jlhmnj

I'd worry that people following this service method would shoot themselves in the eye with the spray.

barny

Ha,ha, Mimack. I just sat here and giggled at your comment. What a laugh. I thought "surely not". Because I have read a lot of your words and I knew better. LOL

wilburness

whoooweee may the battle of the oil spray cans cease (I hope). I was always told that MORE is not better when oiling sewing machines. one drop will do. for ROUTINE maintenance. a little extra if old and unsticking, but then I wipe off excess.

miriam

Wilburness, my Mom oiled her machine faithfully - she put one little drop in the hole. Yup one. The oil was spattered all over the inside of the machine when my sister and I did a major clean up a couple years ago. Mom saw parts of that machine that had not seen the light of day since it was made. That machine was needing a good clean up but it was still running. I think setting around does more harm than running them on very little oil. Most people that use them do dab some on now and then. People that let them set never oil them and what oil is in there dries up and the machine freezes up. I have never had to quickly spray something inside a machine to get it to move - it is quick enough just to drop a little oil on each part. Besides I like doing it. Usually oiling a machine is the least of my worries.

Usually someone who has been in the sewing machine business for 30 years has moved on to computerized and plastic wonders years ago because that is where the money goes. I'm surprised that the sewing guy has bothered with us no money vintage people.

Charlee

The Sewing Guy is trying to drum up business. Why else would he come here, assuming that we "quilters" know nothing about taking care of our machines, (old, new, indifferent) and tell us to turn them on and spray them?
It's either that, or he's not read one other post on this board where we tell folks how to repair, clean, take care of their machines.
The last "Guy"....well...I won't go there.

mlmack

Quite frankly, spraying down a sewing machine with oil isn't going to get oil into the rotating parts, especially not a machine with close tolerances like a Necchi, and all of that extra oil is just going to collect dust and create problems down the road.

There are plenty of resources that people can access in order to help them oil a sewing machine, so ignorance isn't a compelling argument in favor of such a method.

J Miller

The Sewing Guy,

You will find this group to be more knowledgeable than some. Most of us own many or at least a few ancient to vintage to classic machines and repair and maintain them ourselves. We tend to "adopt" them rather than "buy" them.
So although what you said is one way to do it, as you've admitted it's not the right way to do it and that got us kind of in a tizzy.

I understood your second post and will let the subject drop.

However you could post some pics of your shop or some of your machines. We are a photo oriented bunch of folks and love to see pics of all kinds of older machines.

Joe

ArchaicArcane

I'd also like to mention to anyone who reads this without the experience that there are some "oils and lubes" that come to mind that should never ever be used - spray or drop can. 3in1 comes to mind. Lithium Grease. Anyone else want to chip in on the "oils" and "lubes" they recommend staying away from?

I would never advocate a "quickie" job. Proper oiling (after cleaning) takes me 10 minutes - if that on a vintage machine. What sort of time does the cleanup time from a spray quickie take? With my accuracy, I'm thinking years when I kept finding the stuff on the ceiling, floor, and every horizontal vertical or in between surface (the cat, the dog,...) . My supplier said they still had spray cans of TriFlow they could ship me. I said no thanks. The nightmares I could have caused with those cans.... *shudder*

Oiling a machine like a 1990s Pfaff? That can be character building, but that's not the type of machine we're referring to here.

Hermetically sealed machines,... I'll reserve judgement on those. I've yet to come across an airtight sealed sewing machine. Probably because I've only been fixing machines a couple of years though.

miriam

We are always happy to have help with how to fix things & we have a search up at the upper right and there are many problems solved here. Maybe there is something we have missed helping someone fix. New topic, etc. Expert advice is always in line. Obviously the sewing guy did not read much in the sticky notes. LOL.

HelenAnn

I understood what you were saying on the first post.
Doesn't WD stand for war department? (not that you even mentioned the stuff)
If I get an old machine, I should say when I bring an old machine home and it is still in the garage I will spray it down with the smelly blaster and let it sit. They are going to be cleaned when they come in the house and I can't spray that stuff inside.