The Quietest Sewing Machine
 

Good Morning,
I am often awake much later in the evening than my hubby. However, the three sewing machines I have are noisy enough that the noise keeps hubby awake.

I'm thinking of purchasing a new "Quiet" sewing machine, but have no idea where to begin. Could you please give me your "quiet" rating on your sewing machines? I don't want to spend a fortune - leaving my fortune for the Local Quilt Shops.

Thanks in advance for your input.

I have several machines and the quietest one is my vintage Singer 301. I think my Janome 6600 is awfully loud but my aunt that uses a much smaller Janome thinks mine is very quiet. I think the smaller, cheaper machines are louder. But, my vintage machines are definitely quieter. If you want really quiet get a treadle!

I have found that the Singer Featherweights are really quiet, they just purr along! I love mine and hardly use the noisy modern plastic machines now.

When I was looking for a new machine several years ago, hubby and I tested several. He liked the Janome 9000 best because we could watch TV together while I sewed and we could hear the movie over the machine. I think Janome in general makes a quiet machine, but maybe not all of them. I had other reasons for choosing this one, but we were in agreement.

My vintage singer 201 is my quietest machine, purrs along nicely.

My 1973 Elna is super quiet. I think the Universal from the 50s will be, too. The Singer 301 has some noise, but it's not irritating.

Definitely my '48 singer featherweight. My computerized brother innova NX400 is quiet, but not as quiet as my featherweight!

My 1941 Singer 15 is so quiet, hubby can sleep all morning. Oh well, everything has its disadvantage.

All of my vintage machines tend to be actually louder than my newer plastic machines. The most quiet machine I own is either my Janome 9000 or my vintage Elna 62C. The Elna 62C can be bought for less than $100 if you look around and is a great, lightweight machine and very quiet.

First of all, have you checked that your machines are well oiled? My sister's was much, much quieter when I got her to oil it. Second, instead of buying a new machine, consider getting a 'white noise' generator for your husband. Until I moved my sewing room downstairs, I sewed in the room next to my parents since I had to be upstairs during the day to look after my Dad. My mom is a very light sleeper and the machine never bothered her once I got her a nature sounds generator. Here's a cheap one. This is the one I bought, but I don't recommend it because a lot of people apparently are unable to figure out how to use it (I bought it for parents 8 years ago).

If you are using a portable, give consideration to the table/surface you are using. Even a piece of batting or old placemat under the machine can help reduce noise.

Dayle

My now-vintage Bernina 1230 is the quietest machine I have ever used. I have a lot of vintage Singers, but none "purrs" the way my Bernina does!

I agree with keeping vintage machines well-oiled. Usually a noisy machine means that things are rubbing against each other (which is not a good thing!). The finer the machine tolerances, the quieter the machine.

Me, too. This is an amazing machine with a beautiful straight stitch - it's quieter than any other machine in the "herd." (includes a 66, 15's, a 27 treadle, a 128 treadle, a 28 hand-crank, a 316G treadle, a 221, a 301, a couple of 401's, 403's, 501, 503, 750 and a few Kenmores from the 60's and 70's, a modern Singer and a modern Brother)

The serger is the noisiest thing in the world, but I can put up with the noise for something that's so useful. :)

My Baby Lock humms. After I got rid of the Pfaff that ran like a tractor DH came up and told me how much he loved my new machine. The sewing room is above his office and he claims that he cannot hear the Baby Lock.

My Janome 6600 - while I love it - is NOT quiet. To those that suggested foam or batting under the machine, this would not help the Janome. I had thought it was quiet but when I tried to get away with sewing while also on a conference call (boring board meeting) THEY heard the machine. In addition, the Janome is constantly beeping at you for something or other and the thread cutter is very noisy.

My Huskvarna Viking Lily 535 is quieter than the Janome ... how much quieter I don't remember. But it still beeps.

I agree with some of the others. If a foam mat under your current machines doesn't do the trick, try one of the older machines like a featherweight. If it's the beeping that is concerning you, perhaps a dealer/repair shop can turn that feature off.

