one of the best tools I have used is a pair of long sorta twisers. Sort of like a hemistat. I can pop my plate off and the use those to find any and all pieces of lint or piecdes of thread. They also work very well when you take out the bobbin holder and then drop the "guts" out which I hate cause it takes me for ever to get that one piece to lay back in. I would imagine most of the quilters have these handi-danndi little problem solvers.. and maybe they could explain them a bit better then I can. I know they are also much used when threading a serger also.