Rayon or Polyester Thread......?????

Generally speaking rayon thread is more expensive but has a greater sheen and there are more colors available. In addition to being less expensive, polyester runs better (has fewer thread breaks at a faster speed) and has a longer shelf life. Personally I use Madeira polyester most of the time. I started with Madeira rayon because that's what my first machine came with. At the time rayon was more popular because the appearance of polyester was thought to be inferior to rayon. Since then the look of polyester has improved so that it can easily compete with rayon. Based on a number of "what thread do you use" discussions I have read I would guess that a high percentage of embroiderers use polyester. Occasionally I use rayon for certain shades of gold because I don't like the polyester equilivants or if I need PMS matching for a logo and the rayon color is the closest match. I do have some infrequently used shades only in rayon so if a job comes along that requires one of those shades I'll use it. I embroider mostly business logos so I usually don't need all the shades that the rayon provides although someone who embroiders a lot of realistic images like wildlife designs might feel they need the extensive rayon palette to make their designs "come to life". One thing important to note is that your machine tensioning will vary depending on what type of thread you run just as it can vary from color to color so you'll want to basically run either rayon or polyester. Many people say you shouldn't run the two together because you can't correctly adjust your bobbin tension for both but it can be done.

Rayon used to be the gold standard for embroidery thread. It had a better shine and was the thread that most machine embroiderers used. Polyester is now starting to erode the hold that rayon had on the marketplace. Rayon tends to break easily, where polyester is more durable. Rayon isn't colorfast, while polyester is. Where rayon had the edge was shine, but there are now polyester threads made with trilobal filaments, which gives poly thread a shine that will equal rayon thread's shine. There are a also manufacturers who are offering a wide variety of poly colors, as many, if not more, than rayon.