Nope I do not turn my machine off, like you Tartan and most others I need the light on! Glad to hear that I'm not the only one.

My newer BERNINA machine has a stitch counter. At 3,600 stitches the display shows an icon to service the machine. I take it out and lay it over on its side to service it. I like to put the oil on in a horizontal position. I do not unplug because of the light. Also, my machine will not run if the presser foot is not down. I do think frequent cleaning saves a lot a problems.

If I'm just cleaning out the bobbin area, I don't turn the machine off. But if I were going to do something more in depth (like pulling off the top to oil deeper in the machine), I turn it off.

But it is very interesting to read what different people do!

I don’t unplug mine. I am careful not to touch my foot pedal.

I don't turn it off but make sure the foot pedal is disconnected. Learn the hard way to do that. LOL

I leave my machine on to do routine cleaning but always have it plugged into a battery generator/surge protector (which I bought for my Tiara but use for all machines now) in case the power flickers, albeit rare. (We live in the country and have an electric co-op). I believe it will stay on for 6 minutes, but our generator will kick on before then. I unplug when I am done with that machine or at the end of the day.

I am like quilterpurpledog, I have a Bernina and it tells me when it needs to be cleaned and oiled. The machine will not run if the pressure foot is up but I tend to do both on/off depending on what I have been doing. I also have an Ott light near the machine so have plenty of light from that.

I turn off my machine for everything. I've painfully smashed my finger accidently under the presser foot mechanism twice. I'm a klutz and can't be trusted around machinery!

No I do not turn my machine off. I need the light to see what I'm cleaning.

I turn mine off and unplug.. I use a desk light and mini flashlight to see when cleaning. After years of unplugging a toaster before sticking a fork inside to get the chunk of bread out, I guess it's ingrained...lol...