Interesting info about the oil. I knew about the color, too, but didn't realize that it was suppose to evaporate. Now this makes sense about my mom's Necchi machine. The inside of the machine was so gunky that it wouldn't run. A machine repairman had to pull it all apart and soak the parts in some kind of cleaner to get it working again. My mom loved the machine and I learned on it. It was like an Italian race car, it sewed really, really fast. Love it.