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Insulated or uninsulated bootlace ferrules

Updated: 23 October 2026

You have matched the cable's mm², and the next ferrule in the tray has a coloured plastic collar that will not enter the terminal. Insulated or uninsulated bootlace ferrules is that choice, not a second tour of sizes. Use an insulated ferrule when the collar fits and you know which colour sequence the collar follows. Use a bare ferrule of the same mm² when the collar will not enter. The collar is a funnel. It is not the crimp, and it is not the size. The five kits on the [ferrule comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/ferrule) split into insulated titles, bare titles, and listings that say both. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have matched the cable's mm², and the next ferrule in the tray has a coloured plastic collar that will not enter the terminal. Insulated or uninsulated bootlace ferrules is that choice, not a second tour of sizes.

Our top picks

WeqeYent WeqeYent 1000-piece non-insulated wire ferrules

Best overall

WeqeYent WeqeYent 1000-piece non-insulated wire ferrules
8.2/10about £10.99
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Newoutset Newoutset 800-piece non-insulated wire ferrules

Best value

Newoutset Newoutset 800-piece non-insulated wire ferrules
8.8/10about £5.88
View offer
flintronic flintronic 1500-piece insulated wire ferrules

Rank 3

flintronic flintronic 1500-piece insulated wire ferrules
8.9/10about £8.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What the collar is doing
  2. 2.When the collar will not fit
  3. 3.How the kits in this comparison split
  4. 4.Two wires are a different part

What the collar is doing

An insulated ferrule is the part Weidmuller UK describes under DIN 46228-4: a metal tube with a plastic collar. The collar gathers strands that would otherwise splay, and it can keep a neighbouring conductor off the bare pin. It is also the only place a colour code can live. On DIN 46228-4, and on the French sequence, 1.5 mm² is black. On the special sequence UK sellers call German, 1.5 mm² is red. German is not DIN. Grey is both 0.75 mm² and 4 mm² on DIN. If the box does not name the chart, the colour is decoration. The IET's mythbuster shows both insulated and uninsulated bootlaces as treatments for a screw terminal. The jaws still close on the metal barrel, not on the plastic. The same collar that catches stray strands is the part that will not pass a narrow entry.

When the collar will not fit

Some terminals are deep enough for the pin and too tight for the plastic. The collar then sits proud, or the pin does not reach the screw. UK reviews of the WeqeYent kit say people bought bare ferrules because a coloured collar would not fit or was too bulky. The fix is a bare ferrule of the same mm² and a pin the terminal will take, not a smaller cross-section. Bare is a shape, not a quality mark. DIN 46228-1, in Weidmuller UK's terms, is the tube without a collar. One WeqeYent UK review says those bare barrels are like tinfoil. Short reviews on the same listing say they crimp well where the collar was the problem. Do not rip the collar off an insulated ferrule and call the rest a bare part. WeqeYent prints a maximum of 24 V DC, which is left as printed and is not a 230 V rating. Newoutset names tin-plated copper and 240 V AC.
WeqeYent WeqeYent 1000-piece non-insulated wire ferrules

Testsieger

WeqeYent WeqeYent 1000-piece non-insulated wire ferrules
8.2/10about £10.99
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How the kits in this comparison split

flintronic at about £8.99 is the clear insulated row: 1,500 pieces, a plastic collar, PVC named, 0.5–10 mm², 4.5 from 181 ratings. No colour sequence is named, so the collar helps the strands and does not tell you the mm². Gorffy at about £13.98 uses an insulated title, and the insulation-material field says copper. Both lines are on the listing. Newoutset at about £5.88 and WeqeYent at about £10.99 are non-insulated on the title and the insulation field. WeqeYent is the bare kit reviewers chose when the collar was too bulky. shengbowi at about £7.70 says non-insulated in the title and insulated butt joints in another bullet. Skip it when you are choosing collar or bare. Whichever shape you buy, the crimp is still the metal barrel in a ferrule tool, which is how to crimp a bootlace ferrule.

Two wires are a different part

A twin-entry ferrule takes two conductors of the same cross-section in one collar, and only if the terminal is allowed to hold two. It is not two wires twisted into a single ferrule. None of these five kits is a twin set. Putting two wires in one single ferrule leaves one of them poorly held. If the terminal maker says one conductor, one pin is the limit. If the terminal is a cage clamp that wants bare strands, a collar and a bare tube can both be the wrong part. IET EngX notes say not to ferrule a terminal marked f. That is discussion, not the text of BS 7671. The bootlace ferrules buying guide still owns the mm² and the pin.

Common questions

When is a plastic collar worth having?
When the terminal has room for it and you want a funnel for fine strands, plus a little separation from the next conductor. That is the usual screw-terminal case. The collar is worth having only if you still crimp the metal, and only if you do not treat the colour as the size unless the sequence is named.
When will a collar stop the pin going in?
When the entry is narrower than the plastic, or the terminal is too shallow for collar plus pin. The pin then fails to reach the screw. WeqeYent's UK reviews are people who hit that limit and bought bare ferrules instead. Change to a bare ferrule of the same mm². Do not drop a size.
Are bare ferrules weaker?
Not by definition. They are a tube without a funnel, so they are easier to mis-start, and one WeqeYent review found that barrel too thin to crimp. Other UK reviews on the same kit say they crimp well. Judge the barrel you can tug, not the absence of plastic.
Which of these kits is which?
flintronic is insulated on the bullets. Gorffy has an insulated title and copper in the insulation field. Newoutset is non-insulated throughout. WeqeYent is non-insulated, with 24 V DC printed as the maximum. shengbowi states both. If you need the answer before delivery, do not buy the listing that contradicts itself.
Can I pull the collar off an insulated ferrule?
Do not use that as the method. A collar that will not fit means you buy a bare ferrule of the same mm². Pulling the plastic can crack a thin tube, which is the damage a Gorffy reviewer described by wiggling the boot. The listing you wanted was the bare one.
Is a twin ferrule the same as two bare wires in one terminal?
No. A twin ferrule is a part made for two equal conductors, and only in a terminal that allows two. Twisting two cores into one single ferrule is a different, worse joint. None of these five kits is a twin assortment. Read the terminal sheet before you decide two wires belong under one screw at all.

Related pages

Best bootlace ferrules

Ferrule

Bootlace ferrules buying guide: match the mm² first

Bootlace ferrules for a consumer unit: when you should stop

How to crimp a bootlace ferrule with the right tool

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Listings captured 21 October 2026. Updated October 2026.

  1. IET Wiring Matters, Mythbuster #5 (March 2020) (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. Weidmuller UK: wire end ferrules (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. Phoenix Contact ferrule guide (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. RS PRO crimping kit 513-2540 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. GOV.UK: competent person schemes (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 4 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. BEAMA consumer-unit guidance (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listings B0C7GJX239, B0D8PNZSPK, B0CCTJMQ9Q, B0F8B11BC8, B09T9425PF (retrieved 22.10.2026)