Is it a bad idea to put silicone spray on a FW bed?
 

The bed of my FW is, for lack of a better word, a little "grippy". Fabric doesn't slide smoothly over it. I don't think it's dirty, it LOOKS clean and shiny and smooth and slippy, but it isn't. I have to hold the fabric up or it drags and makes my seams wobble.

I was thinking of maybe adapting a teflon sheet like I have around my main machine into some sort of sleeve I could slip on over the whole base and bed, but that seems like a bunch of work and probably wouldn't function nearly as well as I'm imagining. (Plus it'd be ugly and unwieldy...)

So then I started thinking about silicone spray; I've heard of people using that on sewing machine beds to make them slippy...but is that safe to do to a FW's finish? I'm hesitant to experiment with my little girl!

Or, anybody have any other suggestions for improving the slip? I've only used oil to clean the machine - if I rub the bed with an old white sock I don't seem to get any grime or even oil residue, so I'm not sure what the problem is or how to fix it. Maybe there's some kind of polish I could try?

I use Pledge on my machine beds when I'm quilting. It is just a dusting spray and I can't image that it would hurt decals and top coats in any manner.

another thought, is your featherweight set into a desk or surrounded by an acrylic frame? If not that may be a proportion of the problem, the difference between a flat surface and working over a hump is amazing

I think it's the oil. Get some TR3 Resin Glaze from an auto parts store. I use it on all my machines about once every year or two and it keeps the machines surfaces shiny, protected, and to quote my toddler GD, "slurperly" (slippery).

Cari

Car wax works, too.

Some people use plastic wrap on their beds but seems like that would be kind of messy and hard to keep in one place.

I use car wax on the beds and extension tables of all my machines, the kind you rub on, it gets foggy then you polish off. I FMQ a lot and this works better than the superslide or the teflon sheets. I wax them about once a year and never have a problem. I use it on my FW, too.

Kalamaquilts - nope, she's my travel machine so I had her set up on an ironing board in a hotel room - no surrounds. I never noticed the "grippy" problem playing with her at home; it was only when I sat down to actually do some serious sewing with her that the problem became apparent.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I think I already have some of that TR3 resin glaze in the garage, I will give that a shot. I know I've heard it mentioned before and was sort of eyeballing it, but I wasn't sure if it was OK for the FW.

Is the FW painted? Not a japanned finish? I don't know how to tell the difference!

Yes it's painted, it's an aluminum body machine, not cast iron like Japanned machines are.

Cari

I would never spray anything near my sewing machine. Spray is vapor and vapor can get through the joints of the sewing machine. That can't be good for the guts of any machine.

I use carnuba car wax with no other additives, the kind for expensive show cars. Be sure to polish well after application. It is like glass. More than one coat is good also to fill all the imperfections. Won't hurt the machine at all. It will eventually wear off, but doesn't harm the fabric either, but it will take a very long time to do so.