I guess I got very lucky with my case. There's just a bare whiff of aroma. It kinda smells nostalgic. I like it.
Sherry, proud owner of a 1948 221-"Andy Rose".

One of my Featherweight cases smelled so bad that NOTHING helped, so I took the case apart. The offender seemed to be some kind of mold growing under the fabric lining. I spent many hours scraping the old cloth and glue off the wood, until finally the case fell apart completely. I literally had a pile of sticks sitting on my table!

I took the sticks over to a friend, and he very kindly rebuilt the case for me. This time I didn't recover it or reline it with cloth.

Now it's a very pretty wooden case. It's some kind of softwood, so it gets dings in it if you bang it on something. But no more smell!

As for the machine itself, all you have to do to get rid of the smell is replace the felt gasket that lines the inside of the base plate. You can buy them from FW suppliers or make your own out of wool felt.

Anne in Vancouver, Canada, happy owner of three Featherweights--a 1946 221, a 1949 221, and a 1956 222

I too am hypersensitive to perfume candles etc. and so is dh plus he is allergic to Eucalyptus. Two places we love but have to avoid are Napa Valley (stayed in a campground named Eucalyptus Gardens or something close to that) big mistake and also found certain places in Australia that set him off big time. Oh well there are lots of other places to go. LOL

But when I was in a hospital and nursing home flat on my back -couldn't sit up for weeks and weeks I learned the power of smells on people. Certain scents make me nauseous and before that I could walk away but when I couldn't it was awful. I had to ask nurses and aides to leave my room or go and wash the scent off. Even in a scent free hospital some people exercise their "right " to do as they please and did they get told. Throwing up when you are flat on your back is not a pleasant experience.

I too avoid candle shops etc. or limit my stay -dh loves quilt shops that smell because he knows I won't NEED anything there and will be out in a flash.
Have never had a machine that smelled so hadn't thought of the baking soda solution but it makes sense. Thanks for the info.

Ann

quiltnlady wrote:

Judy I think you've hit on a good one w/ "Flower"-- a cute little black thing (am I remembering correctly, yours is black?) that purrs... and can stink if you're not nice...
Earlier on this post I told that mine was named "Florence" so I just had to buy her, and Florence means flower, so I'll remember that for mine too! Luckily, Florence didn't stink!

and as for the nose stuff, I've always lived in pretty much the same spot but ever since my early 30's have begun to suffer seasonal allergies... only affects me four seasons of the year... finally got tested last year & found out I'm allergic to just about everything that grows, including the dust in my house...
And I won't even go IN a candle store or "country living" kinds of places that have lots of scent-y things, they set my sinuses off something terrible! I don't mind a spritz of perfume but those things that are designed to fill the air w/ scent are verboten in my house!

Florence, in lovely, sneezy, stuffy, spring-y Virginia.

Glad to hear that I am not the only one with a funny nose. In quilt camp here in Phoenix, the directors insist that it be scent free because so many people are allergic to odors, ( no perfumes, scented hair spray or body lotions) If you violate the rules, the scent police will ask you nicely to wash it off.

Getting back to the topic at hand, my FW is still without a name. Maybe I should call it Flower, like the skunk in Bambi, or something on that order. Any suggestions?

Judy in AZ where it is going to summer soon(like hit the 100 mark on Monday)

Hmmmm....so that is where the musty smell is coming from...good to know. I also had a problem with my case. It smelled like moth balls. I set it out in the sun, put newspaper in it and then sprinlked it with baking soda. Finally the baking soda did the trick.

While I love scented candles...I found they gave me a terrific headache. My mother had COPD and just could not be around perfumes. It has made me so aware of others... now I rarely wear perfume out. To use it up, I spritz my sheets and bed pillow...once in a while.

FW

Judy, I learned in a FW class at Road To California that that musty smell comes from mouldy gasket material (the black pad that lines the bottom of the machine--the bottom comes unscrewed to oil the moving parts.) I also agree with you and everyone else-- perfumes are becoming an anoyance to me, too. I usually just depend on lotions for a slight fragrance. I love scented candles, too, but I find that some of them irritate my eyes. Of course, living in So. California with smog, my eyes stay irritated much of the year!!!

quiltnlady wrote:
About a month and a half ago we took the family over to Lancaster Co. PA. As we drove along a stretch we noticed that some farmers must have already manuered their feilds for the spring planting - the smell never bothered me that much but my 4yo ds piped up from the back seat "EEEWWWW! It smells like poopy!" LOL he cracked me up

Oh Ann, come on, I've 'come clean' with my embarrassing moments! How about just one or two??!

As for scents, I think perfume and after shave should be outlawed. It's terrible when you can smell someone coming from around the corner before you even see them! We live in an Eastman Kodak town, so we have some real winner smells at night and on weekends (when the government control agencies aren't working). Thank goodness we live out in the country where our most prominent smell in spring is dirt!! When people start plowing their gardens, it's wonderful to smell the dirt and freshly mown grass.

Sharon in TN (quiltnlady)

I didn't have problems with scents until I moved to Indiana--now there are so many things that close my sinuses that I have quit keeping track. Some will even give me a migraine. When I ask the doctor about them (since he told me I did not have allergies) he said it was because God did not make your body to inhale all that junk!

Ruth, I can't stand to be in a room with smoking. I really have an over sensitive nose ( to aftershave, perfumes, musty boxes, fabric softener( I get 0 sensitivity. My DH brought home something with a 3 in scents and I had to double wrap it and put it in the trash. He thought he was helping, so from now on I buy the fabric sheets) Yet after all the complaining, I can still go into antique stores.

Judy in AZ where it is heating up

I guess I learned really young. I was about two when I crawled up on my grandmother's treadle machine and put a needle through the knuckle on the forefinger of my right hand. Now 66 yrs. later the little white scar still exists and until her dying day my mom never forgave her MIL for allowing me to do that when I was in the dGma's care. funny things that last for years aren't there.

But fortunately I have never done that again but don't ask me about the other stupid injuries I have had because they are numerous and embarrassing. Oh well maybe I am just accident prone LOL

Ann still would love to have that old treadle have no idea where it disappeared to.