A microfluidic method has been used to synthesize submicron sized droplets via a thread formation mode of drop breakup. This method utilizes the interaction of fluid motion and surfactant transport to draw out a thin thread, which then fragments into a stream of tiny droplets whose sizes are orders of magnitude smaller than the size of the device. In this work, we investigate the role of surfactant desorption kinetics on the breakup dynamics of thread formation by dissolving a nonionic surfactant in the dispersed phase liquid. We consider a homologous series of C_nE₈ (n = 10, 12 and 14) surfactants for this study. This series of surfactants is thought to have similar adsorption and diffusion kinetics but very different desorption kinetics. To characterize the effects of these surfactants on the thread formation process, we measure the thread length and the angle of the cone-shaped dispersed phase finger as a function of dimensionless time. We also construct phase diagrams to indicate the ranges of surfactant concentration in which thread formation occurs as a function of dimensionless parameters. The images obtained from experiment show that longer and thinner threads are formed in the presence of the surfactant with a lower desorption rate. This suggests that we can tune the surfactant properties as a way to optimize the thread formation process to sustain the production of even smaller droplets.