Originally Posted by
miriam
When YOU buy an old sewing machine where do YOU start? Do you sew with it or clean it first? Why? What do you clean first? What is your system?
Are you willing to buy a used machine someone has already cleaned up? If so what do you expect to pay? If you do clean one up what do you think is a fair price to charge? You can answer any way you like. I'm just curious.
It's changed over the time I've been collecting, but now I'll:
1. Turn by hand. If it's seized, lubricate, otherwise...
2. If it has a motor and the wiring looks OK, undo the stop motion screw and check if it works. Check for sparks inside the motor, and make sure the speed controller works (foot or knee).
3. Tighten the stop motion screw and again try the motor.
4. Remove everything around the sewing plate and clean the mess from the feed dogs (there's always masses of fluffy dust and thread).
5. Clean all loose dust and dirt, including the tensioner (I use a thin piece of fabric folded over - not cotton) and cross it over around the thread path. The end plate gets cleaned too.
6. Lubricate the whole machine.
7. Lubricate the motor
8. Clean the machine with sewing machine oil. This usually takes a while.
9. If there's a treadle involved, clean and oil.
10. Clean and polish the cabinet.
If anything is wrong such as in the wiring, motor brushes or foot controller it gets attended to before going to the next stage, because I'm likely to forget to complete the task if it isn't finished. It's an evolving system of course, but one that may not work for someone else.