I agree on the Baby Lock. Mine, a Quilter's Choice is very quiet. I go to a quilting bee and people comment on how quiet my machine is.

I think my Viking Platinum is very quiet - provided the bobbin is pretty full. You would think I'd learn by now that when the machine gets louder, the bobbin is getting lower and I wouldn't sew 10 HTS's with no bobbin thread! It's quieter than my FW but I think that's the foot - the FW does purr. The Viking will beep at me if I'm being stupid or changing settings but that's about it.

Earplugs for hubby?

I agree. My Featherweight is by far my quietest machine.

My featherweight is very quiet. Also a great machine for piecing, a real straight stitch that the newer machines just can't do.

My treadle is the quietest (of course, no electric noise).....my 1919Singer 128 (in the picture) is also very quite..........I also found that if I put the speed lever at about 50% on my Bernina, it is much quieter than it is when I am sewing full speed.I have nights when I dont sleep, and I sew............what a fun way to spend a night awake........

Babylock espire is really quiet, not very loud compared to my others

A 301 or 301A or a Featherweight - they are all a pleasure to sew with. You can find them for 100-200 dollars on ebay or at goodwill sometimes.

My Singer 301 is quieter then my Bernina 1260 and it purrs. A quild member has an old Singer newer then the 301 but still vintage, kinda green color, and it runs so quiet you have to go check if it is actually running. It's the quietest machine I have ever heard. I would certainly check out older Singers for sleep sewing.

duplicate post. I am getting a lot of duplicates showing up lately. ??

Our quietest machine is a Singer 15 clone. It just hums.

Darren

I think the sound generating machine is the best idea. Had one for years for my husband. Wish I could have found something for me to cancel out his snoring! Now these machines come with many sounds, but be aware the sounds of the ocean or waterfall tend to send men with prostate issues to the bathroom!

My newer (plastic, computerized) Pfaff is much quieter than my vintage all-metal Kenmore, and both are kept well oiled. That's all I have for comparison. Never had any of the others mentioned.
Thanks for posting this thread, though. I was wondering about this. I'll be taking a portable Kenmore on a trip and have been thinking it may be too noisy to use at odd hours with others sleeping nearby.

You learn something new every day...here is my new fact for today, a "white noise generator". Never heard of such a thing before. Who knew?

The only quiet machine I know of is one that is not being used.

I have a Pfaff 7550 that is not too quiet. For Christmas, I bought my daughter a Janome Sew Precise on eBay. When it came I tested it to be sure it was ok before I gave it to her. That little machine was alot more quiet than mine. Maybe
because it was new, I am not sure but it was quiet. I was tempted to keep it but it doesn't have needle down/up. That was the only drawback.
Why not check out machines at dealers and try them out. You could at least have the joy of shopping.

I've always said my Berninas just whisper. My hubby watches tv right in the area where I sew, and I've never had a complaint.

We used to have one in one of the offices I worked in. They are used to dampen other noise - like lots of people talking in an open office. You don't hear/notice them UNTIL they are turned off. I used to work IT Support and had to cover the late shift. The White Noise generator was turned off about 6:00PM and we worked until 7:00PM to cover the west coast. Of course by that time there were only two of us in the whole of the office so when the white noise was turned off it suddenly got "quiet". But we never noticed it UNTIL it was turned off.

Just have your husband put cotton in each ear or ear plugs of some kind, then he will not hear the machine and you will save by not buying another sewing machine.

I have an old Elna air-electronic SU that I bought new in 1976. It is the quietest machine of the 7 machines I own.

My 201 & my FW. When I took my FW to a quilting retreat with 100 quilters, several remarked it was the quietest machine there. The other day I way using my Janome and husband came in to see why the sewing machine was so loud!

I said the same thing above and I own 15 machines? My Elna wins the quiet award.

sometime noise is good. there is a lot of annoyances you can legitamately ignore. LOL:D

Hands down the quietest sewing machine I have ever owned is my new Juki 600. I am so in love with my Juki machine and one of the reasons is because it is so quiet. I have had lots of sewing machines in my 35+ years of sewing and this machine outshines them all.