Have you ever cleaned out your sewing machine or touched up the oil? I know plenty of people that have been guilty of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude about their machine, but keeping your machine oiled and lint-free can extend your machine's life in huge ways. My sewing machine repairman tells me lint can be more deadly to a machine than anything else (making parts rust to an irreparable extent), especially affecting the computer-parts of any newer machine. Most have electronic parts if they were made at least in the last 10 years, even if you don't have a computerized screen.
Click here for cleaning info & a tutorial!
Cleaning out the lint directly under your throat plate is particularly important to do fairly frequently because those fibers that get stuck can greatly affect your stitches, causing that needle to move through more slowly and not catch your bobbin thread properly. I've had stitches break due to lint clogging my throat plate, so when in doubt, pull it off and investigate!
I found this great little tutorial on one of my favorite blogs, No Big Dill, with some simple steps to keeping your machine lint-free and properly oiled. She shows the steps on a Bernina machine with a front-facing bobbin casing, but the same steps can be applied to any machine (variations occur but find the same spots to clean & oil on your machine).
This tutorial tells you never to blow under your machine, which I am definitely guilty of. I can see why you wouldn't want to, however, but know that my repairman uses highly pressured air to sweep out any dust from the hard to get places. I'm not sure what I'm sold on ... because I know you can't reach a lot of spots in your machine via a small brush. Let us know what method you prefer!
Click HERE for the full how-to!
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