Magnetic pin holders: what they do and do not do

A magnetic pin holder is a shallow dish or disc with a magnet in it. Pins land on it and stay. It is a genuinely useful object and it is not a pin cushion, which is the source of most of the disappointment about them.

What it is much better at

Dropped pins. This is the whole case. Pass the holder a few inches above a carpet and it lifts every pin, including the ones you could not see. Anybody who sews in a room with a carpet, or has small children or animals in the house, is buying it for this alone.

Speed. You do not have to aim. Pins tossed towards a magnetic tray land and stay, which over a long session of unpinning is meaningfully faster than pushing each one into a cushion.

Not tipping over. A weighted tray on a bench stays where it is put, and pins on it do not roll off when it is nudged.

Nothing to wear out. No fabric to wear through, no filling to compact.

What it does not do

It will not hold a threaded needle. The needle sticks; the thread hangs, tangles with every other thread, and the whole point of having the needle to hand is lost. For hand sewing, a cushion is the right tool.

It does not present pins point-first. On a cushion, pins stand up with heads exposed and are picked up one-handed without looking. On a magnet they lie flat in a pile, and picking one out means looking at it.

It cannot hold pins at an angle for organisation. Some people sort by length or type in different areas of a cushion; a magnet is one undifferentiated heap.

The electronics question

Modern sewing machines are computerised, and the sensible caution is not to put a strong magnet on top of one or on top of a machine’s screen.

In practice, the magnets in these holders are not strong enough to damage a modern machine at ordinary distances, and machine memory is not the kind that a magnet erases. The real risk is smaller and more annoying: a magnetic holder near a machine can attract loose needles and screws, and a magnet placed directly on a screen can distort what is displayed while it is there.

Keep it on the table beside the machine rather than on the machine. That covers it.

Magnetised needles

Pins and needles that live on a magnet become slightly magnetised themselves. The consequence is minor and real: they cling to each other and to scissors, which is mildly irritating and harmless.

It wears off. If it bothers you, keep hand-sewing needles in a cushion and pins on the magnet.

Types

Shallow dish — a bowl with a magnet in the base. Pins land inside and cannot roll out. The most common form.

Flat disc or bar — a plate with the magnet across the whole face. Better for sweeping a floor, and pins can be brushed off the edge.

Wristband with a magnetic pad — the combination approach, for working standing at a cutting table.

Some magnetic holders are sold with a set of pins included. Whether pins are included is stated in every listing here, because it is the thing people most often assume.

Getting pins off it

Slide them off the edge rather than lifting them, which separates one pin from the pile. Tipping a full dish out is how you end up sweeping the floor with it afterwards.

Storage and care

Nothing to it: wipe it, keep it dry so the pins on it do not rust, and keep it away from cards with magnetic stripes and from mechanical watches. Keep it off the sewing machine.

If the magnet is glued into a plastic dish, do not soak it — the adhesive is the weak point.

Which to own

Most people who sew regularly end up with both: a magnetic tray at the machine for pins coming out of work, and a cushion for needles and for hand sewing.

If you can only have one and you sew on a carpeted floor, buy the magnet. The cushion is nicer to use and the magnet is the one that prevents somebody standing on a pin.

Where they are

Magnetic trays and holders, including the sets that arrive with pins, are on the magnetic pin holders page. The classic cushions are under tomato pin cushions and wooden Japanese pincushions, wrist versions at wrist and novelty pincushions, and complete kits with pins, rippers and tape measures at pin cushions with pin sets.