Decal Flaking
I just picked up a Singer 15-91 which appears to be in somewhat decent condition. It is very dusty and dirty, but moves freely. The foot controller, light and I assume motor will need to be rewired. But my concern right now it the decals. I used a soft brush to remove the loose dust and wipe it off lightly with a soft dry cloth. After doing so I noticed that some of the decal on the center of the bed flaked off (I checked my "before" pictures of the machine and the decal was complete). The outline of the decal is there so I think I could touch it up fairly easily. The horizontal surfaces of the machine are very dull, but I tried some ScratchX to a small spot on the back of the machine and it did shine up.
But right now I'm a bit afraid to even touch the machine for fear of causing more damage to the decals. How do you think I should proceed? How to I clean the machine surfaces and not damage the decals? I obviously need to get to protection on the decals, but how so I do so with the dirty surface and such fragile decals? I have read Glen's tutorial on French polishing, but at least parts of the decals on this machine seem pretty fragile. Is there someway to get them clean and stabilize them before trying to protect them with the French polishing them?
Rewiring doesn't faze me, but trying to figure out how to take care of the finish of this machine and not cause anymore damage has me breaking out in a rash. All my other machines just needed a light cleaning and polish. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Tammy