Blackberry

We tried putting a bar of Irish Spring soap in the case and leaving it closed for a few days. It seems to help a little bit but the smell is still there only not as strong.

DonnaC

Nice machine. As far as the case - good luck! I've had my FW and its stinky case for almost two years now. I have tried every remedy available online to get the stink out... have asked for advice on this board... and nothing has worked. I now have the case double-bagged (inside two heavy-duty trash bags) in my basement, and as soon as I walk down there, the stench assaults me. It's that disgusting! The machine itself also smelled, but it was primarily just from being in that case. I cleaned up the machine and it's fine now.

The only thing left for me to try is to strip down the case to the wooden base and refinish it, but I just haven't had the time to do that. So I'm saving up for a new reproduction case. I know, the purists will bash me for saying that!! But a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do!

Wanabee Quiltin

Put some BBQ charcoal in it without the machine and leave it closed for about two weeks, the odor will disappear.

sewbizgirl

Those old boxes always stink, from the glue they used. Sewnoma suggested leaving some odoreater shoe inserts in the box and I can tell you that does work. I just keep a pair in my cases with the machines. There's charcoal in them and it absorbs and neutralizes the odors.

Mickey2

It's a great find. If I ever get the chance on a Featherweight I hope it's and early one. I like the art deco decore on the chrome plate before they turned to the striped or painted side plate; a bit silly really but that's how it is. My hope is a 201 with potted motor and similar decor on the plates

A trick with the smelly box is to leave the lid open in a dry heated room, or even outside on a nice day. Charcoal bags or silica bags helps. For some reason they seem to air out after a while with a bit of effort, but I read lots of complaints on Featherweights being stored a way with the lid closed. I had a very smelly buttonholer box, it took about a year before it aired out; I had it on a book shelf, box open with the lid next to the bottom half.

butterfly48

Fresh coffee grounds in a pan inside closed up will help absorbe the odor.

Monroe

There are many remedies online for the stink of machine and its case. Some of the smell is from the old animal hide/hoof glues getting moldy, and in extreme cases where nothing else has worked using a clear craft spray to seal the case inside may be the only remedy short of peeling off the covering and bleaching the wood. A stinky machine can be easily cleaned and the felt in the drip pan replaced. Just don't put it back into the stinky case til you are sure it is fresh as a daisy.

MFord

I've had good luck stuffing crinkled up newspaper into the stinky cases and letting them sit for a while. If the outside also smells, you could stuff it, then set it in a bag full of newspaper for a week or two. Change out the paper occasionally. I do this when my big outside garbage can gets smelly, and it helps there, too.

For what it's worth, I keep my FW in a small roller bag. Never use the case at all!

Clmay

I just love my feather weight! Quilting Mary you will love it too!

JoantheQuilter

Yes, there are many remedies. What worked for me was to spray the inside with Lysol till wet then I put the box, tilted, in the sun so the sun shone into the box, and left it there for the day turning as needed to keep the sun shining inside the box. Next day, I repeated the spray and sun. That helped a lot!! Then I bought some charcoal shoe liners (or pads) and put them in the bottom along with bar of Zest soap. I think the Lysol (spray until wet) and the sun did the best job but the charcoal and soap helps keep the odor from reappearing. I did not try coffee grounds. Do the Lysol/sun combination for several days and see if that doesn't help. We love our Featherweights and certainly don't want to store them in stinky cases. Good luck. Oh, one more thing. I keep the charcoal foot pads and the soap in the case all the time.