Great pricce....join the 221 club!! Leave the case out in the sun opened, hopefully the smell will fade.

A working Featherweight for $120 is a great buy! When I got mine it also smelled so while cleaning it all up I also took off the bottom plate and replaced the inside felt pad with a new one I got on eBay. Though no more smelly machine the case it came in is another story as the moldy-musty smell of the old glue won't come out of it. I don't use the case at all but don't have the heart to toss it either. Good luck with your machine, you're going to love it!

Yay!! Good for you - you got a FW and what a deal!! Enjoy your new toy!

If the smell bothers you, just hold your nose while sewing.

That is a Featherweight and great price for it. If the case is in reasonable shape the smell can be overcome and if there are rips in the fabric cover, Elmer's school glue will take care of that. Dave McCallum's book "The Featherweight and I" tells you how to get rid of the smell and fix tears, fixing corners where the fabric might be gone, and then polishing with black paste shoe polish to give it an almost new look. If you get the smell out, make small muslin packets of shaved Dial soap to put in the box (about 3 is all you need). Hope your box is salvageable!
Enjoy this great machine.

Read Dave McCallum's book "The Featherweight and I". His method of getting rid of the box smell does work. You might even find how to do it on his web site, www.featherweight221.com. I went to his class and learned how to get rid of the smell. It's been over 5 years now and no smell still.

I have 4 featherweights and one of them had been stored in a damp area because the bottom of the case was completely rotted and had fallen off. My husband rebuilt the bottom and I recovered it inside and out. This case was so bad most would have thrown it out. It turned out beautiful. As for the smell, it is really difficult to remove. I crumble up some newspapers and close the case up for a while. Also, I never completely close the cases because the odor becomes strong again. Enjoy your new featherweight!

To get the smell out of the box, I bought a pair of Odor-Eaters charcoal shoe inserts and put one in the box with the machine. After a couple of weeks, no odor. I actually like keeping it in there, as it provides some cushioning between the foot pedal and the bed of the machine.

I had tried a *lot* of things before the Odor-Eaters -- airing out, soap, fabric softener sheets (added a sickening sweet smell to the moldy odor!) -- and nothing worked.[/quote]

I am with you Prism99, I put the Odor-Eaters in my FW and it worked wonders. I now keep one in all the time. I have spares to use with some other machines I have that smell too. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Congrats on joining the FW club. Have fun.

Good for you! This board got me interested in FWs and now I have 5! Love each one of them.....so do my cats! Not only FWs, I now love vintage machines and collect them--20 and counting so watch out for the QB virus!

If you put the case out in the sun or trunk of your car and let it get really hot it will help kill the mildew/mold that is causing the smell. You can also wipe down the inside with a mild bleach solution. But the mold is in the glue under the lining so not always helpful.

I have found that this works better then just trying to cover it up with Febreeze or other deoderants.

Sounds like you got a good deal. Be careful it is very addicting.

Also, you can check the felt or cardboard oil absorber under the bottom and replace that if the machine itself smells.