Oil on Quilt from Bobbin

[cnosburn]

I sure need help.  I have quilted a customer's quilt and low and behold, I got oil on the 1/4 in seam allowance from from the bobbin case.  I didn't know I had done this until I was finished with the quilt.  Of course the oil migrated.

 

Number 1:  Is there a way of getting the oil out without washing the quilt or making a mess of things?  I looked on the internet and WikiHow.com had several good ideas, but they all had to be washed afterwords.  Or is it better to just face the music and tell the customer what happened?

 

Number 2:  How much oil should we put in the bobbin case?  Each time or day I use the machine I oil the bobbin area even if I have only quilted one row.  is that too much?

 

Number 3.  Are there any tips on quilting fluffy batts?  The customer had given me a 95% poly and 5% silk.  As I usually do, I took it out of the bag and put it in the dryer with a wet hand towel.  It was low loft when I put it in the dryer, but it was high loft when I took it out.  

 

I would appreciate any help you can give me.

 

Thanks,

Carol from Rogers, Arkansas

[ffq-lar]

1.  Clear machine oil can be removed from the quilt. Lay it flat, pile on baking soda, leave it for a few hours, and vacuum it off. If it's still there, re-apply, repeat, until the oil is gone. It's like talcum and absorbs the oil completely. If it's grease and not oil, you'll probably need to use another method and probably need to wash it.

 

2.  Oil at the beginning of your day and wipe out all the excess. Don't oil the wicks until there is no residual oil when you touch them with a finger. 

 

3. Sorry about your fluffy batting. I don't use that method. I just lay the batting out across the rollers and let it relax. Sorry I can't be of help with that.

[cnosburn]

Thanks Linda.  I have applied the baking soda so will check it before going to bed tonight and see how it is doing.  It is clear oil I bought for just this purpose so it should come out.

 

And after my experience with putting this batting in the dryer, I will do as you say and put it over the rails over night the next time.

 

Thanks so much.  I appreciate all your help.   

 

Carol

[cegates]

I always sew on a piece of scrap fabric after oiling to make sure to remove any excess.

Carol

[LibbyG]

I oil at night when I'm finished quilting.  After I run the machine and then wipe the excess, I put a piece of material and batting on the machine and drop the needle.  I hope that leaving it there overnight will absorb any residual oil.  The next day I sew on some scraps before I quilt.

[cnosburn]

Thank you all for your input.  I had to apply baking soda twice.  The last application I put on before I went to bed and all the oil was gone the next morning.  I like the idea of oiling at night.  And yes I do test on the edge of the backing after I put a scrap of fabric on the backing after I have oiled.  I must have just gotten too much oil on the machine and I wasn't wiping out the access. So that was double trouble.  I surely am learning a lot of new things since I went back to quilting.  I don't remember having all this trouble when I was quilting before I moved to Arkansas.  But then that was about 3 years ago.

 

Carol

[Sandra Darlington]

If I have a very wrinkled piece of 100% cotton batting, like W&N, I sometimes use my iron to help get it to lay flat.  But, I would not try that with a poly batt or anything with a loft, as it will flatten it.  I often do this with my own batting that has been folded/scrunched in my batting leftover bag.  I use these pieces and sometimes piece them together, when I make charity quilts for my guild to distribute.

 

Other times I have draped the batting over my frame and spritzed it with some water and used my hands to smooth it out.  The next morning it is dry and I can proceed to loading the quilt.

 

I have a beautiful Judy N. bed runner to custom quilt here and this customer washed and machine dried her batting.  It feels "yucky" and is very fluffy and wispy and a bit uneven in it's thickness.  I would love to toss it out and use some Quilter's Dream batting, but of course, I can't do that.  She does not want the bed runner to shrink and have the soft, comfy, cellulite look and the feel that cotton batting usually has after it's been washed and dried.  But, she only uses cotton batting because it is "natural."  This may have been a good candidate for a poly batting, or at least a batting that only shrinks about 1% instead of 3% or more percent. 

[RitaR]

Hi Sandra,  I'm not so sure I'd take the batting.

I'd explain to, or show the customer how it's bumpledy and won't lay flat.

She needs to learn how to block it to size, with  pins, etc.. that will keep it flat.

Then if she's real picky, she can use a warm iron to touch it up.

No matter what, if she didn't prewash the fabric,, I think, she won't be happy as it

will shrink at a diff rate than it will now.