August 25, 2015August 25, 2016

Product Review – BlockWRX Blocking Wires

Earlier in the month I reviewed the Sweater Care Kit, so now it’s time to turn my attention to blocking wires. This week, the BlokWRX blocking wires

Product Review – BlokWrx Premium

The kit comes in a bright red 38″ long mailing tube:

4 light-strength 12” wires
4 medium-strength 18” wires
4 medium-strength 24” wires
12 heavy-strength 36” wires
4 light-strength 28” free form flexible wires with plastic coated ends
One 36” aluminum yardstick
One 60” fiberglass measuring tape
48 T-pins
Blocking Instructions

This kit has it all. It’s safe to say, for even a blockaholic such as myself, I would never run out of wires. I really liked that the wires came not only in a variety of lengths, but of thicknesses.

At first glance I was really happy that the kit included a good metal yard stick and heavy tape measure (the kind that don’t stretch out over time!). But, what I was most excited to get my hands on were all the different weight wires, all with a soft rubber tip.

I’ve tried a lot of blocking wires, and one drawback with some of the longer wires is their tips. The wires can be thick and when you’re inserting them into delicate fiber. they can catch. I thought the idea of the rubber tips to create a soft round edge seemed great.

When I first unpacked it, and cut the plastic tie that held the wires together, there was one tiny glitch. It had been in the high 90s in New York when this package was shipped. The wires were banded so closely together, some of the rubber tips had kind of fused together (only a few) and when I separated the wires a couple of the rubber tips came off

A couple that lost their tips

However, I contacted the Yarn Bazaar and they said that had never happened before AND they offer a lifetime guarantee, so they offered to replace any wires . . . so I chalked that up to no harm, no foul.

So, it was time to try them out. The rubber tips did go through the stitches really easily without catching.

. . . and of course, what I love about using blocking wires, is how few t pins you need, just a few for the whole length of a sweater.

The flexible wires, were REALLY flexible, they are thin and easy to bend and everything you want out of a curved blocking wire.

For those of you who are thinking that this is too much kit for you (not for me, but not everyone is as blocking obsessed as I am), they package the wires in many different configurations so you can just order what you like.

I loved the fully loaded, you’ll never need anything else as long as you live kit . . . hey, that would be a good name for it.