Tufting vs Punch Needle, Are They The Same Thing?

January 24, 2022

Punch Needle, Tufting

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Tufting vs Punch Needle

Are They The Same Thing?

Table Of Contents

Tufting vs Punch Needle
Style
Time
Cost
Ease Of Use

In the early days of your craft journey, all of the different terms can be really confusing. It is really frustrating to not even able to ask what would you like to ask because you do not know what are the correct phrases to use so other people can understand you. What is Tufting and Punch Needle? Are they the same thing?

Tufting and Punch Needle are really similar techniques, both used in order to create handmade rugs. However, practically they are not the same, they require different tools, techniques, and the creation process is not the same. In both methods, the yarn poked through the holes of cloth and created a pattern of yarn. The most important difference is the speed of the process, in the case of a highly detailed small rug piece the Punch Needle can be a better choice however for larger sizes it can take a couple of days to finish a piece. The final products are visually the same for a loop-pile tufting gun and punch needle.

There are different aspects that can influence your choice between Tufting and Punch Needle such as:

Style
Cost
Ease Of Use
Time

Style

The first aspect that is possible to compare the difference between them is style and visual appearance. But in order to be able to understand it better first, we should understand the types of Tufting Gun.

There are mainly two different types of Tufting Gun available, Cut-Pile Tufting Gun and Loop-Pile Tufting Gun. They operate almost in the same way. The only difference between two tufting guns is in the case of the Cut-pile Tufting gun it cuts the yarn thread after each movement through the openings of the tufting cloth with the help of its built-in scissors. But on the other hand, the Loop-pile Tufting Gun does not have built-in scissor equipment because it creates a pattern with a continuous piece of yarn on the tufting cloth. You need to cut the yarn manually after each completed line.

You can check Tufting Gun: Cut Pile vs Loop Pile to learn more about it.

The Punch Needle is exactly the same as the Loop-Pile Tufting Gun. They operate with the same principle and the final products are visually the same. However, there is a considerable difference between Cut-Pile Tufting Gun and Punch Needle. The Cut-Pile Tufting Gun creates more fluffy-looking rugs.

Time

One of the most important differences is related to producing time. The Tufting Gun is a much better option if you have enough space to work with it, it requires a much larger space because of the necessary tools like a tufting frame.

In order to be able to compare the speed of the process, in order to create a rug approximately 24×16-inch (60x40cm) big, it would take around 3-4 days for a beginner. However, if you would like to create the same size rug with a tufting machine it is possible to finish it easily just in a few hours.

Cut Pile Rug and Loop Pile Rug which took the same time to finish

It is an essential question to think about before you decide to invest your time and money in one of the options, How patient are you?

Cost

Another crucial contrast between them is the required initial cost to be able to start creating. Depending on your location and available platforms to purchase your materials, the difference between the total cost for Punch Needle Set and Tufting Tool Set can be quite a lot.

It is possible to purchase all the necessary tools for Tufting around 450-550$ and for punch needle around 200$ in total.

If you are trying to experience a new hobby it may be a better option to start with the Punch Needle to test if you are interested or not. In case you would like to continue and expand your toolset, you can easily add a tufting gun to your kit. Since most of the materials are common for punch needle and tufting if you decide to switch to tufting the other tools would not become a waste, you would still be able to use them for tufting too.

You can check Recommended Tool Sets to find detailed lists of necessary tools and where you can purchase them depending on your location (USA vs EU) for Tufting and Punch Needle.

Ease Of Use

Both of the tools are operated manually but in the case of the tufting gun, it can be way harder to control the gun on the tufting cloth. It runs relatively fast and vibrates due to the fast movement of the needle. It can take some time to gain experience and feel comfortable working with it but it is always better to be careful with it. Because if anything goes wrong for a second it can easily damage the cloth and can be dangerous for you as well.

If you do not have a dedicated space for this new craft and planning to do it in your apartment flat, it is better to consider the loudness of the Tufting Gun. Check here to see how loud is the Tufting Gun.

On the other hand, for a punch needle, you have all the control. It is less likely to damage the cloth or yourself during the process.

The Tufting Gun can be practical because of the speed in the process however it is more difficult to work with tiny details on your design. If you would like to create highly detailed smaller pieces of rugs, the punch needle can be more convenient for you.

In conclusion, I prefer using both of them for different types of tasks. You can easily combine both of them into your workflow and increase your productivity and creativity. Usually, I switch to punch needle if there are small details that are not appropriate for tufting gun and complete filling other parts of the rug with tufting gun.

*_{Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.}