My thread comes out greasey

[sylvie schow]

When I am quilting my thread is coming out greasey and it is making the quilt top dirty. Why is it doing this? I can't seem to clean what is dirty.

[Hollyrw]

Have you checked the bobbin area?

[Mary Beth]

Which machine do you use?

How long have you had it?

How often do you oil your machine?

When I first started out, everyone said you must oil your machine every day, placing one drop of oil on the wick. On day the back of my hand touched the light bar and it was smeared with machine oil. I looked at the light bar and it was just dripping with oil. I took the screws off the side of the head and there was about a gallon of oil in the machine:D I took a clothe and wiped it all out and cleaned the machine up, inside and out.

Now I only oil when the wicks feel like they need it. If there is a little oil on the wick...I don't oil. If there is almost no oil on the wick, I do oil.

Maybe You have just a bit too much oil in the machine.

[DawnCavanaugh]

Sylvie,

Dirty/oily thread typically occurs in the bobbin area. Mary Beth is right in cautiously oiling the wicks on top; you can actually over-do it.

But if the bobbin area is oiled heavily and you don't wipe out the excess thoroughly, the thread (both top and bottom) will find every little smidge and absorb it. Remember, the top thread wraps around the hook as the stitch is formed, so it can pick up oil there, too.

Another area to check is under the needle plate. If a person has a heavy hand with the WD 40 or oil, the machine will throw off the excess as you run the machine to distribute them. The hook throws it on the sides of the bobbin area where you can easily see it, but people forget that it also gets thrown on the underside of the needle plate, where it can grab all kinds of lint and hold it until you least expect it to spit it out.

Hope this helps!