Wonnie

Must confess that I never learned to cut the thread at the spool and pull it through the needle in home ec, however, I, too, have a Babylock and very shortly after I had it it was back in the shop for repairs due to the fact that I had pulled the thread out by the spool and did something to the tension spring... still, occasionally I will forget when I'm in a hurry and pull out by the spool but when I do I'm always very thankful I "was lucky that time" and didn't screw it up again...can be costly.

luci4

I cut the thread above the tension disc and pull from needle end of thread. Reduces lint in the tension discs themselves.

grandme26

I was told this too many years ago. If you pull it the otherway it can mess up the tension settings. I was also taught that you cut it as close to the tension as possible. The less thread you pull through the better.

Calran

Thanks for the info. I was unaware of this. This board is wonderful!

themachinelady

Yes, if you pull it back towards the spool you pull all the fuzz and lint into your machine and if you pull it out thru the needle you are pulling the lint and fuzz out of your machine so to speak. I learned this when I bought my Janome Embroidery machine. The owner of the store where I purchased it was a wonderful help with ideas and hints etc. I am sorry he is retired now as he and his wife were great to talk with and give you advice etc. You could stop in and visit and talk with them and not buy a thing if you could control yourself like that, and they never made you feel badly if you didn't buy anything. They were GREAT!!!!! Thanks Brenda and Russ if you by chance would ever see this message.

Grace MooreLinker

Best advise yet, Mom's are

callen

This is exactly the same information that I was given when I purchased my Bernina 820 machine. It can mess up the tension discs inside if you do it the other way. Would you rather pay a repairman or waste a tiny bit of thread & err on the side of caution????? As our mothers always said "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"!!!!!

QuiltE

Exactly ... we spend BIG $$$$ on our machines, so the little costs of the wasted thread to me, seems like a pretty good investment towards keeping our machines healthy and out of the expensive service shops!

ghostrider

Thank you!!

What may have been true 40+ years ago about the looseness of thread twist, it's lint factor when pulled 'against the grain', and other such dire warnings, is no longer true today even with more sensitive machines.

Consider this, the thread on your bobbin is pulled against the grain 100% of the time because you're pulling from the end that was cut from the spool (it's wound in the reverse direction than the spool it came off of). If you have low lint in your bobbin area, as most of us do with today's threads, then pulling that thread, with the foot raised, 'backwards' for a couple inches a few times a day through the tension disc area is not going to do it any harm. No excess lint lodging itself deep in the guts of your baby, and no effect at all on tension regulators that are disengaged. There is no drag when you pull the thread backwards. It slips out effortlessly. It's not dragging barbs of loose thread ends across an immovable surface or forcing tension discs apart.

Relax, breathe, all is well with whichever way you choose to unthread your machine. Like most everything else with quilting, there is NO WRONG WAY to do it.

linhawk

I agree with ghostrider. When the foot is up, the tension is released and you can feel the difference.
Been doing it for years with no problem.