DonnaC

I posted the other day about finally getting a Featherweight (named her Miriam). I bought her from someone I've known for about 20 years, a friend from a sewing group. Now, this friend supposedly "rehabs" Featherweights as a hobby business. I assumed (yeah, that word is a bad one, I know) that she was selling me a completely rehabbed machine (at least, that's what I expected based on the price she charged me). I thought that I would take my little machine home and put in a few drops of oil and just sew along happily! Not so much.

First of all, this machine has a horrible odor. I know most of them have an odor, but this is not musty basement odor... this is what I assume (that word again) is a horrible rancid oil smell. I left it sitting in my living room, and when I came home from work the in the evening, I got an instant headache from the odor in my house.

I immediately removed the machine from the case, read every internet and message board tip I could find, and got to work. I put a bar of Dial Soap in the case, with a couple of those anti-dampness packets, and stuffed it with newspaper. It's been sitting (closed) on my basement stairs for a week now, and today I've got it opened and out on the deck, hoping for the sun to come out (right now it's a little damp and dreary here).

I cleaned up the outside of the machine by wiping it down with some warm water very gently, but I wasn't sure exactly what else I could use - does anyone have a suggestion? I think one of the websites I went to suggested mild dish soap. Then, I got to work by removing the oil pad. Underneath the pad was about 1/8" worth of grossness, which I'm not sure (after reading more on this Board) if that's old oil or glue. Anyway, I did about three soakings with Goo Gone and tried to clean out as much as I could, but there's still some crud in the bottom I just can't get out. I bought some wool felt and traced the old pad and made a new one, but I didn't know that I was supposed to actually glue it in the bottom. What type of glue do you all use?

Right now the machine is sitting in my front window getting a little air, but the machine itself still smells pretty bad, even after putting in the new pad. Do you think this might dissipate after she's out of the case for a while?

If I can't get the case deodorized, I'm going to just stick it in my basement and be done with it. I have a feeling that once I put the machine back in the case it's going to pick up the smell all over again - that is, if I can ever get rid of the smell in the machine to begin with.

Any tips about the glue and about cleaning the outside of the machine would be appreciated.

Oh, one more thing. The machine has a replacement (gray) foot pedal. Does that devalue the machine at all? I didn't buy it for resale value or anything, I'm just curious. Actually, I'm going to buy a new black pedal for it anyway.