Simple Maintenance Tips For Your Sewing Machine

A good quality sewing machine can be a creative boon, and can save you copious amounts of money you may otherwise spend on clothes or clothing alterations. However, a badly maintained machine can soon become a major source of frustration that just is not worth the money saved. Thankfully the maintenance of a sewing machine is pretty simple, as long as it is done correctly and at a reasonable frequency. Lets take a look at some of the simple measures you can take to ensure a long life and a high performance for your sewing machine.

OIL ME UP, BABY
A sewing machine, like any other machine, requires lubrication to ensure that the internal parts can move freely and easily. But beware, not all oils are equal! In fact there is an unfathomable range of oils for different tasks, from airplane engine lubrication to cooking and everything in between. The correct oil to use for your machine is a thin clear oil, and there may have been a small bottle of this included when you purchased the product. If not, your local sewing supplies shop should be able to help you out, or failing that a quick check on Amazon should help you find what you need.

CURB THE EXCESSES OF LINT
While your sewing experiments may not always guarantee perfect results, they will undoubtedly guarantee a build up of lint on and in your machine. It is important to clear this out regularly, as lint build up can severely reduce the lifetime of various parts of your machine. It is generally pretty straightforward to extract the built up lint with the help of a vacuum cleaner. Make sure you pay attention to any holes in the casing, especially around the bobbin area, where lint can get trapped inside the machine.

SPARKING A STRONG ELECTRICAL CONNECTION
Without good solid electrical connections, your sewing machine at best can refuse to work, or at worse can cause harm to you or to anyone who happens to touch the machine. The electrical cable for your machine should be checked regularly for breaks or rips in its plastic insulation, and to confirm that the insulation extends all the way at both ends, inside the machine and inside the mains plug. When not in use the sewing machine should be left unplugged, and the cable should be neatly coiled in such a way that it will not get tangled or trapped when you go to move the machine. It is also extremely important that the sewing machine should be unplugged from the electricity supply when performing maintenance tasks to increase your own safety and that of your machine.

KEEP IT HELD TOGETHER
It may not initially seem obvious how screws in your machine can become loose of their own accord, but the vibrations created during use of the machine are extremely prone to having this effect. It is not so hard to understand how one or two loose screws can set a precisely engineered sewing machine awry, so in your maintenance sessions it is always worth checking each visible screw for tightness with a small screwdriver. Be careful not to overtighten the screws, as this can have the unwanted effect of cracking the sewing machine casing, or stripping the thread from the screw leaving it permanently loose.

By: Mike Mark Johnson

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Check out the Brother CS6000i for an example of a great quality sewing machine