She's finally here, and she's a beauty. She joins her friend Betsy (the vintage Bernina 930) on the sewing desk. I think I have a winning team here!

But I must confess... Bitsy smells... a lot. Like grandma's attic. She's going to the repair shop for a spa treatment, so hopefully that will take care of her, but her case just reeks. Any suggestions??

But smelly or not, she's my baby!!

Congratulations!

Have fun with her she is beautiful.

Congrats! I agree that's a great combo, I have both also :)

Put bounce fabric sheet in the box, it works.

Stuff the case with crumpled newspaper for a while, change it every couple of days. I then sprayed mine with Lysol spray really heavily and let it sit outside on a blistering sunny day and repeated that for 2 or 3 days. Seems to have worked pretty well for me. Others have used odoreaters or some other form of charcoal and one of the deodorant soaps, Dial? maybe.

Once Bitsy smells good you will love her....well, you already do don't you?

Cute

Congratulations. I remember getting my first Featherweight just 2 days before Christmas. The seller wrapped is so well it was like opening a bunch of Christmas presents. But, boy did it smell!

I have several suggestions, but know this from the start, they may not work. To get the smell out is really difficult, I had to try several different things before the smell dissipated.

One of the main problems is if it was stored in a dank place like in the garage or basement. Then you sort of get a mildew smell. The felt oil catcher on the bottom of the machine also causes the smell. So a large part of the smell will go away once it is changed when you have your machine cleaned. Also, be sure to take anything out of the case that is old and greasy, like the old oil bottle and the lubricant.

But you can try these:

1. Wash out the inside of the case with soap and water. Be sure that your rag is sort of dry wet, not really soggy. You don't want to make the liner peel away from the wooden box. Rinse it and dry it really well.

2. Put it out on a the porch on a dry, hot day, let it sit out for the whole day.

3. If that doesn't work, you can put it in your hot car on a hot day. Drying it in the heat like this helps to dry up the wood if there is some mildew in it.

4. You can put a pound of unused coffee beans in the bottom of the case, close the lid and leave it in there until it smells better. I eventually left the coffee beans in the case and kept the case (without the machine) in my car for several weeks in the summer. It seemed like it finally did the trick.

When the case was in the house I left the lid open so that it wouldn't get smelly again. Now my case is smelling fine. It just takes some patience.

Hopes this helps.

P.S. One more thing, if you live in a humid part of the country, put a jar of that stuff that takes the humidity out of the air.

Ditto crumpled newspaper and hot sun.

Those are great suggestions, I'll give them a try. And boy, Florida is nothing if not humid, at least this time of year. fortunately, I don't smell any mildew, just old attic. I'll get right on this! Thank you SO MUCH for the ideas.

Febreeze !!! I wet paper towels and shut the case -- then after a few days opened it and put it out in the sun. and kept on alternating the treatmants. Funally -- after a few months I put one of those air fresheners in a oval case partway opened and shut the case. Those cases are wood and the mildew smell has permeated. It takes a long time to get it out of the wood.

Keep Bitsy out of the case !!!

The reason it stinks is because it was "horse glue" they used on the case. It sort of rots over time. All the above will help get rid of the smell...especially the "sit in the sun" treatment. It kind of bakes the smell out.

so pretty!!! congradulations!

Welcome Bitsy. She's a beauty. Enjoy!

She's so cute!

Wow! Bitsy is absolutely beautiful! I know you'll love her and she will eventually smell like a rose. Congratulations!

Yes My feather weight and the carrier smelled musty and it was awful. I tried everything and nothing worked until I took it in to be overhauled and they also sold fabric there. /some had just come in and they had large packes of that chemical that takes moisture out of things. It came with the new fabric that had just been shipped in. I put it in and shut the top and it took care of all the smell. Simple and cheap. Button Girl

She's a beauty!!!
Funny you mentioned a Bernina as well. I also have both and guess who's getting used more these days???
Oh my gosh, FW's are addicting!! :D
Have fun!

