lizziesgirl Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Just wondering how maticulous are you after you are done with a quilt and before you load another one? What are the steps you do? I 'm asking this because I wonder if I am being to picky at cleaning, oiling and taking more time with that than quilting. Thanks for all the answers. (Now you have to answer I said thanks ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorris Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Hi Sheryl I'd say my cleaning process takes no more than 5 minutes: Wipe the rails and carriage once over with batting - nothing on it! Run a toothbrush in the grooves of each wheel, Blow the hook assembly area out with canned air Place a drop of oil in the hook assembly and press the needle positioner button twice Wipe away any excess oil in the hook assembly Sue in Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 I clean and oil the bobbin area, oil the wicks(if they need it), and change the needle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 And sometimes the needle doesn't get changed for several quilts at my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsurich Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Don't forget swiffering the entire floor for "batting bunnies" and thread. I love the toothbrush for the wheels idea! I will add that to my routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MODEN Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Ditto for me. I do all the steps above after each quilt, takes no more than 5 min. At each bobbin change, I blow out bobbin area regardless of the batting or thread I use. I also always put a drop of Sewers Aid on my new bobbin, reading all of your tension troubles leads me to the conclusion that humidity is a big factor. So if the humidity in my living room (where my Freedom works for the moment) drops around the 30% mark, I add the sewer's aid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethDurand Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 A toothbrush! Great idea. I've been using q-tips, and they take forever. Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizziesgirl Posted May 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Wow great tips. I see that I am being to maticulous, guess I chill out a little. Sue in Austriala the toothbrush trick is awesome. Anymore good tricks out there. We all need our jobs to be easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Wow, a toothbrush...I do the q-tip, oh, I mean I use to do the q-tip - now I do the toothbrush I think I am too maticulous too. I wipe down table and rails (and legs cause they are usually dusty looking), clean my little, nasty wheels with a Q-tip, dump the bottle of alcohol and clean that up :mad: check to see if wicks need oil, clean the bobbin area and oil. I use a tiny little air compressor and blow air up Lucy's dress (so to speak) - oh you know, under the hood, in the fly wheel area...yada, yada....but it takes me more than 5 minutes. My rails are always black...but I have the old wheels, maybe that's why. All this not to mention the floor. Last time I was between quilts I vacuumed and then sat for 30 minutes cutting thread from my beater bar. I have changed my method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 .......the rails at the end of each quilting session AND before I take a quilt off the frame. I have messed up a couple pairs of pants just rubbing up against the rails and I DO NOT want to do that to a quilt!!!! Great topic - I like the toothbrush tip.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathyb Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 You all will laugh, but using a clean toilet brush (with bristles) on the carpet to clean up the loose threads will help save your vacuums! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 I use the toilet brush sometimes. Other times, I put wide masking tape, sticky side out, wrapped around the shoes of my grandkids and let them 'pick up threads' for me as they walk around the room. They think it is a great game!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajab Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Grace, That is a wonderful idea with the tape and the kids. Made me laugh. Maybe I can get my 4 year old to to that. She always wants to know what she can do to help. Have to try later. Angela Red Leaf Quilting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CQS Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 I have a 12" wide roller of masking tape on a mop-like handle that I use to clean up the threads on the floor. I found it in Lowe's or Menard's or Home Depot - somewhere like that. It's the greatest thing since sliced bread and saves pulling/cutting threads off the vacuum roller. I use it all over the studio floor before I vacuum, but it's most useful under the longarm. I use the much smaller one, only about 4-6" wide, to clean up quilt tops of threads, etc. as I quilt. It never ceases to amaze me how much dog/cat hair comes on quilt tops. Being the mom of 2 dalmatians that shed year round I certainly understand the problem. Masking tape is the best thing I've found to pick up all that "excess" material. Vicki Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltjunkie Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 I was instructed, and I think it's in the Maintenance video, to turn the machine on with the bobbin out and spray WD40 in the bobbin area, wipe out the area (with machine off) and then do the oil, I do this about every other time...this helps to keep the old oil from building up and getting gummy. WD40 is a cleaner not a lubricant so you must still oil after wards.:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 My cleaning routine is pretty much like everybody's. Like Hester, I augment my