manicmike

Assuming you weren't having a go at making marshmallows

I love having a coffee when cleaning a machine. Gives me an idea... Back to the 66!

Cecilia S.

Himnherr, the big blue cup is a cafe au lait. An overflowing cafe au lait which looks to Mike like a marshmallow experiment ;-)

As for what I used on the machine, I first used a brush (a small paintbrush) as a duster, with the vacuum hose right there to suck the amazing amounts of fluff and gunk. I did this -before- oiling anything, for someone here on another thread pointed out that once oil is in the equation, things become gucky and hard to get out.

Then, on the dirty body of the machine, I used a soft cloth, dampened with water only.

Then I used a small piece of cheesecloth with sewing machine oil, wiping down the surfaces.

All the mechanical parts which I took out got a spa in a small dish of SM oil, and a few parts (the handwheel chome part, the face plate, the bobbin thread tension piece) had a spa in Evaporust.

Most of the gunk came clean with SM oil and 600 grit wet-dry sandpaper.

I did not need Tri Flow in this job, as I have decided that for me, Tri Flow is really only necessary for seized parts.

After everything was clean to my satisfaction, I wiped it down with a flannel cloth to remove excess oil, then I gave it a light polishing with clear shoe polish. (!)

One spot where I used dish soap was the handwheel, on the portion where the belt will go. After I cleaned the other parts of the handwheel with SM oil, I carefully scrubbed only that groovy bit with mild dish soap, rinsed with water, and allowed to air-dry thoroughly before reassembling. Oil there would cause belt slippage.

So, all in all, very little chemical warfare. Really is was all mostly gunk and dust and cobwebs and lint. Toothbrush, mascara brush, cheesecloth, flannel cloth.

Himnherr, I hope that helps. If you are going to do a big clean up, the one thing I recommend is to take many photos along the way, as you remove parts and screws and tension assemblies... I did a lot of dis-assembly; taking off the stitch length lever, the thread cutter, the needle clamp, everything in the bobbin area, the handwheel, the feed dogs, the presser foot shaft. Pretty much everything that could be removed without without having to worry about re-timing things, I removed for cleaning. However, I did it in sections, in stages. I recommend this! Do it in sections, and photograph more than you possibly think you are going to need. If you get stuck, just post photos and questions, and someone here will come to your rescue. Good luck with yours!

My camera battery drained just as I was taking the after photos, so I was prevented from showing it off -too- much. I'll post another shot or two once I complete the light and motor business.

Cecilia S.

Stitchnripper, it only took about 1 Tablespoon of SM oil in total.

Zozee... assess, yess, I meant assess, with 4 sssssss-es. Oh dear, what a bummer of a typo to have made. Downright Cheeky. So sorry!

JBeamer

(Zozee... assess, yess, I meant assess, with 4 sssssss-es. Oh dear, what a bummer of a typo to have made. Downright Cheeky. So sorry!)

Was this pun intended?

J Miller

No Tri-Flow ...... ewwww! I don't use T-F for cleaning but it's all I use for oiling.

You shouldn't ever take the screw out of the bobbin latch lever. That part controls the gap between the bobbin case and latch. Hopefully you got it back in exactly where it was. There is a proper way to remove the latch.

Sand paper and oil .... oh my, that's worse than pumice laced cleaners.


Glad it worked out for you, but I think you should re-think some of your techniques.

JMHO

Joe

mighty

Wonderful job!!!!!!

Cecilia S.

JBeamer, the first typo was not intended... but bummer and cheeky, yes, I was just playing ;-)

Joe, thanks so for mentioning the sandpaper; it made me realize I might not have been clear, and I would never want anyone to harm their machine based on something they tried due to my unclear writing! So, here is how clear I should have been:

With sandpaper, I did not go anywhere the machine body finish. (On the body, I used only cheesecloth and flannel and water and SM oil and at the very end, a titch of shoe/boot wax.)

When I used sandpaper, I used 600, also finer emery (1100 and the like) along with liberal amounts of oil, rubbing very lightly, so that the emery cloth or sandpaper was barely making contact with the rusty piece. I used this method on spots where I needed to lift very thick, gummy, caked-on residue. When near the metal itself, I go -so- lightly, sometimes even just using the back of the sandpaper, which is of course just essentially paper that will withstand oil without disintegrating.

I also will "shine" screw-heads this way. Not any of the screw shaft, of course, but the head itself, flat-down on an oily emery, this seems to be a very effective way of polishing the screw in a cosmetic way, whilst not touching anything to do with the thread.

I was taught this (using emery and oil) by a very experienced SMG as a great way to remove rust and buildup. If anyone has other suggestions, please chime in! There are times that white gas or other solvents would be ideal, but myself, I am not comfortable working with such flammable chemicals.

I don't know anything about pumice cleaners, but myself, I'll take a pass on that, too! Is that something used in the auto industry?

I should say as well, in case anyone decides to take a cue from me and try any of this, that the principle spots where I have use this technique are on exterior cosmetic areas, such as handwheel, face place, presser foot lever, bobbin winder... I would be extra extra careful (or not at all) when it comes to any fine, minimal-tolerance moving part. For example, that is why I did not get my bobbin case area Super Duper Clean; I did not want to risk changing any dimensions of those fine parts.

Thanks for pointing that out, Joe. I am sorry if I was unclear, but I am really glad you mentioned it so I could clarify just what I meant/didn't mean! :-)

Oh, and Tri Flow - not so far on this particular machine. So far it seems very free-moving with only SM oil. Quite amazing, really, considering how dirty and neglected the machine was! TF sure helped me on a handcrank that I am currently tinkering with; there were some -very- seized parts there! It is wonderful stuff for stuck parts, hands down, isn't it?

zozee

You CRACK me up.

Redsquirrel

Fantastic mini blog on your cleaning. I love the cup of java too. Congrats on a really good lookin machine.

wilburness

Great looking machine!!!