not like it. As time passed its appearance improved and the variety of colors also increased.

 

In case you want to embroider uniforms that can be bleached then use poly. If you are planning to embroider loads of realistic designs then use rayon because it will give you good flexibility with shading, as the availability of colors is large.

[sherry]

Thanks Alex!! That is a very good point and a thing that must be considered. I belive that

 

Madeira at least is making its polyneon line quite compatible with their own rayon line.

[rosemary]

Isacord let me check this out.