Antique Wooden Thread Spools Value (20 Recycle Projects)
Everything has a value. Good sewing machines have value, new ones do, and even the old wood spools have a little value left in the. They may be empty but these wood spools command a fair price when you want to go old fashioned and get away from metal or plastic.
Antique wooden thread spools value: They are unique, well built and seem to last forever. A good wood spool doesn’t lose its value once the thread is gone. At one collectible store, you can pick up wood spools and their accessories for between $27 and $200.
To learn the value of wood spools and how to recycle them, just continue to read our article. It provides you with the information on where to find them, how much they are worth and how to recycle them.
Wooden Thread Spools Value 101
When Did They Stop Making Wooden Thread Spools?
It was back in the early 1970s that thread spool makers stopped making wood spools. It was purely a business decision that led to the demise of the wooden spool. Businesses like to cut expenses and wood was too expensive to use so they just stopped.
An average wood spool cost spool makers between 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 cents each to make. That was too much of an expense given that spool makers turned out thousands of thread spools every year.
Plastic thread spools cost about half that much so it was an economical decision only. This is too bad as the sewing experience got a lot worse once those plastic spools hit the market and made their way home.
Their lightweight made it difficult for the machine to hold the plastic spool in place and no matter what the manufacturer did, the plastic spools never really looked pretty.
How Old Are Wooden Thread Spools?
Some wooden thread spools can be as old as 100 years, while others will only be close to 50 years old since they were stopped being made in the early 70s. but to answer the question, no one really knows.
The invention of the wooden thread spool could have come at any time in history as the ancient world was using some type of thread since the beginning of time. The ancient Romans in 100 to 400 AD used glass spools.
It would not be a stretch of the imagination to think that someone could create a wood spool just to trim costs as the plastic was used in the 1970s to do the same thing. We cannot think that wood spools were invented at or after the invention of the sewing machine.
Simply because hand sewing was used for thousands of years before that invention. The first wooden spool invention is lost to time.
How to Date Wooden Thread Spools
The first clue as to the age of the wooden spool you may own is looking at the manufacturer’s name. The brand name will give you a clue as their records will show when they stopped making wooden spools. That date would be your earliest possible age.
You may be able to contact the company and see when they made that particular spool but the label should be intact so that the information on it can be used to track down the actual manufacturing time.
Also, the brand name is going to be of big help for if the company went out of business before the switch over to plastic that end of business will give you another approximate date to go by.
The country of origin would be another clue to use to track down the actual age of the wooden spool. Another factor will be found in the type of wood that was used to create those old wood spools.
These pieces of information should help you get on the right track to find out how old your wood spools are and if they are actually worth any money.
Are Wooden Thread Spools Worth Anything?
There are a lot of factors that go into determining the value of any object including wood spools. The answer to the question is yes but with a big but at the end of that answer.
The value will depend on the condition of the wood spool, if there is thread still on it or not, the company that made it and when it was made. Also, the type of wood that went into making it is a big factor in the spool’s value.
Then the size and shape of the spool will add or subtract value. Those wood spools that look like old wheel axles seem to have more value than the standard looking wood spool.
Keep in mind that many of the post World War 2 wood spools were probably massed produced and have less of a value than those made from earlier decades. Survival also plays a role in how much worth a wooden spool has. The fewer there are the more valuable they become.
Antique Wooden Thread Spools Value
The value of the wood spools depends a lot on where you buy them. If you come across the ones listed at Amazon those antique wood spools are not worth a lot of money. The ones on Amazon are sold at prices between $10 and $30 approx.
Plus the condition of the wood spools is going to play a role in how much value a wood spool has. If you look at the ones for sale at this website, you will see that they are all in top condition and sell for a higher price than the ones at Amazon.
Then as stated earlier, the age will add to the value and some of the older pre-WW2 wooden spools can come at a hefty price. This website has some of those older thread spools.
Then if you pop over to eBay you will see that damaged spools lose their value as one set worm-eaten spools do not command a very large sum to take them home. Just so you know, sentimental value does not figure into the costs at all.
