A 60 mm rotary cutter on a self-healing mat beside a steel straightedge and a freshly cut strip of thin leather.
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Ritza 25 Tiger Thread Review: Why Leatherworkers Reach for It

ByPeter Joeseph 'Briefcase Maker' Kalafatis

A braided polyester from a German maker, and a long record of argument on the forums.

Ritza 25 Tiger Thread is the braided, lightly waxed polyester that turns up in hand-stitching threads on almost every leathercraft forum, usually in the same sentence as the word “best,” and the question this review tries to answer is narrow: what does the 0.6 mm, 50-metre spool actually do at the bench, and who has found reasons to put it down. This review works from manufacturer and retailer specifications, independent reviewers and customer reports, not hands-on testing.

Video: LINEN vs Polyester Threads for Stitching Leather, from Teran Atelier on YouTube.

What the spool label promises

Braided, lightly waxed, flat, and sold on reputation.

A hand pushing a rotary cutter along a straightedge through soft leather on a cutting mat.

Weaver Leather Supply’s listing for the 0.6 mm, 50-metre spool describes a finely braided thread of 100 percent polyester, lightly waxed, intended for hand sewing and imported from Germany. It sells there for $11.00 and comes in twenty colours, from black and Havana cigar to silver and beetroot. The page does not give a breaking strength, a stitch-length recommendation or a needle size in its text.

Rocky Mountain Leather Supply names the maker, Julius Koch of Germany, and goes further on construction. Its copy calls the braid “finely braided, flattened and extremely strong,” and says the controlled wax coat is less gummy than heavily waxed threads, so no extra waxing is needed. The same retailer lists 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mm diameters, small spools of 25 or 100 metres, and a 1,000-metre full spool for the 0.6 mm size. It also claims abrasion, UV and moisture resistance, and notes that the ends can be heat-sealed.

Tandy Leather’s 100-metre spool page repeats the UV and breaking-strength language and adds the claim most buyers remember, that the thread will lie flat against the leather when hand sewn. That flat profile is the selling point. It is also the point the forums argue about most.

One detail sits oddly beside the “imported from Germany” line. Abbey England, the British saddlery wholesaler, lists Julius Koch as the manufacturer of the 0.6 mm, 1,000-metre black spool and gives the country of origin as India, at £63.58 before tax. Neither page explains the difference, and no source fetched for this review resolves it. Buyers who care where the thread is spun will need to ask the seller.

What independent reviewers found

Strong, ready off the spool, and kind to beginners.

The longest independent write-up came from Kristian Reinhart at Cool Tools in March 2021. Reinhart settled on Tiger as the thread for most of his leather projects and described it as “super strong, long-lasting, and ready-to-use out of the box.” He credits the wax with helping the thread slide through the holes and lock the stitch, notes that it rarely tears while a stitch is pulled tight, and points out that, being synthetic, the ends can be melted to finish a seam. His one piece of buying advice is economic: the price per metre drops sharply on larger spools, so he suggests buying the biggest spool of the colour and size used most.

That melting habit matters to anyone finishing a saddle stitch by backstitching and then sealing the tails, a step covered in finishing a saddle stitch and burning the thread ends. Linen does not melt. Polyester does, which is one reason synthetic thread has spread through small-goods work.

Weaver’s own buying guide, 4 Best Leather Threads for Hand Sewing Leather, calls Tiger a “consistent leathercrafter favorite” and says its flat shape gives the stitch a more substantial look. That is a retailer comparing products it sells, so it reads as a description of intent more than independent evidence. Still, it is useful for the contrasts it draws with the other three threads on the page.

On Leatherworker.net, the largest English-language leathercraft forum, praise for the thread goes back years. A 2013 thread called The Mythical Tiger/Ritza Thread opens with the poster oclack calling it “widely regarded as some of the best material for hand stitching,” and then complaining that nobody in the United States seemed to stock it. That supply problem has since disappeared. Weaver, Tandy and Rocky Mountain all list it now.

A 2014 comparison with Barbour’s linen drew a blunt summary from the poster electrathon, who wrote that “Barbours is basically string. Tiger is basically braided cord.” In the same discussion, Avgvstvs, who had only sewn with synthetics, found Tiger the most pleasant of them because it carries less wax to smudge onto the work.

Where the thread gets marked down

Twist on the back, a round lay in small holes, and a feel some hands dislike.

Macro view of a thick vegetable-tanned leather edge showing the slight undercut a rotary blade can leave.

The flat-lay claim is the first thing critics test. In a 2014 thread titled Twisted Poly and Tiger Threads in Same Picture, the poster DavidL reported that Tiger can twist unevenly, especially on the back of the seam, and said twisted polyester or linen does not have that problem. Another member, kevinp, said it had never lain flat for him. He put it down to small stitch holes, which round the braid as it is pulled tight. DavidL later added that his stitches lay flat on stiff vegetable-tanned leather but rounded on 3 oz upholstery hide.

