I confess, I wasn’t very good about cleaning my sewing machines over the years. I didn’t realize how important it was. But now I do – and better late than never.

I clean out my domestic sewing machine after every couple of projects. It had been a few quilt tops since I last cleaned it so this morning, I decided it was time. And oh boy, was it time.

This is the lint collection from 6 lap-sized quilt tops. Not even quilted, just sewing the tops together:

I use a small make-up or paint brush, the kind you can get at the dollar store, to reach in for the lint and fluff. Chenille sticks, what we used to call pipe cleaners way back, also do a good job.

Gently go into the bobbin area and pull out pieces of lint bit by bit until you’ve gotten as much out as you can. Don’t blow on it and don’t use compressed air in a can unless you know for sure that you can for your model. If it’s not ok, there is a danger of sending lint into the mechanisms and that you won’t (probably) be able to fix on your own. This is the accumulated lint from 6 small quilt tops:

And here it is all clean.

If you’ve not cleaned your machine lately, maybe you can consider this your nudge to do so.