Red Heart Comfort vs Red Heart Soft

Technical verdict: Red Heart Comfort vs Red Heart Soft

Weight category, yardage and value per ball

Red Heart Comfort and Red Heart Soft are both Medium (CYC 4) yarns, so on paper they are interchangeable in the same patterns. The weight class only tells half the story, though: the ball band data below shows how much they really differ in thickness, yardage and behaviour once they are on the hook.

Red Heart Comfort is the longer yarn per gram, with 174 m per 100 g against 166 m per 100 g for Red Heart Soft, a difference of 5 %. For the same 1,000 m of yarn, the project weighs about 573 g in Red Heart Comfort and 603 g in Red Heart Soft. A lower m/100 g figure means a thicker or denser strand, so the heavier yarn will also make a slightly thicker, warmer fabric.

Per ball, Red Heart Comfort holds 792 m in 454 g and Red Heart Soft holds 234 m in 141 g. Five balls of Red Heart Comfort (3,960 m) are replaced by 17 balls of Red Heart Soft, and five balls of Red Heart Soft (1,170 m) by 2 balls of Red Heart Comfort. Always convert by length, never by weight or by number of balls.

Drape, fibre and texture

Both yarns share the same fibre family: Red Heart Comfort is 100 % acrylic and Red Heart Soft is 100 % acrylic, so they wash, block and wear in a similar way. Acrylic is light, affordable and machine-washable; it hides small tension changes and suits blankets and everyday pieces, but heat relaxes it permanently, so it should not be ironed.

With such similar density, Red Heart Comfort and Red Heart Soft will give fabrics of comparable weight and drape at the same gauge; any difference in hand will come mainly from the fibre.

They also share the same construction (Plied), so stitch definition and the way the yarn behaves on the hook should feel familiar when you switch.

Hook size and gauge

The ball bands recommend 4.5–5.5 mm for Red Heart Comfort and 5 mm for Red Heart Soft. The ranges overlap at 5 mm, which is the safest hook to start a test swatch for either yarn.

At least one manufacturer does not publish a reference gauge, so work a 12 × 12 cm swatch with your usual hook before comparing sizes.

Verdict: can you swap them?

Red Heart Soft is a strong substitute for Red Heart Comfort, with a Match Score of 86 %. Convert by length with the calculator above, work a quick swatch, and most patterns will need no other changes.

Red Heart Comfort gives more meters per ball, so you will usually buy fewer balls.

Whichever you choose, buy all the balls for a project from the same dye lot and keep the ball band for its care instructions.

Full Red Heart Comfort data sheet → Full Red Heart Soft data sheet → Calculate yarn for a whole project →