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!!

thanks for reminding us so this will help others in the future

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh My...

Every time my brother goes to acting up I give it a good cleaning and oiling and then it's fine. Glad you found out what it was.

I have a good friend who is a Brother dealer. He can tell you how many people bring in their machines that they think are broken and it is just they have forgotten to clean them out. He has pictures posted of some of the stuff he has taken out of a machine. One time he took out at least two cups of lint...I saw that one.

Good advice ladies.

thanks for the reminder!

LOL - I'm going to make you a sign. :) Glad you got it fixed at no cost.

Yep, my Viking hates lint.

We want happy machines!

It still amazes me the number of people who don't know to clean their machines.

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

Happened to me, too!

I have finally gotten in the habit of removing my needle plate every time, I put in a new bobbin of thread. I am amazed at how much lint gets under it. It really is good to clean out the lint.

I bought a new vacuum, used it a few times, and it quit. I took it to the dealer's to see what the problem was. The first thing he did was check the bag. It was full and packed down the tube all the way to the rollers!! I was so not used to a vacuum working that well that I didn't even think about it being full so soon. I was really embarrassed :oops: , but now I check it every time I use it and no more problems :D

I've heard stories of people going in to the dealer and asking to buy another one of those "felted things" that they removed from their machine. Turns out it was just lint, packed in real tight.

A Bernina dealer to me that all machins should be "de-linted" every other bobbin refill. That sure will be hard to remember as I get so focused on the project I don't want to take the time.
Maybe that is why mines been at the hospital for 3 weeks.
Will try to remember also.

When I got my new Viking, the dealer told me to clean out the lint after each day of sewing. I'm not that concientious, but I clean it at least once a week.

note to Brother users: use a good quality artist's flat brush to clean the bobbin area and not the flimsy brush that comes with your machine. my Brother kept throwing an E6 error message and no matter how many times I cleaned the bobbin area and rethreaded the machine I still got the message. let it set a few months and did some research and found the suggestion about the artist's brush. it found a teeny, tiny piece of a broken needle that the machine brush never found in all the cleanings I did. My little Brother runs like it's brand new again. I am one happy quilter again.

I had a customer bring in a new to her sewing machine. Not too much lint, but lots of seeds. We dumped it outside and later I had lots of stuff growing in the garden. Seems some mouse was storing the bird seed in amongst the lint.

Great reminder!!

I took a class at the library and the instructor said that most problems with machines were the need of cleaning or re-threading. That seem overly simplistic but honestly it can very well be that. I was working on a project and the stitches were not coming out like they should. I had just used the machine the day before. It was fine and then the stitches were a mess. It didn't look like there was anything wrong with the threading but I took it all out. Even reloaded the bobbin and what do ya know! It worked :-) Sometimes, it is the simple things. I probably should clean mine now. Thanks for the reminder, Sarah

Watch those feed dogs too, they fill up.

I clean my machine like every two weeks, it seems to need it about then. It is amazing how much lint comes off the material. -- J

Learned that at a class when bought my Bernina 11 plus years ago and love to keep it clean, never a single problem with it yet.

I have developed the habit of cleaning lint from the bobbin case when I change the needles. A can of Air Dust really does the trick.

when a person brings me their machine that is having issues, this is the first thing I look for! Packed with lint is the #1 problem! the #2 problem is usually the needles is not in properly and #3 the bobbin winder is engaged!

I clean mine every bobbin change, with air.

I was told canned air drives lint deeper into the machine. I have a nice pointy-tipped round watercolor brush that does a nice job. but I haven't cleaned in a while. Guess I'll go do that.

Glad you got it working again and told us that drop in bobbin areas need to be clean out also. I clean my Pfaff and Brother out whenever I change bobbins but never thought about doing the same with the little Gem.

Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. I am starting a new Patchwork Class tomorrow and like last year's one the first thing I teach them is how to take off the needle plate and defluff and oil their machine as they have never been taught so they don't know.

Thanks. I never even thought about that. I guess I better clean my machine before my next project.

I would say that's a lot of sewing in 18 mos to get it that much lint build up!! :shock:

Me, too!

Thanks for the tip. My friend brought me a machine last night, that she wants me to try and fix. First thing I will try is to remove the needle plate and clean.

Thanks I needed to be reminded to clean mine.

:oops: :oops: Mine hates it too, I always wonder what's in the little nooks that I can't get to - there is no way to get all the way inside that I know of.... :oops:

Remember the four letter word: LINT the most hated word to a sewing machine!!!!! Clean it out after every project!!!!!

This happens to me when my needle gets dull or the tension setting gets moved.

I got into the habit of cleaning my machine at the start
of every sewing session, and with 2-3 bobbin changes if I
am working on a big project without many breaks.

Although my Brother machines say they do not need to be
oiled I do a drop anyways just because I would rather be
sure that it is lubricated well as for it to get "dried"
out from the lint absorbing the oil.

Of course that is just MY personal preference.