They are terrible! I bought one box of these bad boys and never looked back. They are going to last me a lifetime at this rate because they only need to be replaced when I loose them and the box of 50 takes up no room.
They're just horrible in my experience. They're mainly designed for pulling sewing thread through a sewing needle eye, not embroidery floss through an embroidery needle. The floss is just too thick, and it breaks the threader. They sell better ones, I'm told, but I just quit bothering with them after the first half dozen. Lol .
They are indeed terrible for embroidery. Unless you're super careful and only using two strands, be prepared to probably break at least one per project. Industrial strength threaders, all the way! Also, great username, lol 😉
I bought a packet of 100 on ebay for like, a dollar. My local store wanted the exact same ones for $2.50 each!
I do break them a fair bit, but the trick is to hold them firmly where the wire connects, so that you're pressing it hard against the backing plate. This makes them much harder to pull apart accidentally. A drop of PVA glue would probably help too, but I find the metal is too smooth to really attach properly, and the friction of your thumb helps. Strong small magnets/clip with some rubber in between might work well too?
Nah, you're not at fault. These little fuckers are terrible. They also break your thread if you have to pull too hard. I've given up and now I'm just using a giant needle if I'm using the full 6 strands. I'll probably order some of the metal hook kind but for now it's fine.
The real newbie moment is needing them in the first place (I'm kidding). Not that I stitch or sew a lot. But I've actually never seen any of these break. I thought everyone had a pair their grandma gave them 20 years ago and just use it forever.
I bust them every time I forget to thread one strand at a time - two just destroys them. Pinching at the narrow end helps but I ended up buying a pack of 100 and not worrying too much.