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There is nothing worse than sitting down to sew and your machine isn't taking care and not work properly. Here are two things you need to do to keep your machine in shape and ready:

All threads produce lint
Thankfully the kind we are all going to use, now, doesn't produce as much as the inexpensive kind! However, you still MUST clean the lint out of your machine. Lint builds up in the tension mechanisms and in the bobbin case. When cleaning always use the lint brush that came with your machine. If you don't have one, use a small paint brush.

You will read, or be told, that you can use canned air to clean the lint out. And you WILL be tempted to blow out some of the lint with your mouth. However, the man that services my machines, who I trust, said that this can cause more damage by pushing the lint up into areas of the machine that are difficult to clean. Makes sense to me. So I only brush the lint out.

Make sure you oil your machine regularly
If you don't have oil specifically for your machine, buy it from a fabric store or a sewing machine dealer.

Oiling is very important
The purpose of oiling your sewing machine is to lubricate the moving parts to reduce wear and tear. Your manual should specify what parts to oil. **One exception: Do not oil computerized sewing machines, it is not necessary. After oiling, use a scrap piece of fabric and sew several stitches to allow any excess oil out.

Get into the habit of doing these two things after every two projects. This is a great habit to instill in your kids, and not only are they capable of doing it at any age, they seem to enjoy it! Just make sure your younger kids only place a drop of oil, instead of showering the machine with oil.