libby2595

i'm starting to watch the vintage sewing machine videos and have a question.

what brand of metal polish should i get/use on my machine? would hate to buy the wrong thing and mess up my machine.

thanks

libby2595

thanks.
i thought it was more complicated than that.

J Miller

I clean my machines with sewing machine oil and a soft cloth, cotton balls or pads. I DO NOT USE ANYTHING WITH ANY FORM OF ABRASIVES OR HARSH CHEMICALS.
To wax my machines I use only non abrasive waxes such as automotive carnuba wax. If the machine has a dull film on it that is the old shellac top coat. Once you remove that you've removed all the protection for the decals.
After cleaning the machine with oil and soft cloths read Glenn's tute on repairing the surface coating here:
{ http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...s-t186522.html }.

Abrasives are the wrong thing to use.

Joe

callen

I totally agree with you Joe. You ARE the man !!!

SteveH

WOW, SO not the case....

1. NOT all polishing compounds contain pumice (or grit or some variety) IN fact NONE of these do Brasso, Flitz, Wadding polish, Toothpaste)
2. Brasso is chemical cleaner, Flitz is even FDA safe for Food prep areas

Seriously..... Sewing Machine oil ONLY on painted surfaces unless you have a LOT of practice

There IS a difference to how you SHOULD treat plated metal vs solid metal, vs painted surfaces...

Really Really. (18 Victorian Era machines into this... yes, I have an attitude regarding casual application of cleaning compounds....)

Cecilia S.

Steve is Da Bomb, and I would pretty much listen to him. Glenn also.

SewB, I have a thought though; your machines are both 50s or 60s paint and baked enamel finishes, which honestly probably did handle the car products just fine. Obviously, it did work fine on your particular machines! :-)

Where it may become an entirely different story is on the older black-with-decal machines. Their finish is shellac, and the decals are fragile. So, that's for certain where the gentle SM Oil Only approach is a prudent one.

Steve, fascinating about Flitz being food-area-safe; I did not know that! That means that if SewB does indeed switch to Flitz, then she can safely prepare a dinner, as per my earlier musing in another thread, on her blue 60's jukebox sewing machine?

:-)

SteveH

I learned about Flitz when I was the assistant manager of a Marie Callender's restaurant.
They used it for the copper and brass on their salad bar.

BTW, You are correct about the modern finishes. I have a Wheeler & Wilson #9 (dressed as a Singer 9w) that was badly painted and had 50's decals applied. I sanded it down and applied modern paint to it. The last coat is curing now. Once cured, I will do the block sand with 5000 grit, then rubbing compound(red stuff), then polishing compound(white stuff) then apply the new reproduction decals and then clearcoat...

libby2595

so much to learn!

ArchaicArcane

Actually Joe, in some circumstances - the abrasives in the rubbing compounds are highly recommended by people like Dave McCallum. He shows how to do this in his DVD set, and possibly in the book as well. I'm not brave enough to do it to my 222, but he gets excellent results. If done correctly - and that's not really easy but not hard either - it can produce a spectacular result without destroying the top coats.

I can do it on a motorcycle but I can't do it on a sewing machine. :-/

J Miller

Tammi,

For someone who is experienced and has the talent for it, OK. For a regular dude like me I still say it's the wrong stuff to use.

I followed Billys directions on the first red eye I tried to clean and almost totaled the decals. Oil and soft cloths is all I will recommend.

Joe