routine cleaning with WD-40 3 or 4 times a week depending on the activity of the machine. I have carpet in my studio. When I am quilting, I drop threads on the floor, away from the machine. I learned the hard way not to vacuum. First I use a short bristled push broom. I 'pull' the broom around and it grabs the threads, then I just pull them off the broom. I do this after every quilt. I almost exclusively full float my quilts, so the top and the batting are on the floor. I don't want any dark threads from one quilt to get caught in the batting of another quilt. I vacuum about once a week. And I frequently use a dry erase pen on my pattern grid to mark stops/starts on panto patterns. While the finished quilt is still tight on the machine, I wipe off the pattern grid with a piece of batting and go over the rails with batting splashed with alcohol. My fear is that I will pull a quilt off and find a long black grease stain on the back of a beige top. :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CucumberQuilting Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 I used to have the toilet brush for picking up threads but I got tired of my little boy whapping it around the studio and knocking all my thread cones off the wall with it, so it went "bye-bye!" Now my routine is to clean and oil the machine after working each day. Clean the studio between quilts. Empty the trash when it's overflowing. Pick up the toys before a customer arrives! Clearing off my desk...sometime between Quilt Show season and Christmas! (hopefully) After Innovations is a good time since I have lots of receipts for purchases to enter. ha, ha, ha... One thing I should do is what Ramona is doing with wiping the cover for pantos. The dry erase comes off so easily if you do it right away. But after is sets for a few days it takes a spritz of an alchohol based cleaner. Gosh how dreadful it would be to get any of that on someone's quilt. Better to get it off right away. Back to work. I'm trying to pin on the BIGGEST quilt I've ever had come through my studio. This is the year of the Big, BIG quilt. Each one I do seems to be bigger than the last. I think the quilt guild ladies are all trying to outdo each other for size! What's the biggest quilt you've ever had to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maudie Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 Such good tips! Never tried a toothbrush, hated q-tips. I just run my wheels back and forth over some batting till they are clean. Once a week, I put some alcohol on the batting. I use the toilet brush too - easier to pick threads out of rather than out of vacuum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 note to self...ditch the Q-tips, get a toilet/tooth brush...ick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonnerenae Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 Ramona, My wonderful rep Sue Schmieden ('fraid I just butchered her last name) taught us to use wet erase markers for the pattern grid so there's no chance they can rub off on anything you don't want them on. Just a quick wipe with a damp cloth afterward and marks are all gone and the quilt is safe from any inadverdent contact with the marks. Yvonne, Sisters' Common Thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I still like the q-tips, but will have to try the toothbrush idea. I usually only super clean with the rubbing alcohol and q-tips every 3 or 4 quilts. Or when I feel MEL getting sluggish on the rails. As I am doing the wheels I run a folded piece of paper towel between the wheel and the rail to help clean clean it, as it is wet with rubbing alcohol. I ALWAYS clean the rails before I quilt a white quilt or a really light colored one.... better safe than sorry!! The biggest quilt I have done - or will EVER do again - was 123" by 123" Yeicks! That was a monster that just wouldn't end!! Thanks goodness it was just an overall meander, so it was off in a day..... I only have the 12' table - so that is the limit!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sams Mom Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 I was thinking about this thread this morning and I thought I would be a good girl and clean my machine. I finally got the initial basing done about 5 hours later. My rag got a little to close to the bobbin assembly and shut things down good. It even took a call for technical support because I couldn't get the assembly to move so I could re-time it. All is well now. At least I know now how to change a fuse and file on the shaft. I felt like a mechanic by the end of the afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Donna, bet you wish you hadn't cleaned it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Something I've noticed is there are many many wonderful videos, books and classes on how to do something the right way, but there aren't any "What not to do" instructions. I'm sure we could all write a book or produce a great video on the "what not to dos." Most things we learn and remember are by the mistakes we make. Wouldn't it be great to have something that warns us and then shows us the consequences and results of the what not to dos? We'd all be a little more careful. Anyway.....Happy quilting everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HesOlivQuilts_2 Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 Hey you gals and guys, I bought a giant lint roller at wally town and use it on my sewing floor so I don't have to pull out the big gun and vaccum. It's made by swiffer. It has a long handle and it also has refills. I love it. I love reading about everything you all post. I am a longarm wannabe. Have just read about the newborn "LENNI" that's gonna be mine some day. thanks again. Rheda from Arkansas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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