My DM taught me to snip the thread and pull from the bottom. I doubt it harms the machine to pull from the top. It has just been a lifelong habit to do it Mom's way that I don't even think about it.

When you pull thread back from the spool it may cause fuzz or lint to become lodged in the tension area. It is better to cut the thread from the spool,and pull through the needle area.

Pulling it backwards to take out the thread makes more lint that binds up in the tension disks. Snip it off and pull it forward. Always a good idea to take care of your machine.

When I purchased my Bernina 180E, I was told to cut the thread at the top, and pull the thread down and out of the machine. Especially when embroidering because you change threads so many times. He said you are pulling the lint out of the machine when you pull the thread down. If you pull the thread up and out you are pulling the thread lint into the machine.

Here is what was told to me from two different dealers: the tension discs were made to work in the one direction, which is coming down to the needle. When we (I used to do this) pull the thread out from the top rather than from the needle, we are going in the opposite direction the discs were made to work. Therefore, in the long run it will create tension problems in the future. They also stated it is the number one reason a machine needs repaired, because of the tension. So, I clip my thread up by the take up lever and pull the cut strand thru the needle, I save those pieces in a jar and use for hand sewing bindings etc. Hope this helped explain it......

I have a Bernina, when I took my first class, to learn about the machine, and all it could do, we were told never to pull the thread out backwards, always pull it through the needle. I had always done otherwise with my older machines.

True... Clip your thread at the spool and pull through at the needle and out. Consider it a ONE WAY STREET. It helps to floss out the tension discs and thread paths in the machine, rather than shove the lint and fuzz back into the machine. It makes sense when we look at things that way. :)

I was told when I bought my machine not to pull the thread backwards because it would cause a lint build up inside the machine.

I didn't like wasting so much thread when I clipped the thread at the spool, so now I thread a needle with the piece of cut thread and use it for hand sewing or basting. Now I don't mind cutting at the spool.

My dealer was the one who told me this about 15 years ago. Supposedly leaves lint where you don't want lint. In design college I learned that thread is wound on spools to be used in a particular direction, and I have had trouble trying to sew from a bobbin used in place of the top spool. I think this may be related, but I'm not sure. I know that some of the older machines always had the tension disks engaged even when the foot was up. This could be what caused the problem pulling thread up instead of down. I now release the disks and pull the thread straight out from both ends, not down or up.