Originally Posted by amandasgramma

Seems excessive to me but you DO have to maintain them. Cleaning them, getting the lint and threads off. Use alcohol on a lint free cloth. Also.....If your machine jerks and goes off track for any reason (mine did that), then it will cause gouges. Last time I looked at my local dealer, it would have cost around $3.00 for a strip --- I think....I know i was shocked how cheap they were! (probably the cheapest part of the whole set-up!!!!)