Originally Posted by
JoantheQuilter
I have had my featherweight for just over a year. When it arrived, I immediately noticed a nasty, musty odor in the case. I have sprayed with vinegar water, washed with vinegar water, washed with ammonia, set it in sunshine for a day, sprayed with Lysol, but nothing has helped. Any ideas on how to get rid of it? Thanks so much.
Here are several things you can do. Check to see if the felt pad on the bottom inside is new or caked with oil and uglies. If it is then but a new one, several places on line have these. This is step one.
Leave the machine out of the case for several weeks and place a bar of safeguard soap in box but open in the case and close it upl Do this after cleaning with a very weak sollution of clorox. This will kill any mildew spores on the surface of the case liner. One of the things that cause this problem are tiny pinpricks in the vinyl lining allowing the glues used to adhere the vinyl to become moist. So keep a couple of the little pouches that remove moisture (like those that come in shoe boxes) in the case always.
If these two things do not solve the problem the last will require you to wait until the weather gets hot, but I guarantee it will probably remove the "doggie" breath. Pack the case with newspaper, place it in the trunk of your car in the unmerciful heat of summer, and leave it there about a week, change the paper every couple of days until the odor is pretty much gone. I have even deodorized musty manuals by cutting sheets of newsprint and slipping between pages and placing in a paper bag, it once took me almost 6 months to completely deodorize the manual, and I think I changed the paper about 3 or 4 times, so hang in there, the newsprint and hot car work wonders. Oh btw the trunk may smell funky for a time after you do ths.
