Clean Your Machine!

 This photo is of an actual sewing machine that Dr. Bob at Superior Threads took apart when his friend asked if he could figure out why her machine wasn't working properly.  The machine looked fine from the outside, but this is what he found on the on the inside.  The parts were covered with lint.  Lint is an accumulation of fluffy fibers. A little bit of lint is to be expected, but this sort of accumulation needs to be prevented.  

Superior Threads says:

The lint which we find in our sewing machines is mostly from threads, fabric, and batting. Cotton produces more lint than spun polyester. Lint is a result of friction (or rubbing) against the thread. Think of how many contact points the top thread touches during the threading process. There are thread guides, tension discs, levers, and the needle. Each contact point causes friction which results in lint coming off the thread. A little lint is to be expected. However, excess lint can be bad for your machine because it can cause your stitches to be misaligned, feed dog operation malfunctions, fabric puckering, and thread breakage. Regular cleaning and maintenance is recommended for all sewing, serger, and longarm machines. Many machines come with a lint brush to remove lint from the bobbin case area, thread guides, and the needle area. Please refer to your machine manual for proper care procedures.

What is the key to reduce or eliminate lint? Don't use low quality or cheap fuzzy threads.  By stitching with high quality cotton threads, you will notice that there will be less lint buildup inside and outside your machine.

I have two machines, one, my Pfaff is set up mostly for piecing and the other, my Bernina, is set up mostly for quilting.  However I can and do use both for everything when I want to.  I also have a small Bernina (I call it my baby Bernina) that I use to take to classes because it's easier to carry.  I know - I'm pretty machine-spoiled.

With my five quilts pinned and ready to quilt, I decided to take my Pfaff to Hi Fashion to get cleaned and serviced since I would be quilting on the Bernina.  Brian serviced it and called and said it was full of lint, which sucks up the oil that the machine needs to run properly.  The picture above is NOT my machine - thank goodness!  But it could have been, if I let it go too long.  Brian suggested using these micro vacuum attachments, which I already had at home, to clean the lint out of the bobbin area every three bobbin changes - to prevent the spread of lint that happened to the machine above!  Trista said it's also great for cleaning the lint area of your dryer and cleaning in and around computer keyboards and such.  Since my machines are all clean and oiled and shiny now, I think I will use these vacuum attachments to clean my dryer - which could really use some help....