Become a better jewelry designer in minutes! We have a quick and easy guide for you. If you love to make handmade jewelry, we are going to show you how to select the right beading wire for the right job. Learn what diameter to use for the type of stones or beads you are stringing. Learn what brand we suggest when drape is important for your next necklace. We will show you what diameter works best for a bracelet project. We have seven free jewelry project ideas for you, each using a unique diameter or brand. This guide will show you how to make the best choice for a durable and strong design.

Beading wire can be confusing. So many sizes and brands. Don't worry, we will set you on the right course in no time. We have a quick guide to end the confusing jargon. All of our labels have the information you need to know. Learn how to decipher our label in seconds and select the wire you need for your next turquoise bracelet or seed bead necklace design. Don't settle for a design strung on the wrong diameter. Using a diameter that is not suited for the job can end up in a piece broken jewelry. Using the right diameter means that you will not have to worry about restringing or repairing. Make the right choice!

Everything You Need To Know About Soft Flex And Soft Touch Beading Wire Diameters

What Is The Difference Between Soft Flex And Soft Touch?

You are probably wondering why we have two major brands of wire. That is easy.

Soft Flex Beading Wire was created in the early 90's by one of our founders, Mike Sherman. Mike was a jewelry designer. He was frustrated by the lack of a strong, but elegant beading wire. Most of the options at the time were fishing line repurposed for stringing. It either lacked strength or had a poor drape. Mike was an artisan bead stringer. He did not want to settle for a poorly designed wire when selling his finished jewelry to galleries. Mike was an innovator, he created a wire that was constructed out of marine quality stainless steel that had an almost threadlike drape. This new wire technology made it possible to string jewelry that was exceptionally strong, but had a gorgeous, soft look.

We did not stop there. Soft Flex is wonderful. But we explored further and created Soft Touch.

Soft Touch Beading Wire is also constructed out of marine quality stainless steel. Soft Touch has the same strength and durability as Soft Flex. Soft Touch is our premium beading wire. The difference between this brand and Soft Flex is the drape. Soft Touch has an almost silken feel to it. The strength of steel with the grace of silk. If you are working with delicate beads that demand a great drape - this is the best wire on the market.

Soft Flex has a bold wire-like drape and Soft Touch has a delicate and silken drape. Both brands are phenomenal. Which one should you use? In this case, we suggest the one that you like best. Don't let us tell you what is better, as with any beading wire option, we suggest you let the wire do the talking. Go to a bead store and feel the beading wire. Let the wire do the work. Pick the one that is best for you. We think our wire is our best ambassador - compare the feel to other brands on the market. Our wire is wonderful! If you would like to sample our wire, email us at info@softflexcompany.com and ask for a sample. If you want to test our brand against our competitors, go and feel their samples at your local bead store. We think you will see and feel the difference instantly.

There is one final difference. We suggest you use our Medium diameter for the majority of the beading projects you will be working on. Our Soft Flex Medium diameter comes in a vibrant rainbow of colors. We want you to SHOW our wire. Use the wire as a design element. We think you should incorporate the colors into your jewelry. Don't hide our beautiful wire inside your beads. Create illusion jewelry showing our wire. Use translucent beads and a colorful wire to make the beads really pop. Soft Touch comes in a limited spectrum - Satin Silver, Black, and White. If you want vivid and colorful jewelry, use Soft Flex Medium. If you demand a silken drape, use Soft Touch.

Why Is Using The Right Diameter Important?

We suggest using the right diameter for the right job. Soft Flex comes in three unique diameters. Soft Touch comes in an additional and smaller diameter. Using the right diameter ensures that your designs will be strong and durable. Why do you need the right size? Let's consider this.

