Best Lintless cotton thread
 

I am the recent recipient of a "neused" Bernina 820. It seems that this machine actually creates lint - I am literally constantly cleaning. Do I need to use more of a polyester thread like Gutterman or is there a thread that produces minimal lint - I am currently using Aurifil and love it except for the lint issue.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

you will get lint with cotton thread. its just the way that the cotton fibers are twisted into the thread. You can try a thread that has a longer fiber or polyester. I believe they market Egyptian cotton as longer fibers, but you will still get lint. Just the nature of the beast. I fight that battle even more on my long arm! Try using a machine that the speed gets so much faster than a DSM! I just clean it out and take it as a sign that I need a short break. Ha! My paint brush is my friend...oh and pipe cleaners. I love those too...

i use aurifil for piecing and king tut for quilting.....they are both fine, living minimal lint......and the machines i have (janome and juki) both like them.

Aurifil is my favorite thread and I seem to get less lint from it than anything else. Just keep cleaning.

Thank you all for your suggestions!!

what soccertxi said. But please be aware that it isn't just your thread that is producing lint, you fabric is as well. You will really notice it if you do anything with flannel. And just like thread, some fabric produces more lint than others.
Just get in the habit of cleaning out the bobbin race area and feed dogs frequently. I do it with every 3 bobbins but more if I am working with flannel. I usually run Superior Bottom Line in my bobbin which is polyester but I run Aurifil cotton in the top. I have an older Bernina 153 Quilters Edition.

As the others have said, using cotton (thread, fabric, flannelette, batting) ..... and you are going to have lint. Nature of the beast ... and really there is nothing wrong with that!

I have the 820 .... and use Aurifil almost extensively, as it is a lower-lint thread than many others!

The joy of your 820 .... it is EASY to clean out the lint.
I was thankful for that, as I have had modern machines that cleaning, was far from an easy task.
For the 820, I do it at least every time I change the bobbin and sometimes in between.
Even if the bobbin is not emptied, clean it anyway ... and stay ahead of the lint.
Take off the needle plate, and clean in that area.
Plus with your brush, reach in behind the bobbin from the top down and from the bobbin door in.

I will say ... I don't like the brush that came with my machine, and have a few others that I like better for doing that cleaning.

Remember ... DO NOT blow air INTO the machine to clean.
Only brush ..... or if you have a mini vacuum tool.

I've had 2 Berninas and was told at the guide classes to clean the bobbin area every time I changed bobbins. I've always done that and had minimal problems with either machine. Once you get used to doing it, it's quick and easy.

There is no such thing as a lintless cotton thread. All of them produce lint at a higher concentration than poly threads, There are higher quality threads that the way they are manufactured produces lest lint. the phrase Egyptian long staple cotton is what you are looking for and there are only a few manufacturers who make their thread this way. The only cotton I have actually seen less lint from is by the brand superior but I haven't tried presencia or wonderfils cotton threads. I have tried all other brands. Superiors also hardly ever shreds on me. it is high quality. I do love wonderfils poly piecing threads. They are marvelous but so is superiors cotton an poly threads. I highly reccomend decobob by wonderfil or so fine by superior as poly threads if you are concerned about lint, decobob being my fave for poly. Superior is my fave for cotton It beats out many brands IMHO. I have heard good things about presencia but have not tried my spools yet. But I prefer superior to YLI and aurifil by far lint wise and shredding wise. My best suggestion to you is just try a few different brands to see what suits you. Many love aurifil and I hated it so to each her own

I have also found that a smaller needle makes for less lint. I sew fleece scraps into quilts for charity and I use a size 8 needle. I use serger cones of C&C to make them and the needle size make a huge difference in the amount of lint.