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I have made a habit of cleaning my machine every time I replace the bobbin! It is a habit that get great results. When I take it to the shop every May, they question how much I use it, because it is fairly clean inside! Sure is nice.

It's amazing how much lint and fluff get into our machines!
I try to remember to clean it but we all seem to get busy with the projects

LOL, I'm glad to see that others have embarrassing moments too. Glad your quilting buddy is ok.

If this had been a Bernina, you would have found out after you sewed 6 bobbins. They are very sensitive to dust.

ROFL.....that was so funny

Quote:

Originally Posted by quilting.addict

I never thought about cleaning my Viking. Of course, I had never quilted before. So seven years go by and my sweet machine starts acting up. I take the bobbin area apart...lo and behold, I had enough to lint to make batting for a baby quilt!!! LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by jljack

My modern Brother machine had been very trouble free for the 18 months I have had it. It was great and had 80 decorative stitches, was a strong stitcher, etc. I had no complaints about it at all.

About 3 weeks ago it started acting really strange, tangling bobbin thread, breaking top thread at the feeddogs, not moving the fabric through right. I set it on the floor and took out my vintage Singer 301 and Featherweight and finished a couple of projects.

Last night DH helped me get the needle plate off to take a look. Well, goodness!! No wonder it was acting strange!! I realized not once had I taken that plate off, and every single nook, cranny, spring, space, crack, feeddog track and all was packed solid with lint.

DUH!!! I just hadn't thought about it, since it's a drop in bobbin in front of the foot.

SO....CLEAN YOUR MACHINE!! I should post that over my thread rack on the wall. Sorry, little Brother machine....I promise not to neglect you again!!

I am cleaning up my FW for a class and the last step is taking off the plate and checking in and around the feed dogs!!! I just have put it off till the end. Thanks for reminding us to check this often overlooked area!

I constantly tell people this. It causes a lot of issues.

mine was nasty after i finished piecing a quilt, with cotton and flannel pieces.
i cleaned and oiled her..before i started the actual quilting!

Make sure you get the bunnies in between the feed dogs!

Thanks for the reminder. Though I am usually "religious" about cleaning and oiling, I appreciate the reminder that most machine problems can be avoided by making sure you keep the lint out!

I try, but don't always remember to brush my bobbin area out after each project. If I'm working with a linty fabric I try to remember to do it during construction of that project. Some people I know brush out after each bobbin change.