DonnaC

I gave the machine a Simple Green bath tonight after using a little bit of auto scratch remover on her imperfections (I had read that tip on another website). She is now amazingly shiny! Yes, there are scratches on her surface but they are not as noticeable now. She also smells quite a bit better after the cleaning and sitting in a window all day yesterday. There is a lingering odor (much, much less than before) so she will need to "sunbathe" again on the windowsill if we get some strong sunlight, although there's none of that in our weather forecast! I did buy the rubber cement and glued in the new oil pad, after cleaning out the drip pan with the Simple Green. I also cut some new felt pads for her (for the spool pin and the bottom where the nut screws onto the drip pan).

As for the case, I still have it sitting open on my basement stairs, and I have to say, the smell has dissipated quite a bit. Not that it's gone completely as of yet, but again, it's much better. I'm going to give it a good cleaning as you all have suggested and see what happens. Right now I've got the bar of Irish Spring in the case but have left it open.

I might just be winning this battle with that smelly machine and case!!

linda faye

You have received some excellent advice! Members on this Board are wonderful to share their experiences and their advice.

My go-to person about my FW is novamontgomery.com She has monthly TIPs and an index to help you find answers to your questions. I would encourage you to go to her website and browse around.

DonnaC

Linda, I've become obsessed with Nova's website! I'm reading through all of her archived monthly tips and I'm learning so much. If I decide to order a new-style foot controller I will get it from Nova.

oldsewnsew

I have had dishsoap and water destroy some decals on a Davis. I think I've tried Simple Green, can't remember for sure, but I think it was a little too strong also. Someone suggested, and I believe Miriam spoke highly of Turtle Wax Bug and Tar Remover. I was skeptical, but I've tried it and it really does WORK! Just don't rub too much or too hard, because the decals may be bonded better to the old shellac grunge than the are to the machine, and a few flakes may come off. Always test in an inconspicuous area 1st.

DonnaC

I'm actually kind of excited about having done this whole process, because I have a Singer 66 I picked up a few years ago that could use some spiffing up. Might as well use all this stuff I've bought for something else too!

oldtnquiltinglady

Congratulations on your purchase of a FW, even though smelly. It sounds like you are really making use of all our wonderful experts on sewing machines (experts though hard work and experience, I might add); some really good suggestions here. I will be using some of them myself to clear out some smell on a 99K that I recently acquired.

Letty

Are you sure this is a friend?? I would ask her sort out your problems with the machine.

costumegirl

I took a short seminar on the history of the 221s, a month ago, and the presenter mentioned using a trouble light or a light bulb with socket screwed on a block of wood - said that the tip came from David McCallum's maintenance book and said that he has used this method successfully.

It was an interesting seminar - he brought about 15 machines from his large collection - showed the slight design differences and changes between the machines and the different models of cases - also brought three of the different card table designs. He gave a lot of info that he gleaned from collecting FWs for almost 40 yrs. - was an enjoyable afternoon and made me want to go out on the hunt to find a few 'special' FWs

Quilt Fan

A couple of years ago I found a featherweight at an estate sale. Clean as could be, few scratches and included was the receipt for the last cleaning.
It and the case smelled terrible. At that time I was told the odor comes from the animal glue used to cover the case and having the case closed was no help.
We took the machine out of the case and let it sit in an airy place. Tried a lot of different things but time seemed to be what it took. Sponged the case down. Leaving it open carried it in my hot car or left in my hot garage for the summer. Tried the soaps suggested but that smell was almost worse. Later used foot Odor-eaters (charcoal) in the case and still do. It has been closed about 6 months so I just checked to see how it was doing. Good. Be patient and leave the lid open for good long while. At that time it was also suggested to use black shoe polish on the case cover. I did not have to do that but it might be worth a try on a really damaged case. Good luck and enjoy your featherweight.

Jeanette Frantz

I have a remedy! It may not be the best and for sure you don't want to get this on your machine's finish or decals! There is nothing quite as good for getting rid of offensive odors as cotton balls soaked in some 100% pure vanilla flavoring (and/or almond extract). Both the vanilla and the almond extract smell great! Just put the soaked cotton balls in a small open container and sit it in the case! Again, be very careful -- DO NOT get the vanilla or almond extract on the finish of the machine -- these extracts contain ALCOHOL which will damage or destroy the finish!

Jeanette