Marathon Thread

By widners on Aug. 29, 2011

Would like some feedback from commercial users regarding Marathon Thread. Have you used it and did you like it or not and why? I see feedback on the thread from a lot of home user sites but it seems to me that they are more tolerant of low quality thread since they are much slower.

Thank you!

Submitted by Eric on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 16:08

I use Marathon yellow only. As its a nice vivid yellow.

I don't think it runs anywhere near as smooth as Robison Anton, but all-in-all not bad. It seems to have more "drag" on the tensioners than the rest, so I find you have to loosen the tensioners, but I generally get it to run well on Tajima's & Barudan, at upwards of 850-900 spm.

Submitted by widners on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 16:18

Thank you. We started trying Marathon at the same time as we bought an SWF so were wondering if it is the thread or the machine. Not an extreme amount of breaks but more than we had on the PR-650. I have noticed that we have to keep the tensioners extremely loose also on the Marathon, haven't paid as close attention to other brands but will check now that you say that. Unfortunately we haven't run enough of any other brand on the SWF yet for me to draw that conclusion so I just wanted some feedback from others.

Submitted by powerstitch on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 17:58

We have used Marathon, Wonang, Brildor, Ackermann, Madeira,Long Sheng, Kingstar & finally we used fufus.

Marathon, wonang, long sheng are cheaper than Madeira but running is not the same.

Brildor is a good thread but expensive. So is ackermann.

Kingstar, didnt really use it that much.

But I have to say the best thread I have used and currently use in Fufus. We run 120 heads in total (24hrs)....fufus has run well on every machine on ours including swf. We also noticed the runs were better than madeira and the best thing is the thread is half the price of madeira.

You will need to find your nearest agent though. We are agents for East Africa and we are currently selling to 80% of the embroiderers in our region. I have to say though that the colour range of fufus isn't as large as madeira but you will in most cases find the nearest match.

Powerstitch Design Studio
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$7.50 for L/B or Cap Logo

Submitted by widners on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 18:09

Thanks. I remember hearing of it in the past also. We have a place here that sells it at about the same price as Robison-Anton and just a bit cheaper than Madeira. Maybe I will give it a shot. Thanks for the feedback.

Submitted by Jaeb on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 02:43

Marathon is good stuff for the money but use Rayon not poly. Yes its thicker but has good coverage on fills with lower stitch count not so great on small text. For the money and all around just use Maderia thread Polyneon its good quality made in Germany 6.50 cone and tons of colors good stuff. I grew up in the late 80's 90's running Rayon Maderia which is great but 12.50 per cone and the newer machines run the newr poly very well unlike the older machines with looping issues. Eric

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Submitted by mary52asap on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 19:10

I use Marathon Rayon for colors in my shop. I have SWF 4-head & 6-head. I typically run my machines at 640 spm, because that gives me time to hoop the next run. No need to run so fast if you are a single operator. Easier on the machines. I have good results with minimal breakage.
I use Isacord polyester for my black and white threads. I keep them on the same needle on both machines, so tension is set and stays there.
I get good service from my Marathon distributor, delivery one day by UPS from Farmers Branch, TX.

Submitted by powerstitch on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 06:47

Jaeb wrote:
Marathon is good stuff for the money but use Rayon not poly. Yes its thicker but has good coverage on fills with lower stitch count not so great on small text. For the money and all around just use Maderia thread Polyneon its good quality made in Germany 6.50 cone and tons of colors good stuff. I grew up in the late 80's 90's running Rayon Maderia which is great but 12.50 per cone and the newer machines run the newr poly very well unlike the older machines with looping issues. Eric

Hi Jaeb, from what I recall we also used to use rayon thread before because at that time the poly thread didn't have the shiny effect but now you get poly in shiny too which is why we shifted to poly. We realised it gave us better runs with less thread breaks.

Powerstitch Design Studio
powerstitch.com
$7.50 for L/B or Cap Logo

Submitted by powerstitch on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 06:44

widners wrote:
Thanks. I remember hearing of it in the past also. We have a place here that sells it at about the same price as Robison-Anton and just a bit cheaper than Madeira. Maybe I will give it a shot. Thanks for the feedback.

I think Fufus controls the price depending on the country they are selling to. Did you manage to try it?

Powerstitch Design Studio
powerstitch.com
$7.50 for L/B or Cap Logo

Submitted by widners on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 09:04

powerstitch wrote:
I think Fufus controls the price depending on the country they are selling to. Did you manage to try it?

No I didn't. Here in the U.S. it is sold under the name Floriani. I have only found one wholesale vendor that sells under the name FuFu's and the cost is the same as Floriani.

I couldn't get Floriani to discount on any volume except 12 cones of the exact same color and their minimum order is $100 which I find is not acceptable for me to just try their thread.

The other place that sells it here has offered me free shipping to give the thread a try. I still might take them up on it but was hoping to find a better source. As it stands I can buy the following:

Madeira - $7.30
Robison-Anton - $6.30
Marathon - $3.75 in qty 12 mix of colors
FuFu's - $6.99 - higher shipping
Floriani - $6.99
Isacord - $6.99 - higher shipping

Maybe others but the above is what I know about.

Submitted by arrowembroidery on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 06:43

And that's what counts @Powerstitch, lesser thread breakage.

