Best Air Threading Sergers: Brother, Juki and Baby Lock Compared (2026)

Brother's AIR1800 has a threading port for each looper, connected to the end of the looper by a tube. You put the thread into the port and press a button, and a gust of air carries it through. It sews flatlock, overlock and rolled hem stitches with two, three or four threads and one or two needles, at up to 1,300 stitches per minute, with differential feed and an LED-lit work area Brother describes as easy on the eyes on dark fabrics.

Brother's page also lists a switch that turns the cutting knife off, quick-change levers for the rolled hem and an error light that comes on when the fabric cover is open. It is the one air threading serger here that Amazon itself sells.

The Airflow 3000 uses the same idea as the AIR1800: one touch sends air through the loopers to thread them. Brother lists 2/3/4 thread stitches including flatlock, overlock and rolled hem, a 1,300 stitches per minute top speed, differential feed from 0.7 to 2.0, an overlock seam width of 5 to 7.5 mm, LED lighting and adjustable presser foot pressure.

The difference you can see on Brother's two pages is what comes in the box and where it is sold. The Airflow 3000 includes a gathering foot, a blindstitch foot and an adjustable zipper/piping foot, and Brother sends buyers to a dealer rather than listing a price. If you would use piping and gathering on cushions, bags or garments, the included feet are the reason to pick it over the AIR1800.

Baby Lock has two air threading systems. Its Jet-Air threading, on the Celebrate and Victory, sends thread through tubular loopers "with just the touch of a lever", and Baby Lock adds that there are no looper thread guides to struggle with. Its ExtraordinAir threading, on models such as the Acclaim, Triumph and Splendor, passes the looper threads through both loopers with a burst of air.

The Celebrate is the entry to that range: 2, 3 or 4 thread serging, a built-in needle threader, a 7.5 mm stitch width, a 4 mm stitch length and differential feed, in a 16 lb machine. Baby Lock lists it at a regular price of $1,352 and sells it through independent retailers, so the price you pay and the lessons that come with it depend on the shop.

Juki's MO-1000 threads both loopers by air: you insert half an inch to an inch of thread into each hole and press the air control button. It also has an automatic needle threader (lower the lever, hook the thread, release), so it is the one machine here where Juki lists help for both the loopers and the needles. It sews 2, 3 or 4 thread stitches at up to 1,500 stitches per minute, with a 4 mm maximum stitch length and a 9 mm maximum overlock width.

Juki lists differential feed from 0.7 to 2.0 mm that can be adjusted while sewing, an upper knife that can be turned off, a cool-running LED light, low noise and vibration, and a safety lock that stops sewing when the presser foot is up or the cover is open. At 20 lb it is a machine for a shop that serges daily.