As long as you sew, you cant avoid sewing machine maintainance and repair
You will be amazed at how much stress you will save your self by maintaining your sewing machine.
Sewing machine maintainance and care is something that a lot of new seamstress do not pay attention to.
A sewing machine’s care and maintenance improves its performance.
output, high-quality production, and sewing satisfaction.
In order to keep your car running well, you’ll need to take care of it.
Your sewing machine maintainance keeps it running smoothly for the long-term.
COMMON SEWING MACHINE PROBLEMS
There are some sewing machine problems that are common to most sewing machines.
It is important to know them.
That is because they are directly related to lark of maintainance of your sewing machine.For instance,you have your sewing project in mind,and you have created time to choose the right fabric.
You then create a wonderful pattern with your pattern tools.
Use the best cutting tools to cut your patterns.Now every thing is ready for you to sew.And then all the problems begin
Problems like
sewing machine skipping stitches,thread tension,bobbin tension problems like thread jamming in bobbin area.
Or other problems like sewing machine keeps jamming,skipped stitches,
thread keeps breaking.
Feed dog sewing machine problems,sewing machine presser foot problems and so on.
It is critical to recognize these sewing problems that can occur and their solution.
HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A SEWING MACHINE
Sewing machine maintainance mostly comprises of cleaning, oiling, protection and proper handling.
Once you buy your sewing machine,
The maintainance schedule is normally written on the sewing machine manual.
The challenge however is to create time to read it!
Dont worry ,you are not the only one guilty of that.
I did not read mine either.
And that has caused my a lot of stress that will have been avoided.
SEWING MACHINE MAINTAINANCE AND REPAIR
A clean, well-oiled sewing machine is critical for high output and safety. Keep the machine covered with a suitable cover when not in use to prevent dust from settling on it.
To avoid the risk of pricking the finger, turn off the machine and remove the needle before attempting to clean it.
Find below the cleaning materials required
- An old tooth brush or a flat paintbrush
- Cleaning fluid or solvent
- Disposable soft cloth
- screwdriver
- Sewing machine instruction manual
Now that we have our cleaning material ready,here is a
STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO CLEAN YOUR SEWING MACHINE
Before we get into the guide,It is best you know your sewing machine parts and their uses .
This will remove the confusion with all the parts I will mension below.
- Remove the bobbin case by opening the slide plate.
Then remove the throat plate. - Remove the face plate from the left end of the head as needed.
Lint, dust, and loose threads in the vicinity of the feed dog, rotary hook, and shuttle can be brushed or blown away. - Do not use anything sharp, such as the points of scissors, to remove the lint. Instead, use a pointed instrument, such as a needle or pointed tweezers/plucker, to remove bits of thread and lint that cannot be brushed away.
- Manually turn the hand wheel to reveal any areas that were initially hidden.
Brush once more. - Carefully tilt the machine head back until it rests on the back of the table’s post.
6.Remove any lint from the machine parts with a soft, thin, and clean cloth.
7.Remove everything, including the needle, presser foot, slide plate, throat plate, bobbin case, and face plate. Soak them in cleaning fluid in the tray.
Allow to soak for a while,then rince and place on dry surface to dry.
8.Examine the needle to ensure that it is clean and that the eye is not clogged.
If necessary, replace the needle.
9.Fix back all the machine parts.Then oil the sewing machine
HOW MANY TIMES SHOULD I CLEAN AND LUBRICATE MY SEWING MACHINE
This blog post contains affiliate links, which when you click and purchase a product will earn me a commission at no cost to you.Please note that I have worked with this products and that is why I recommend them to you.I have found them to be quite useful in my sewing projects
It is necessary to oil the sewing machine on a regular basis.
If the machine is used on a daily basis, oil it once a week.
If you do not use it frequently, oiling it once a month is sufficient.
The frequency with which it is oiled is determined by its use and, in some cases, by the material sewn.
Always use high quality machine oil, preferably regular machine oil, or it will clog the bearings.
Check the machine’s instruction booklet/manual to find out what types of oil to use and where to use them.
In any machine, do not oil the tension discs, hand wheel release, belts, or rubber rings.
Follow the instructions in the machine manual to oil the machine.
Every time you oil the machine, check the condition of all visible parts.
If a manual is not available, oil the machine as directed by the teacher/instructor on a regular basis.
Find the sewing machine’s oil holes.Fill each hole with one to two drops of oil.
Wipe away all dust and excess oil from the machine or table, and immediately clean up any spilled oil.
- Sew a few fabric scraps on top to soak up any excess oil.
- Excess oil is a serious issue that can ruin and damage the fabric.
Run the machine slowly for 2–3 minutes on a scrap piece of material . - Place a scrap of fabric under the presser foot and lower the needle before closing the machine.
- The fabric will absorb any excess oil that may drain through the machine, preventing the formation of oil spots.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD SEWING MACHINE BE SERVICED
Before we go into the frequency of servicing.It is important to know that good servicing is related to where you buy your sewing machine.
The sewing machine you should buy is whatever your local machine shop sells.
That is because your sewing machine maintenance and warranty are with the shop where you purchased your machine.
If you go to a big box store and purchase a sewing machine,
You’re paying less because you don’t have a service technician and no one to manage that machine.
I made that mistake when I bought my machine.
My point is ,buy your machine from your local distributors .
This is so that you can have a sewing machine maintainance near you.
We have different brands of sewing machines.And most of these brands have their maintainance schedule.
HERE IS A FREE PRACTICAL MACHINE MAINTAINANCE E BOOK FOR YOU
For example,there is the singer sewing machine maintainance schedule and the brother sewing machine maintananceshedule.
‘How often should I have my sewing machine serviced?’ is the query.
If you use your computer frequently (several times per week), having it serviced once a year is definitely a smart idea.
If you use your machine for patchwork quilting or sewing thick materials, you may need to service it more frequently due to lint accumulation and potential tension and timing concerns.
The older your machine, the more often you need to maintain it .
It is recommended that you service your sewing machine once every 12 to 18 months.
If you detect a change in the tone of your machine, or if it becomes stiff or squeaks when sewing, you should consider getting it serviced.
SEWING MACHINE MAINTAINANCE KIT
Sewing machine maintainance kits come with most newly bought machines.
but sometimes it might not contain all you might need.There are a lot of sewing machine maintanance kits online. below is a picture of three very practical ones.
These contain the basic items you need to maintain any sewing machine.
SINGER 21505 Sewer’s Companion Machine Essentials Kit
VANICE Sewing Machine, Overlock and Serger Service/Repair Kit
SINGER SEWING MACHINE MAINTAINANCE
I put this last section because I use a heavy duty singer machine,I will not need to write here how I maintain my singer machine.But you can find that in your singer machine manual.
If you have lost your Singer sewing machine manual,you can download it here.
All you need is to put the model number of your sewing machine.
CONCLUSION
That is my simple take on how to maintain and service your sewing machine to work well for you.
Do you know of any other way you can maintain your sewing machine that I did not mention?
Feel free to drop your comments below.
Follow me on pinterest for more tips