_______________________

In love with digital stitching....:)

Submitted by Eric on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 14:04

Poly is much stronger than rayon no matter what brand, just the nature of the material. As a result, poly can be run considerably faster, and in a production environment speed = time and time = money. Also, Poly has much better colorfastness, and has come a long way in terms of luster/shine.

20 (even 10) years ago it was mainly rayon, and no poly. Now its the exact opposite. Funny how the industry changed. Nearly everything we do now is poly, we don't even offer rayon unless a customer asks. Although, when you have a very colorful intricate design, Rayon still looks incredible. I will give it that.

Submitted by Flint54 on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 17:03

We use Madeira and Robison Anton. Both in poly and no rayon. Our clients have no need for rayon as it is inferior to poly due to fading, inability to withstand numerous washings, use of bleach etc. Poly is the best thread that we can offer our customer base. For us the Madeira is a much smoother running thread, being a 3 ply vs a 2 ply additionally Madeira cones are tapered and the RA cones are straight walled that has caused some problems with the thread sticking at the bottom of the cone and not flowing properly.

Submitted by widners on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 20:22

Flint54 wrote:
Madeira cones are tapered and the RA cones are straight walled that has caused some problems with the thread sticking at the bottom of the cone and not flowing properly.

Speaking of this, Madeira has been giving us a lot of problems hanging up under the base of the cone. Enough times that it isn't just a coincidence.

Submitted by Flint54 on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 08:25

Madeira changed the thread retaining design of the cones to a collapsible base somewhat like the RA cones. You have to ensure that this lip is collapsed when on the machine or the thread will hang on one of the retaining lips. If you do this you should not have any further problems. We have not had any further problems since discovering this. You can also cut a small section of mesh netting @ 2-3" long and put over the thread and base, this will also help with any brand of thread. :D

Submitted by widners on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 08:36

Flint54 wrote:
Madeira changed the thread retaining design of the cones to a collapsible base somewhat like the RA cones. You have to ensure that this lip is collapsed when on the machine or the thread will hang on one of the retaining lips. If you do this you should not have any further problems. We have not had any further problems since discovering this. You can also cut a small section of mesh netting @ 2-3" long and put over the thread and base, this will also help with any brand of thread. :D

Thanks, actually one of the cones I am running now doesn't have the thread retaining lip at the bottom and it gets hung up. Where my madeira cones are getting hung is all the way underneath the cone, when I notice the problem I catch bobbin coming through the top, I stop the machine and look back and the thread is UNDER the cone! This can happen right in the middle of using that color. Not sure how it gets pulled under but I know a thread net would help. It isn't so often that I need to throw it away or anything but definitely more often than I should be worrying about something like that. Probably a handful of times a week.

Submitted by Flint54 on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 08:44

I completely understand what you are going through, we had the same problem a few years back and since then as a standard practice we use a piece of the netting on all of our thread cones. Since doing this we have never had a similar problem. I'm sure that if you use the smaller spools this would be a great idea as they allow the thread to slump down past the base. ;)

Submitted by widners on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 08:55

We are mainly using the cones and this problem is happening to us mainly on those big cones. We don't run a lot of the small spools and when we do it is usually just a couple of pieces. I guess I will have to start using the thread nets too. I was hoping not to have to. I don't seem to have this problem on RA or Marathon thread or at least not near as often. Funny that something like this is what I need to consider when deciding on a thread brand. Not something I would normally think of....

Submitted by Tyrko on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 21:22

I use all RA ... I use as little Madeira as humanly possible. I got into a tiff with them many years ago. Due to the fact that they charge you a 2% order fee on all orders. Which to me is asinine, if you want an extra 2%, just raise your prices. I don't believe in places that charge fees "because we can"

Submitted by Eric on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 21:40

I have the same issue with Madeira, they've been hanging out with Bank of America too long.

I use mostly R.A. as well. The only thing that annoys me about the RA spools is that if you drop one, the bottom "lip" is going to break, and then its going to give you a million issues running, because the thread is going to constantly get caught on the broken edge.

I only use Madeira if absolutely necessary, (e.g. they are the only ones with a Pantone match) when I said something about it to one of the rep's they were like "oh, well you have volume now, we can do something" Yeah.... Right .... The way I look at it is, if you weren't willing to give me the time of day when I was small, and help me grow. Then you don't deserve my business now that I'm established.

minimalist's picture
Submitted by minimalist on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 16:01

I'm bringing in my own poly thread and bobbins from China. I specified a higher dry break tenacity than what's out there and have 266 colors in stock. We use it in our own shop and haven't noticed any problems with it. Single spools 5000m are $3.95 and 12 or more same color are $3.75. Metallic is 4000m and goes from $12.95 to $16.95. Bobbins are $17.95 to $19.95 for boxes of 144. Color cards are $12.95 or free with $200 order or once you reach that I'll credit the card cost back to you.

Submitted by widners on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 16:08

Just as an update, I believe the issues were related to my machine and not particularly the Marathon thread. Got it all worked out and the Marathon has been running just as well as the Madeira for the last several jobs. Madeira still giving me the problem of catching ever so often but I must admit I haven't done anything to try to correct that.

Marathon seems to be working just fine now.

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