As I hang my head in shame...
 

Yesterday I was trying to teach myself to machine sew appliqué with black thread for a more vintage look to a UFO quilt. While sewing merrily along I heard a strange "kachunk" sound and something light colored appeared on top of my stitching. I had a "what the ?" moment, carefully removed the fabric from under the needle, and held it up to see what I was seeing. It was a huge ball of lint that the needle had pull up from below! I guessed I needed to clean it out, so I searched for 20 minutes for the handy dandy odd little screw driver that came with the machine, gave up and used a screw driver bit from DH to disassemble the throat plate. I usually do this once every month or so. I now wonder how long it had really been since I had last even looked. (I have marked it on my calendar so this will not happen again.)
I had to use tweezers, forceps, small paint brushes, and Q-tips and worked for over two hours. It looked like a blanket factory!
The photo below is the pile of lint that was cleaned out of the needle compartment in the course of two hours of cleaning! (The scrap of fabric is 6"x6" for reference) Let his be a reminder to all of you to use this weekend to really deep clean your bobbin race area, to avoid the big hole it left in my fabric. The "quilt police" might not know if you did, but your machine might give you a warning as mine did, or it could seize up and cost money to fix.
I nearly ruined my ability to say my machines "never" go in for servicing.....😜

Wow, that's a good sized lump of lint!! Every time I change my bobbin I remove the shuttle hook and brush out the entire area. It's so clean you could eat in there!!

In my never ending attempts to make sure I clean in there regularly I am now trying to never fill more than two - three bobbins at one time. When my bobbins run out I know it's time to clean.

I'm so glad nothing major happened to your machine. I had a time last year when mine was doing odd things and making me say naughty words. I did not realize that it needed a good cleaning.

Glad you didn't have more damage. Lint shortens machine life.

Those dust bunnies got in the corner where I have no access to and stopped my Bernina dead in her tracks. Thank goodness it just need servicing. Never had that happen to my 1530 again.

Well your machine coughed up a good size lint phlegm! :D

That was worth the effort!

Dh, myself get haircuts 2nd week of the month. Both machines get a lint/machine cleaning in the same week. I do the bobbin area after I use the machine because I'm checking to see how much thread is in the bobbin.

Thanks for the reminder!!!

Been there, done that. Not proud!

I clean the bobbin area every time I change bobbins.

My mom once had problems with her old 301A and called me at work. I had her clean the whole bobbin area because she said she had never cleaned it. :eek: She told me later that it looked like a little felt pad under the throat plate. I suggested she do it a bit more often. :D

I have never seen so much lint. Thanks for the reminder:thumbup:

I can relate! My old Kenmore never seemed to need much attention, and I was disappointed in the stitch on my Janome...until I cleaned the lint out and changed the needle! Huge difference!

Holy moly, that was a big one. But it does give you something to talk about at the next quilt meeting.

I clean mine thoroughly at each bobbin change too and here's a tip that might be worthwhile ... I bought a very soft blusher brush from the pharmacy to clean out the lint and it works like a dream. No blowing into the area, though, only brush OUTWARDS.

you can get small vacums that are used on computers & electronics, can these be used for the machine bobbin area?

If your machine had this much lint, it should be serviced you probably have this much lint in areas you can't reach that is why machines go in for servicing. We can only reach the bobbin area and not the rest of the machine and that is a lot of lint just to be in your bobbin area. Cleaning out the bobbin area does not clean out the rest of the machine

Yikes! I use a lot of fleece and flannel, so I clean mine out a lot! Glad your machine is ok.

eeweeeee! I wonder what's in mine now.

Thank you! As a new quilter I needed to see and learn this!

Absolutely! Some companies say to NOT use the canned air as it also blows moisture inside your machine. Some quilters pooh poof that idea. Gotta make your own mind up about that issue.

Itty Bitty vacuum-yes, Canned air blowing -NO!

I have also found that cleaning out (at least partially) each time you change the thread in the bobbin goes a long way toward keeping your tension under control....I at least clean the bobbin area and under the sole plate...Bernina makes it easy since nothing to unscrew...

Wow! That is a lot of lint. I always clean mine after every bobbin that I use. I got into the habit of that years ago. Sure glad your machine is ok

I don't know about you, but I think that I know why this can happen to me. I too have always cleaned and oiled, if called for, my own machine and never have they seen a repair place. However, these days, I don't use just one machine, I switch off to another machine or two for different functions. By doing this, you sort of destroy your inner clock-works that tells you it is time to clean up the bobbin area and do some maintenance. That's my story and I am stickin' to it. No, I honestly think that that is why I fail to do regular service as I forget how much time has been put in on each machine.

Good lesson to all of us.....

Whoa! I think I'll go check my machine.... LOL!

WOW! I've been having tension issues and it didn't occur to me to clean my machine! Thank you SO MUCH for the reminder! God Bless YOU!

I have a post-it stuck under the cover with the date on it, so I know when to clean next time. Having memory problems causes me more aggravation.....but in the grand scheme, I can live with it.

I, too, cleaned and oiled my machine this weekend and made a world of difference I do de-liint the bobbin area every time I change bobbins, but my machine was making an unfamiliar noise. I thought it was a dull needle, so changed the needle. However, the noise was still there, The machine was sewing fine so I just ignored it for a while. When I finished the binding (Yahoo!), I removed the throat plate, cleaned the whole bobbin are completely, and oiled it. Wow, now it's soooo quiet!

As for using the canned air, I had an instructor use it one time and I commented on the inadvisability of it. She said it's fine - but blow from the back of the machine so anything that blows out goes to the front and isn't going to get pushed back into the mechanism. When I do use the air, I do it from the back. It's surprising how much junk gets blown out of that area! I also have a small vacuum clean that I use from time to time.

My machine is just purrring along now!

I am surprised you were able to let it get that large. My machine will absolutely scream at me if I forget to clean it every week.

It reminds me of when my DH vacuums. He always shows me the balls of fur in the canister and says he has enough to make a new cat. Looks like you have a good start on a new quilt!