Questions, answered

High-tenacity polyester embroidery thread, wound not printed. 40 WT · 120D/2 · 5000 YD · NW 140 G · 100% POLYESTER FILAMENT Low lint, low shrinkage, built for high-speed multi-head machines — and reliable on home machines, where production speed is a gentle day. sewn by machines. chosen by humans.

Yes — commercial multi-heads (Tajima, Barudan, ZSK, Ricoma) and home machines (Brother, Janome, Bernina) alike. It’s engineered for clean stitch formation at production speed with reduced breakage. NEEDLE · 75/11 FINE DETAIL · 80/12 GENERAL · 90/14 CAPS & HEAVY FILL

ISO-tested, grades 4–5 on a 5-point scale — including the hard cases: WASH 60°C 4C–4.5 · RUB 4C–4.5 · SEA WATER 4C–5 · POOL WATER 4C · PERSPIRATION 4C–5 · IRON 4C–5 · DRY CLEAN 4C–5 Swimwear, team kits, workwear — the color stays where you stitched it. Ask us for the ISO 105 method list if your buyer needs the paperwork.

Machine wash up to 60 °C with mild detergent — avoid rubbing, especially reds. Tumble dry low. Iron on reverse, low heat, between cotton layers. Dry cleaning is safe. Avoid chlorine bleach; if unavoidable, max 20 g/L active chlorine, 30 °C, 30 minutes. Test on fabric before bulk production.

Thread is dyed in batches; shade can drift a hair between them. Every SILKhee cone carries a batch number on its label, and our dye system records the exact formula per batch. Every batch is aligned to the prior batch and the official color card under infrared proofing before it leaves. EVERY CONE · BATCH-NUMBERED · TRACEABLE

Yes. Running one long job across several reorders — a uniform run, a season of caps? Give us the batch number off your cone label and we’ll match the dye lot so the color holds from the first stitch to the last. Professional accounts can reserve dye-lot continuity up front. the same number that proves a color is the number that repeats it. BATCH MATCH · DYE-LOT CONTINUITY ON REQUEST

570 in the POLY range, each classified four ways — hue family, value 1–10, saturation subtle–intense, temperature warm/neutral/cool. Browse them all, or walk the range in 3D in the Color Atlas. THE COLOR WALL   THE COLOR ATLAS

We produce in response, not in excess. Colors are dyed in seasonal runs — roughly every three to four months — rather than stockpiled in a warehouse. Which rested shades make the next run, and how soon, follows what makers order, request, and vote for; the more a color is asked for, the sooner it’s dyed. Hit REQUEST and it joins the queue for the next run — we email you the moment it winds. SEASONAL RUNS · DYED ON DEMAND · EVERY 3–4 MONTHS

Send a hex code, a Pantone reference, or a photo — we’ll pick the nearest of the 570 by real color data, or custom-dye it (about 3 weeks). Dye-lot continuity available for professional accounts. COMING FROM ISACORD, MADEIRA, OR BROTHER? → THE CONVERSION CHART

Every color as real wound thread, in a book. Screens lie about color; thread doesn’t. If exactness matters, start there. THE COLOR CARD

Yes. The vote page and the request buttons feed the next seasonal run directly — the colors makers ask for are the colors that get dyed first. you vote, we dye, you hear about it first. VOTE ON THE NEXT RUN

Singles — one cone, one color. Palettes — six colors we curated into a story. Packs — you pick any 6, 12 or 24 of the 570 in the pack builder; your palette, our winding. we curate; you overrule. BUILD YOUR OWN PACK

Yes — per-cone price falls as packs grow, and curated palettes are the simplest way in. Custom mixes carry a small premium for the picking. Current prices are always on the product pages.

In-production colors ship within 24 hours, Monday–Friday. Rested colors ship once their seasonal run winds — dyed on demand, so requesting and voting brings them forward. Tracking arrives the moment the label prints.

Free in the US over $50. International available over $80. Full carrier and duties detail lives on the SHIPPING POLICY page.

Unopened cones in original packaging come back within 14 days of delivery. Start the return at Contact → Product Issue with your order number; once we confirm it qualifies, we email you the return address and instructions. You ship it back — your postage, or we send a label and take its cost off the refund — and we refund the product cost within 10 business days of it reaching us. Build-your-own packs and custom or next-run colors are made to your choices, so they’re final sale; no color swaps. If a cone arrives defective, mis-shipped, or off from its batch, send the batch number and a photo, and we’ll sort out a replacement or refund once we’ve checked it.

Our mill has produced polyester embroidery thread since 1969 — in-house twisting, infiltrated dyeing with a recorded formula per batch, infrared proofing against the color card, ISO testing on every run. SILKhee is that mill’s color system, finally organized the way makers think. SINCE 1969 · OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 — tested free of harmful substances, safe for garments including childrenswear. Certificate number on request and linked from the About page.

Yes — wholesale pricing and professional accounts with dye-lot continuity; consignment for craft stores; education pricing and donated color cards for schools. Start at CONTACT → 03.