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Sunday, May 05, 2013

When's the last time you cleaned your machine?

When I'm doing a lot of sewing, I clean my machine several times a week, sometimes more than once a day if she's being persnickety. It's when I'm not doing a lot of sewing that the lint creeps up on me. I'll tell myself that I haven't done much sewing at all...and I'll keep telling myself that until the machine is absolutely full of lint.


Some of the quilters I know claim to clean their machines rarely, if ever. I want to know how they get away with that. There's a point, not far from the point my machine was at when I took this picture, where she just throws a fit and won't sew properly until I fix the situation.

That explains the twice a day cleanings -- and that brand of thread I won't use again.

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 2 3/4 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 38 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 87 1/4 yards
Net Added for 2012: 49 1/4 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 750 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 7100 yards
Net Added for 2013: 6350 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

12 comments:

  1. I clean my machine quite regularly and do send it out once a year for the "pro" to do it well. I think a sewing machine is like a car, it runs smoother when tuned at least yearly.

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  2. I have drop in bobbin machines like yours and some not. I think drop in bobbins make is easier to see the lint and crap and easier to clean.

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  3. I had been notorious for not remembering to clean my machine regularly. But I read a tip once and it said "clean it every two bobbins worth". So now I start a project with two full bobbins and MAKE myself clean it when I have to refill those.

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  4. I've always been a bobbin area cleaner... but last December my Pfaff completely stopped sewing one day and I pulled off the top left panel where the light bulb was and it was STUFFED with lint! I pulled out what I could and got it working again. Now it's back from a much deserved professional cleaning and tune-up.

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  5. I clean my machine every 4 or 5 bobbins (sometimes I loose count). Great stash numbers for this year!

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  6. I clean my little featherweight several times when I use it (just for putting bindings on). I use Mettler which is pretty linty. What do you use?

    Crispy

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  7. Anonymous9:08 AM

    Were you aware your stash report says net added 2012.

    Your yarn report is correct

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  8. My sewing machine is pretty forgiving (she's a 1949 Singer 201-2) but I try to check the lint once in a while--oil her every 20 hours of sewing or so. The long arm doesn't build up lint near as fast--the bobbin area is open underneath and I just blow it out with canned air. I usually oil it at the end of every project and if it was a big project--I change the needle.

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  9. I try to clean it at least once a month at the beginning of the month and change the needle then. Some threads and fabric mean I have to change/clean more often - like flannel. You are good to yours.

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  10. I clean my machine from the lint usually after every project. Mine is very unhappy and tells me so if too much lint builds up around the bobbin. It seems the newer machines must work faster because they sure are more "lintier" than I remember my older machines. I also am able to have it serviced every 3 months which keeps it very happy! Sandi

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  11. I clean out the bobbin area each time I start a new bobbin. I usually do a more thorough cleanning with a Q-tip and a drop of oil once a week, if I've been sewing throughout the week. My longarm I clean after EVERY bobbin and between quilts. The lint buildup is faster on the longarm than my domestic. I guess that is because I quilt more than piece these days. And the thread is usually cotton content.

    Your stash numbers look good.

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  12. Way too long. I keep saying I'm going to do.

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