Re: the lint thing. I've heard the pros say for years - don't pull your thread backwards through the tension discs. I'm too much of a penny pincher to waste thread, so I unthread my machine. I take the spool off the spool holder, move it toward the thread path (is thread path a viable term??), at which point, the thread becomes slack; I then gently remove it with my forefinger. There is no pulling of the thread. It's easy done and just takes a nanosecond.