Cold rolled grain oriented (CRGO) steel was deformed by uni-axial tensile loading in three different directions: Rolling Direction (RD) (110) <001>, Transverse Direction (TD) (110) <110> and 45° to RD (110) <111>. Deformation behavior was found to be different for the different directions of loading. Such differences were biased by the heat flattening coating and could be captured, effectively, through discrete dislocation dynamics simulations. Results from texture and micro-texture studies, mechanical tests and magnetic measurements show a clear relationship between strain hardening exponent (n) and degradation in magnetic properties (watt loss and permeability). These were also related to misorientation developments, relative recovery and deviations from ideal Goss orientation.