How to indicate thread?

Weight is a way of indicating the thickness of a thread.

The most common weight system specifies the length of the thread in kilometres required to weigh 1 kilogram. Therefore, a greater weight number indicates a thinner thread.

American standard of thread weight (wt) was adopted from Gunze Count standard (Japan).Gunze Count standard uses two numbers separated by a forward slash. The first number indicates the weight of the internal threads and the second number indicates the number of threads wrapped together to make the finished thread. It is common to wrap three strands of the same weight to make one thread (as indicated in the chart), any number of strands may be used and sometimes only two strands are wrapped together to made the finished thread. The American standard drops the specification of the number of strands which are twisted together. Therefore it does not accurately describe thread.

Denier

A denier weight specification states how many grams 9,000 meters of the thread weighs. Unlike the common thread weight system, the greater the denier number, the thicker the thread. The denier weight system, like the common weight system, also specifies the number of strands of the specified weight which were wrapped together to make the finished thread.

Tex

Tex is the mass in grams of 1,000 meters of thread. If 1,000 meters weighs 25 grams, it is a tex 25. Larger tex numbers are heavier threads. Tex is used more commonly in Europe and Canada.

Conversioninformation

Thread Weight Conversion Table

For Example: 40 weight = 225 denier = Tex 25. A common Tex number for general sewing thread is Tex 25 or Tex 30. A typical silk buttonhole thread suitable for bartacking, small leather items, and decorative seams might be Tex 40. An upholstery thread, Tex 75. A more decorative but still heavy duty topstitching thread for coats, bags, and shoes, Tex 100. A topstitching thread suitable for luggage and tarpaulins, Tex 265-Tex 290. But a fine serging thread, only Tex 13. For blindstitching and felling machines, an even finer Tex 8.