Maybe to you, they are worth more because the spools were passed down several generations but to a collector, it doesn’t mean anything at all. Then finally, the value of a wood spool is in how much a person is willing to pay for it.
If someone balks at the $100 price tag and wants to buy it at $50 then the wood spool is worth only $50. Though that does not mean the buyer will not turn around and try to sell it for $100 in their store
Collectors will low ball an item just to pay less money for it. The value is in what the person sees in the wood spool. And that value fluctuates between collectors as well.
Projects Using Wooden Thread Spools
One of the good things about wooden thread spools is that they can be used in a variety of ways once their thread is used up. The wood spool does not lose its work value just because its primary purpose is over.
Here are some ways to reuse or recycle wooden thread spools:
- 1. Turn them into an art piece - many artists could create a nice work of art out of old spools.
- 2. They have pedestal power - when you want to protect and elevate small figurines wood spools can do the trick. They come in a variety of sizes and can be painted, decorated and hold individual toy figures with ease.
- 3. Use them as a photo album - this is a great way to highlight those vintage photos that you are very proud to own. The photos of your ancestors can be individually held and again you can decorate the spools to keep the attention on those photos.
- 4. Decorations are not excluded - wooden spools can be painted, have crepe paper wrapped around it or even hold sparklers to spruce up a special occasion. Plus, they can be reused when the holiday changes.
- 5. Make furniture out of them - if you have a lot of spools lying around, you can use them to build a new glass top coffee table. You need to be handy with working with wood.
- 6. They can be used on the dinner table - if you are a handy project person you can turn certain spools into salt and pepper shakers and keep them on your breakfast table.
- 7. They help keep time - one good project for when you have time and extra wood spools on hand is to make a calendar out of them. Place the numbers you need on the spool and build a nice staggered rack to display each day of the week.
- 8. Hold your jewelry - this is ideal as wood is very jewelry friendly and you can hold many necklaces and bracelets on different sized wood spools. Just make sure you design the rack in a way that complements your room.
- 9. Make toys - wood spools are very versatile and you can make toys, dolls or even dollhouse furniture out of them. They are solid items to use and they won’t cost you any money as you already have them around the house.
- 10. They make good door knobs - whether you put them on closets, real doors or even storage cabinets, wood spools make great items to grab onto and open a door.
Wooden Thread Spools Craft Ideas
Once you start brainstorming, the ideas should flow about how to use wood spools for different arts and crafts projects. There are a million and one uses for empty wood spools and we are sure you can come up with a lot of great ideas.
Here is a list of some just to get you started on the right track:
- Make Christmas decorations out of them - doesn’t matter if it is for the window, tree or just around the house wood spools can light up your holiday with the right accents.
- Scissor holders - depending on their size, you can use these spools to hold your different sized scissors.
- Create a wreath - the different sizes can help you be creative in your wreath’s look and they can be painted or sprinkled to add a little decorative touch and charm.
- Knick knack holder - it the spools are large then their tops and bottoms can hold some of your smaller knick-knacks.
- Make alphabet blocks - paint some numbers and letters on them and teach your child the basics when they are too young to go to school.
- Turn them into holders - spools can hold branches, little trees, felt balloons and so on. The sky should be the limit as to what these little items can hold.
- A necklace - the wood spool can hold accents like beads and other decorative jewelry and be turned into a nice looking necklace for a child.
- A pin cushion - don’t retire the spool from sewing. Use it to hold your pins by making it a very attractive pin cushion.
- Tape measure holder - again let the wood spool keep its hand in sewing and turn the empty spool into a nice looking fabric tape measure holder. Never lose it or misplace it as your paper tape measure always has a spot to sit.
- Turn it into a bell - you can have lots of fun adding fabric, bells or other decorative options and use the thread spool as a bell to ring in the new year.
Some Final Words
They may not be making them anymore but wooden spools are not worthless. Not only do some of them have monetary value, but they also have decorative value. How you make use of them is up to you but don’t throw them away.
Use them yourselves or have your kids create different projects on rainy days.
