Chinese steel is it worth the tradeoff?

[SCM64]

With the influx of Chinese steel needles (sewing, not knitting), am I the only one who feels the points seem to dull much quicker? It's not too bad with normal cotton, but when you get into 600+ threadcount exotics, I can barely get a new blouse completed without using at least 5 needles.

Sure they cost less, but what used to take 1 maybe 2 needles, takes over twice that now, so am I really saving anything. No.

And don't get me started on what happens when working on denim!

[BSears]

Steven, personally, I'd never use a chinese made needle for denim. Just too dangerous really. The metal is substandard and tends to bend/break too easily, especially on thicker material. Stick with the German made needles.

[DMB]

Your quality needles are made with 316 or 904L SS and are much more resistant to corrosion than Chinese needles. Additionally, they are tempered and therefore much stronger. I was using a (borrowed) Chinese needle a while back when I had to do an emergency repair job on my son's toy sailboat. It seems the mainsail got snagged and ripped when he was hoisting it. Anyhow, the Chinese needle would barely penetrate the 5 oz canvas and eventually BROKE. Needless to say, I learned a good lesson that day and ALWAYS travel with a small quality repair kit now, that is ONLY filled with quality needles.

[moishlashen]

There is however a single Chinese boutique brand of needles-Wang Hung Lo-who import the finest steels from Germany and Pittsburgh USA. Made 1 at a time by hand. Pricey but worth it and you could stitch kevlar like it was satin all day long. A luxory once tasted becomes neccesity I always say.

[hazmatman]

Your quality needles are made with 316 or 904L SS and are much more resistant to corrosion than Chinese needles. Additionally, they are tempered and therefore much stronger. I was using a (borrowed) Chinese needle a while back when I had to do an emergency repair job on my son's toy sailboat. It seems the mainsail got snagged and ripped when he was hoisting it. Anyhow, the Chinese needle would barely penetrate the 5 oz canvas and eventually BROKE. Needless to say, I learned a good lesson that day and ALWAYS travel with a small quality repair kit now, that is ONLY filled with quality needles.

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