Originally Posted by chris_quilts
I just bought a Singer 201 at an antique "consignment" shop.
2 questions: How do I clean bed without hurting/damaging the crackled portion and will machine still sew well without a cabinet? Can I clean with Goop like normal or do I need something else? I am unsure if machine oil alone will do the trick to get the really dirty spots the seller missed.
Will post pics when I find camera or DD gets home to help me find camera.
Congrats on your excellent deal! I only clean my sewing machines with sewing oil. You need to be patient cleaning the machine this way since it sometimes take time to loosen up the cruddy oil that is built up on the machine. Don't use Goop unless you don't mind all the shellac to be removed, and possibly decals damaged. Doesn't mean that it could happen to you using the Goop (non pumice), but you don't know until you start into it. That is what happened to me when I cleaned a machine with the bed having a crackled shellac. I started cleaning with the Goop, only to find the "dirt" I was removing was really the shellac and decals. So, I now only clean with sewing oil.
And yes, sewing machine oil alone will clean the machine!