If you are making a bracelet, you are designing a piece of jewelry that is going to be abused. Bracelets rock back and forth on the wrist all day. They are prone to catching surfaces and objects. If your beads have abrasive channels inside, that abrasion is going to eat into your beading wire like a piece of sandpaper. If you are using the wrong diameter, this is going to end in disaster. For instance, if you string a bracelet on our Fine diameter and the beads are glass, well, glass can be abrasive and our Fine diameter is not equipped for this kind of test. If you string a bracelet on Heavy, you are designing a piece of jewelry that is going to be strong and up for the challenge.

If you are stringing a strand of delicate pearls and you want a beautiful drape. Heavy is, likely, not going to fit through the bead channels. And that drape may not be the optimal for those beads. Fine is going to make this strand look amazing.

If you are stringing a mix of different beads of all sizes and shapes, our Medium wire is going to fit through everything. It is also a very strong and durable option. Medium is the wire we suggest you use for most projects, unless you are working with very abrasive beads. Then, consider using Heavy. This is why you will find the most color options in our Medium. We suggest Medium for most of your work. If your beads do not fit on Medium, you can step down to a finer diameter.

The easiest way to plan out the right diameter for the right job is to use the largest diameter that will fit through your beads once. That is the best rule of thumb. Using the largest diameter that will fit once will ensure your entire jewelry design is as strong as possible. We do not suggest doubling back through your last beads after crimping. If you are crimping with the right tools and are proficient with crimping, you do not need to double back. We suggest cutting the wire at the crimp. If you need help with crimping, we have tons of videos and Tips and Tricks for you. Using a wire that is small enough to double back with means that you are weakening the entire design for the security you assume doubling back through will provide. Learn how to crimp securely and use the largest wire that will go through one time.

Basic Usage:

.010 Very Fine - Ideal for embellishing, weaving, crocheting and stringing very small beads. We suggest finishing with 1x1mm crimps.

.014 Fine - Ideal for soft materials, seed beads and fresh water pearls. We suggest finishing with 2x2mm crimps.

.019 Medium - Ideal all purpose wire. Great with glass, mineral, and metal beads. We suggest finishing with 2x2mm crimps.

.024 Heavy - Ideal for abrasive materials, large stones, lamp work and bracelets. We suggest finishing with 2x3mm crimps.

What Is On Our Labels?

Everything you need to know is on each label.

We suggest using the size or diameter as the option when purchasing. Use the right diameter for the right job. Lots of people ask for strands. Strands refers to the amount of wire that construct the diameter. Our Fine diameter is constructed from 21 strands of stainless steel. Our Medium and Heavy are constructed with 49 strands. We suggest sticking with diameters. Use the size as your guideline when purchasing wire. If you are working with abrasive beads, look for a Heavy or Medium wire. If you are only stringing pearls and seed beads, Fine is a great option. If you are working with a crochet project, Very Fine is the best threadlike option.

Abrasion resistance is how we qualify the diameters. Abrasion being the coarseness of the channel inside your beads. Heavy is for very abrasive stones and glass. Medium is great for almost all abrasion levels. Very Fine is suitable for the tiniest beads, like black diamonds or pearls that do not fit on Fine, but we suggest you try the Fine wire first. Very Fine is great as a stainless steel thread replacement.

Test strength is the tensile strength. a 26 pound test strength is referring to the amount of strength in a SNAP that will break the wire. It does not refer to the load on the wire. Nobody is going to string a necklace that weighs 26 pounds (hopefully). A 26 pound test for our Medium diameter means that you have to violently snap this wire with that much force to break it. Good luck!

All of our wire diameters can be knotted. We think that is pretty amazing. Knot tying stainless steel. You can braid or wire. You can knit or knot our wire. Think out of the box. Don't just string a single strand necklace when you can add a macrame element or braid the wire for texture.

Soft Flex .014 Fine Diameter

8 Strand Beaded Kumihimo Pattern with Pearls and Soft Flex Wire

Designer Kristen Fagan

Click here for instructions to make this necklace.

We used our Fine diameter for this lovely Kumihimo design. You can also use other diameters for Kumihimo. Medium is great if you want to show the colors. In this case, Fine was amazing for the drape and the smaller, less abrasive beads we strung.

