i have a janome 6600, every 5 bobbins i clean & add a drop of oil...i even place a drop on the needle shaft...my dealer says anywhere theres metal to metal is safe to oil...i do sew on scrap fabric for a few rows making sure no oil gets on a project...im amazed at how much lint gets in there...i do like my janome...just hard finding a new dealer as the local went out of business...sad...there is an online janome group..do you belong?...they have a great reference library online for members to access...and a lot of knowledgeable users participate....monica in tx