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Modern Art Quilters
Sewing Machines and Other Tools for The Best Quilting Results...
by Helen Howes NEW SERIES: PART 2 - When Did You Last Clean Your Machine?
Many modern machines come with the instruction "do not oil" - this is just silly. Any place where metal runs on metal will eventually need lubrication, and although some modern bearings arrived impregnated with oil ("sintered") this just does not last forever. If you bought a nice puppy, and it came with a piece of paper instructing you "don't feed him, he will only squeak for a little while" you would be deeply unimpressed, and quite rightly. And the puppy would die..
Now, when you sew, whatever sort of thread and fabric you use, fluff will accumulate. This usually falls down around the bobbin area of your machine, where it assumes an interesting greyish-pink colour totally unlike anything you have sewn with. It's a Really Good Idea to remove this from time to time, as it does nothing for the quality and accuracy of your sewing.
So, after about 8 hours of sewing..
Turn off your machine and uplug it. (You should also always unplug your machine when not using it.)
Remove the bobbin, and the bobbin case. Almost all machines have screws holding the needle-plate down - remove these or snap the plate off. The bobbin cases on drop-in machines will lift out at this point. Removable bobbin cases generally sit in a 'race' which will also open up. Brush the case clean.
Take a cotton-bud (Q-tip for overseas readers) and dip it in Sewing Machine Oil (not 3-in-1, or cooking oil, or margarine, or some random sticky stuff from the cupboard, and most definitely not WD40) - if your local shops don't have it then any really good fine oil designed for machinery will do; try the gun shop or electrical parts suppliers. Or ebay. Wipe around the area under and behind the bobbin with this oily device. This will pick up amazing amounts of fluff and simultaneously deposit just enough oil to lubricate the region without causing deposits on your cloth. Keep wiping and removing fluff and replacing the cotton-bud until the detritus is all gone. Then do it again, probing a little deeper, and making sure you get in behind everything. Open the top of your machine if it has obvious screws, and add one drop of oil into every moving part, gently turning the machine over. (If your machine has a completely unopenable case, just oil the bobbin area and perhaps the needle bar.)
Don't drown it; do allow the machine to run gently. Avoid any belts or tyres, and plastic gears. I often find that, on oiling, the machine is rather faster than before! And usually quieter.
Now, with a little brush (I use cheap children's toothbrushes and paintbrushes a lot), clean out any crevices, re-assemble the bobbin case and plates, and run the machine for a row or two of stitches on a piece of clean kitchen paper. Wipe the outside with a very slightly damp cloth, and then dry it - any sticky-tape residue can be removed with lighter fluid.
A clean machine is so much happier..
Image at the top is the result of a week of concentrated making - something supremely satisfying about defluffing!
4, The Raveningham Centre, Beccles Road, Raveningham, Norfolk, NR14 6NU. United Kingdom