mom-6

It seems odd that people use the compressed air all the time on electronics and then we are told not to use it on a sewing machine???

I work at the local office supply store and we sell lots of it, especially to the hospital and the schools. Since I know they are careful to use what is least expensive, if the compressed air were messing up their equipment, we sure wouldn't be sending them more on a regular basis.

cjk

I use to work in a clothing factory and we always used compressed air. Any lint that won't blow out you can take a pair of long tweezers and get it. A word of caution, move anything you are working on away from the machine as the lint will be oily and can ruin what you are working on.

LindaR

I use it on my Juki thats on the quilter frame...Juki has a little door on the bottom to get the lint out of the bottom..works well.

Ann63

I used the compressed air on my Janome Serger and it froze up, the gears would not move at all. I sprayed WD-40 on the gears, it worked better than ever. I have not used the canned air on any of my machines since. We spend too much time and money on our machines to take that chance.

crashnquilt

As a former computer tech, IMO canned air really should be outlawed!

Canned air will do a spit, but that is freon not water. That freon can (and will) freeze something on contact, especially any kind of circuit board.

Given the freezing factor, IMO, using canned air on a bobbin case is a disaster THAT WILL HAPPEN. There is a tempered metal "spring" on the bobbin case. If that spring gets any freon on it, it will loose it's tension capability and most likely break. (That is experience talking there)

I have a longarm and a couple of regular sewing machines. My cleaner of choice is a chenille pipe cleaner. That thing can get in the tightest of places and drag lint out by the truck loads.

For blowing out a machine, there are actually several different options you can use. Purchase a small air compressor like what is used for airbrushing. You can get in very tight places, blow to your hearts content, and not worry about any type of moisture. Some vacuum cleaners can be set up to blow and these do a good job as well. Albeit, you may have to use a lot of elbow grease, in a severe pinch you can use a hand pump. (been there, done that)

For cleaning, I use my pipe cleaners, a shop vac, and artists paint brush. These items seem to work well for my machines.

The last reason I would like to see canned air outlawed, banned and removed from retail shelves is it is much more dangerous than huffing spray paint. About a year ago, a teenager in our community had "huffed" canned air. The freon froze both lungs shut and the young man died before anyone to come to his rescue.

Never put canned air in a hot building (like metal storage shed) or direct sunlight. They can (and will) explode (got the t-shirt for that one!)

lab fairy

My canned air does not contain freon (freon contains CFC's and has been removed from this type of thing a long time ago). I never use this directly on a circuit board nor close enough to "freeze" anything. I guess it comes down to this. If you don't think you should use it...don't. I have had no issues, was told I could to clean under the feed dogs and clear my bobbin sensor, so I do.

MadQuilter

In my machine class, the teacher said to use the compressed air only in the direction AWAY from the motor so you don't blow itty bits into the machine.

charmpacksplus

The local sewing machine guy here said do not use canned air. He said on the new computerized machines all you are supposed to clean is the bobbin area and the dealer should clean the rest.

I use a pipe cleaner to swipe the bobbin area and underneath it. It picks up all the little dust bunnies. I try to do it at the start of every project and my machine has been acting much better since I started doing that.

katiebear1

I have heard the same thing

lab fairy

I think this might be coming down to HOW you are using the air and what type of machine you have. I don't use it anywhere except to clean out my bobbin casing and feed dog area under the needle plate (a pipe cleaner isn't going to get to the area that I need to reach). If my bobbin were a drop in I would use a different protocol because the design dictates a different approach.