Originally Posted by
himnherr
What ingredient is that? I have a 185K that I'm going to clean up. It's my 1st one to tear into and I don't really know what to use. My 301 came already cleaned up so I just basically oil it. But I've been wanting to try my hand at a little cleaning.
Himnherr, the big blue cup is a cafe au lait. An overflowing cafe au lait which looks to Mike like a marshmallow experiment ;-)
As for what I used on the machine, I first used a brush (a small paintbrush) as a duster, with the vacuum hose right there to suck the amazing amounts of fluff and gunk. I did this -before- oiling anything, for someone here on another thread pointed out that once oil is in the equation, things become gucky and hard to get out.
Then, on the dirty body of the machine, I used a soft cloth, dampened with water only.
Then I used a small piece of cheesecloth with sewing machine oil, wiping down the surfaces.
All the mechanical parts which I took out got a spa in a small dish of SM oil, and a few parts (the handwheel chome part, the face plate, the bobbin thread tension piece) had a spa in Evaporust.
Most of the gunk came clean with SM oil and 600 grit wet-dry sandpaper.
I did not need Tri Flow in this job, as I have decided that for me, Tri Flow is really only necessary for seized parts.
After everything was clean to my satisfaction, I wiped it down with a flannel cloth to remove excess oil, then I gave it a light polishing with clear shoe polish. (!)
One spot where I used dish soap was the handwheel, on the portion where the belt will go. After I cleaned the other parts of the handwheel with SM oil, I carefully scrubbed only that groovy bit with mild dish soap, rinsed with water, and allowed to air-dry thoroughly before reassembling. Oil there would cause belt slippage.
So, all in all, very little chemical warfare. Really is was all mostly gunk and dust and cobwebs and lint. Toothbrush, mascara brush, cheesecloth, flannel cloth.
Himnherr, I hope that helps. If you are going to do a big clean up, the one thing I recommend is to take many photos along the way, as you remove parts and screws and tension assemblies... I did a lot of dis-assembly; taking off the stitch length lever, the thread cutter, the needle clamp, everything in the bobbin area, the handwheel, the feed dogs, the presser foot shaft. Pretty much everything that could be removed without without having to worry about re-timing things, I removed for cleaning. However, I did it in sections, in stages. I recommend this! Do it in sections, and photograph more than you possibly think you are going to need. If you get stuck, just post photos and questions, and someone here will come to your rescue. Good luck with yours!
My camera battery drained just as I was taking the after photos, so I was prevented from showing it off -too- much. I'll post another shot or two once I complete the light and motor business.