My little "Ellis May" smelled as well. I put a bounce sheet and half a dozen of those little silicone salt oaks that come in shoes and other items to keep them dry. I leave in the bottom of the case all the time and the smell is completely gone. I hoard those little packets now...lol

She is beautiful. My guess is that she smells because of the bottom plate that she sits on. I'm sure that it is about dripping with old smelly oil.
Make sure when you take her in you ask them about replacing that. If you carefully take the screw out of the bottom of her and remove that plate that is under the machine, you will see what I am talking about. Just be very careful doing that, because if that plate is full of oil, it can get messy when you remove it. It is made for that reason, to soak up the oil that drips off the inside of the machine. The inside of that plate comes off.
Once you change that out, I'm sure she won't have that bad smell anymore.

She is sewwwwwwwwww pretty! Put some charcoal briquets in crumpled newspaper and let her sit in the blazin sun for awhile! The charcoal absorbs odors.

She's a beauty - enjoy!

Oh, I'm going to try that one!!

Congrats! My case was not in good shape so Annie resides on a bookcase in my sewing room with a pretty sewing machine cozy over her when not in use. She still has a bit of an odor even after her week at the spa :( However, she sews like a dream. I will not put her back in her old room (case, and bought her a pretty fushia, balck and white rolling case at Michaels for when we travel.
Enjoy your new sewing machine!

I never was able to get the smell out of the case. :( I wiped it down and sprayed it with everything imaginable. And it has sat on the covered porch since April.

And it still reeks! :( So I've given up on the case.

As for the smell in the FW...for starters, change the felt in the oil drip pan. And I store the FW with a sheet of fabric softener in a rolling luggage carry-on bag.

Congrats on your new machine! :)

OH! she has a scrolly side plate on the left, like mine. that means she is older. love her. unfortunally getting the smell out of the cases is and ongoing battle. others have written good suggestions. go with them... my handle is worn, so I dont even use the case anymore. so you might not want to use it either. part of the problem with the smell is storage, but the glue they used back then........ I wont tell you what it is. enjoy your new baby.

As if you don't have enough advice already - here's one more.
Get some activated charcoal from the pet section of a store. Place it in a bowl inside the case, hopefully with your machine in there too. You may have to be patient for a few weeks while the charcoal absorbs the odors.

Enjoy Bitsy and Betsy.

Lovely!!!!

I didn't know that there was supposed to be a felt pad inside -- But then, I just oiled mine for the first time last week -- I've had it almost 10 years -- never used it until this summer. Should I put a pad inside??

She's a cutie!

I was told by a Featherweight gentleman who sells & repairs
Featherweights that the smell is not from the machine but from the case. The glue that was used in constructing the case eventually begins to stink. He said that nothing can be done about it. I met him at a show but don't know his name. Happy Sewing from Spokane.

Yes. It absorbs little sprays of oil and grease when you are sewing. You can buy them for about $6 from a repairman or online.

What a little sweetheart! Congratulations!

Trudy's case was really smelly too--from the old glue used on the case; it wasn't mildew. I put her in the sun for a couple of days and then put fabric softner sheets in the case and closed it up and left it for quite a while. No more smell!

congrats-she is a beauty

You have the same wonderful machines that I use to sew on...a Bernina 930 and a Featherweight. Life`s good. :-D

Sew beautiful!

Have a great time sewing with your "new" FW Bitsy.

Now you need a toy vintage machine and you could name it Itsy lol

Very nice machines

Congratulations, she is beautiful. I had the musty odor in my carrying case and I put a box of baking soda in it and closed the lid and left it for about a month. It sure helped an awfull lot.

You might want to try putting a box of baking soda, (they have special ones for odors in the refridegerator) or a regular one with a few hole on the top in the case. It will absorb the odors over a few days depending on the intensity. Another way would be to try Febreeze but it could mark the lining of your case. Good luck, Bitsy is a little beauty.