.014 Fine - Ideal for soft materials, seed beads and fresh water pearls. We suggest finishing with 2x2mm crimps.

Soft Flex .019 Medium Diameter

Knotted Czech Glass Necklace

Designer Sara Oehler

Click here for instructions to make this necklace.

We used our Medium diameter for this design. We wanted to show our colorful wire with a braid and knots. Our Medium diameter is easy to knot and looks lovely. It is also equipped to deal with the abrasion level of the beads we strung.

.019 Medium - Ideal all purpose wire. Great with glass, mineral, and metal beads. We suggest finishing with 2x2mm crimps.

Soft Flex .024 Heavy Diameter

Jasper Delight Necklace And Bracelet Set

Designer Jessica L. Rosenfeld
Click here for instructions to make this necklace and bracelet set.

We used our Heavy Diameter for this jewelry set. Heavy is great for bracelets where you need a sturdy wire that can deal with the abuse of daily wear. It is also a great choice for chunky and abrasive stones that would tear into finer diameters.

.024 Heavy - Ideal for abrasive materials, large stones, lamp work and bracelets. We suggest finishing with 2x3mm crimps.

Soft Touch .010 Very Fine Diameter

Superduo Beadweaving Bracelet

Designer Sara Oehler

Click here for instructions to make this bracelet.

We used our Very Fine diameter for these bracelets. Very Fine is perfect for weaving, stitching, and knitting. In this case, Sara attached the clasp with our Medium wire, which is better suited for the abrasion level. But she used Very Fine for the weaving. If you are working with beads that just do not fit on any other diameter, you can string with Very Fine. But we don't suggest using Very Fine for most single strand stringing projects.

.010 Very Fine - Ideal for embellishing, weaving, crocheting and stringing very small beads. We suggest finishing with 1x1mm crimps.

Soft Touch .014 Fine Diameter

Soft Touch Beaded Earrings

Designer Sara Oehler

Click here for instructions to make these earrings.

We used Fine for this design. Soft Touch has an outstanding drape. If you are string smaller beads and want a threadlike look, this diameter, in our Soft Touch, is absolutely invaluable. Your jewelry will look like it is strung on silk!

.014 Fine - Ideal for soft materials, seed beads and fresh water pearls. We suggest finishing with 2x2mm crimps.

Soft Touch .019 Medium Diameter

Aquamarine Flower Necklace

Designer Virginia Magdaleno
Click here for instructions to make this necklace.

We used Medium for this design. Medium is perfect for mixing and matching beads of all abrasion levels String a seed bead next to a chunky gemstone with this diameter. We selected Soft Touch for this design because we love the drape. If you want to expose a color, Soft Flex is the better choice. If your wire is not visible, Soft Touch just feels and looks incredible.

.019 Medium - Ideal all purpose wire. Great with glass, mineral, and metal beads. We suggest finishing with 2x2mm crimps.

Soft Touch .024 Heavy Diameter

Altering Connections

Designer Virginia Magdaleno

Click here for instructions to make this interchangeable design.

We used Heavy for this design. Heavy is perfect for chunky stone or abrasive beads. Metal, glass, and stone can all eat into the wire like a dragon. Heavy will ensure that the beast can be tamed. Use Heavy if your beads are abrasive. Use Soft Touch if you want an elegant drape.

.024 Heavy - Ideal for abrasive materials, large stones, lamp work and bracelets. We suggest finishing with 2x3mm crimps.

Star From Star's Beads Gives A Testimonial For Soft Flex Beading Wire

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Blog contributor Thomas Soles loves Jazz Age writers and crunchy french fries. His favorite gemstones are Lapis and Pietersite. His favorite hobby is day dreaming. And his favorite mustache is Freddie Mercury's. As you can see, he has a healthy (or possibly unhealthy) sense of humor. You can write to him at Thomas@SoftFlexCompany.com