Either the Goss (110) [011] texture or the cube (100) [001] texture may be developed in 0-004 in 3% silicon-iron strip. The texture that develops on secondary recrystallization is dependent on the purity of the furnace atmosphere and the temperature at which the final heat treatment is carried out.A simple theoretical treatment of the energy-balance equation of a growing grain in a primary recrystallization matrix shows how the experimental results can be explained on the basis of surface-energy differences between grains of different orientations, and the dependence of these differences on the heat-treatment conditions. It is predicted that a grain with six or more sides can undergo unlimited growth, provided that the difference in surface energy (σm− σg) between the growing grain (σg) and the matrix grains (σm) is greater than about 70 ergs/cm2.Power-loss measurements on both cube-texture and Goss-textured materials are presented, and a comparison is made with commercial grain-oriented material. Experimental results from measurements on single-crystal picture frames are used to predict how far it should be possible to lower this loss. Magnetostrictive measurements on Goss- and cube-textured strip show no appreciable difference in the magnetostrictive behaviour of the two materials, and a general discussion on magnetostriction in terms of domain-wall movements is given.It is concluded that an increase in the degree of grain orientation will bring about a reduction in power loss and magnetostriction.