Great Northern Bead And Gem

Types Of Stringing Material

Beadalon is soft and supple beading wire made out of miniature stainless steel wires that are coated in nylon. Beadalon wires come coated in a variety of colors. It is recommended for heavier beads. It is found in 7, 19, and 49 strands (19 and 49 wires can be knotted and resist kinks). We recommend using crimp beads with Beadalon to finish the ends.

Bonded Nylon Thread has been heat set and therefore stretches little so that it can be used just like nylon or silk cord.

Colored Hemp is a thin and polished hemp twine that holds a knot well. Colored Hemp has become quite popular because it is UV resistant and earth-friendly.

ColourCraft is a higher quality, colored, corded wire that has an enamel coat which is resistant to tarnishing, chipping and peeling. It is a softer wire, so that it can be formed easily using jewelers pliers and tools. It comes in a wide variety of colors.

C-Thru Bead Cord is a new soft and strong translucent braided filament cord that can be knotted and is flexible. It can be purchased in sizes .015, .019, .027 and .032(.015 is the thinnest).

Elastic Cord is strong and flexible and is therefore usually used for continuous bead bracelets.

Elastic Stretch Cord is a stretchy, cloth-covered elastic cord that is popular because it is so easy to use. It is great for stretch beaded bracelets and necklaces.

Genya Cord is an artificial leather that comes in 1mm or 2mm width and in assorted colors. It is not stained by water like natural leather.

Hemp Cord is also used with large wooden and clay beads for weaving and knotting. It comes in a variety of colors.

Leather Cord usually comes in ½ mm, 1mm and 2mm diameters and a variety of colors. It is used for beads that are too large or heavy for regular bead cord. It is usually used with large clay, wood or carved stone beads.

Memory Wire is beading wire that is pre-formed so it does not require a clasp. It is however, extremely difficult to bend so you need to make sure that you use industrial strength pliers and cutters or they will break.

No-Stretch Nylon is great for bead stringing and is available in a wonderful variety of colors.

Nylon Bead Cord is a tight, twisted cord that comes in a variety of colors on either spools or cards. It is often sold in 100 yard increments. Carded nylon comes with 6.5 feet or 2 meters of thread and includes a twisted wire needle. Size examples include: #2(E) fine, #4(F) medium, #6 (FF) medium heavy, #8 (FFF) heavy. The cord is strong and durable so that the beads will hang naturally. Nylon cord can be easily knotted, and has a tendency to be a bit stronger than silk bead cord. However, it can fray and stretch over time and is definitely not strong enough for very heavy beads.

Nymo Bead Thread is a very thin, delicate thread that is used when stitching or weaving seed beads. It is recommended that you use it with English beading needles. It comes in the following sizes: #AA (200 yards), #D (400 yards) or sizes 000,00, and 0 (0 is the thickest). We do not recommend that it be used with heavy beads. It also comes in a variety of colors and is so thin that it passes through most beads several times.

Opaque Fibrous Elastic is an extremely strong multiple-fiber cording that is also stretchable. You should use a collapsible needle when threading with this. Its advantage is that there is no need to use crimp beads in fact they may actually fray the material. Instead, just tie the knots to secure your beads.

Satin (Rattail) Cord is a shiny, satin-like cord that is found in 1mm and 2 mm widths. It is usually used for large stones, wooden and ceramic beads. It is important to remember that rough edges will fray this cord.

Silk Bead Cord is similar to nylon, but is usually used to string and knot pearls. It is less likely to rot and fall apart and will stretch less over time than nylon cord. Silk bead cord can be purchased on spools in a variety of sizes and colors, or on cards with needles in the same sizes and colors as nylon cord.

Soutache is a flat bead cord that is used like rattail cord to highlight large beads and pendants.

Translucent Elastics are versatile, stretchy materials that have a memory. They are quite easy to use, dont fray, and hold knots well, since they are soft and flexible, yet strong. They are also UV resistant.

Tuff Cord is a synthetic nylon that has been made to be stronger than natural nylon (it uses three strands instead of two). It is also available in a variety of colors and sizes. You will find that it does not stretch or strain, and is resistant to fraying and shredding.

Waxed Linen is a pure beeswax flax linen that is strong and durable. It is very versatile in that is used for jewelry stringing, book binding, bow strings, weaving warps and macrame.