So the shape of the stitch depends on the hole and the leather as much as on the spool. That fits the warning from Nigel Armitage, the English saddler, whose saddle stitching guide says thread, needles and stitching iron have to be matched to each other. Armitage also cautions that a polyester thread riding in a hole too large for it “would saw at the leather cutting it.” That is a sizing failure, not a fault in one brand, but it lands harder on a strong synthetic than on linen, which tends to wear through first.

Feel is the other complaint, and it is personal. In a 2019 discussion, the long-time member zuludog called Tiger very popular, recommended starting with 0.6 mm, and then admitted he did not like the way it felt or handled, preferring linen. Two years later, in a thread on hand-stitching threads, the poster Brigg called the 0.6 mm “the easiest to work with” of the threads tried yet disliked how it looked, while zuludog again found it difficult. The same thread split the same members two ways.

Durability outdoors is argued from both sides. Matt S, defending linen in the 2014 Barbour’s thread, wrote that linen grips better than slippery synthetics and that synthetics often fail from ultraviolet exposure. The retailers claim UV resistance for Tiger. Neither side offered test data in the pages fetched, so the question stays open.

The 0.6 mm spool and the holes it goes into

Most posters treat 0.6 mm as the general-purpose size.

The 0.6 mm diameter is the one the forums recommend first. In a 2020 thread on which Tiger size suits a chisel, zuludog said 0.6 mm synthetic will cover most stitching and steered a beginner toward chisels spaced at 3 to 4 mm. The poster Hardrada also suggested Tiger 0.6 mm for that question. Another member, johnv474, raised a trap worth knowing: Tandy measures chisel spacing between the sides of the teeth rather than tip to tip, so a Tandy 2 mm chisel sews at roughly the spacing of a 4 mm chisel from other makers. On that chisel he suggested 0.8 mm for a heavier line and 0.6 mm for a finer one.

The holes come first, then. A beginner punching through thick vegetable-tanned leather will find that the iron, the hole size and the thread have to be chosen together, as punching stitch holes in thick bridle leather lays out.

For needles, Rocky Mountain’s thread listing pairs the 0.6 mm thread with John James harness needles in size 2 or 4. Weaver customer Nima F. left a five-star review while admitting surprise at how thin the thread turned out to be. At 0.6 mm, the thread is meant for wallets, card holders, straps and small cases rather than heavy tack, and buyers working on thick harness weights will want to look at the 1.0 or 1.2 mm sizes.

Tiger set against linen and twisted polyester

Weaver’s own comparison draws the lines plainly.

A rotary cutter, round knife and utility knife laid beside straight leather strips and a curved pattern piece on a workbench.

Weaver’s thread guide gives each alternative a short character note. Fil au Chinois Lin Cable, the French waxed linen, has a more rounded profile and, in Weaver’s words, “less body which can make it more challenging” for beginners, though it develops a patina over time. Maine Thread’s twisted waxed polyester cord is round with a slightly rustic look, and its braided version is described as more refined. Vinymo MBT is a twisted polyester sold unwaxed, so Weaver suggests a light coat of wax before stitching.

Set beside the forum posts, a pattern shows up. People who want a flat, uniform, strong synthetic line on stiff veg-tan, sealed with a lighter, tend to stay with Tiger. People who want a round stitch, a natural fibre that ages with the leather, or a thread with more grip in the hole tend to drift toward linen. The 2014 twisted-poly thread adds a third group, those who find a twisted thread avoids the back-of-seam twist that braid can show.

None of this settles a winner. It sorts buyers. A newcomer stitching a first wallet gets a forgiving thread that does not need waxing, comes in a wide colour range and seals cleanly, and the Weaver review from Colby made that point, saying the thread let a beginner focus on technique. A maker chasing a traditional linen look on a heavy piece will hear the opposite advice from the same forum.

What buyers on Amazon and Weaver report

High ratings from both stores, on a smaller sample at Amazon.

The Amazon listing for the 0.6 mm, 50-metre spool showed 4.8 out of 5 from 100 ratings in October 2026, at $11.00 and in stock, according to the product page. That matches the Weaver price for the same length. The Amazon sample is small next to Weaver’s own count: the Weaver page showed an average of about 4.9 out of 5 from 209 reviews.

The Weaver reviews read alike. Buyers mention strength, colour choice and the look of the finished stitch, and none of the ten reviews visible on the page reported a break or a fray. Barry W. wrote that the size fit the scale of the project. Emily W. said it was easy to thread and that the stitches looked clean. Those are short notes rather than long-term reports, and customer pages lean toward people happy enough to come back and rate.

Anyone comparing the saddle stitch against a machine seam, and why a hand seam with a strong thread holds when one stitch breaks, can find the mechanics in why a broken stitch does not sink a saddle-stitched seam. The thread is only half of that argument. The other half is the hand pulling it.

Ritza 25 Tiger Thread, 0.6 mm, 50 m: The listing this review covers, showing 4.8 stars from 100 ratings at $11.00 when checked on October 19, 2026. See it on Amazon (affiliate link).

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A commission may be earned if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you.

Sources

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