I have acquired 2 Singer Touch & Sew machines & am trying to decide if they are worth cleaning for my grown kids.

What is the experience any of you have w/ the T & S Singer? I know they are not equal to vintage Singers, but my DD & son just want them for mending, lengthening, shortening items, sewing curtains, etc. Straight stitch & zigzag are their only requests - doubt they will use the fancy cams, etc.

Anyone here have info to shed light on whether these would be worth the time to clean & if they function well enough for mending - answers much appreciated.

The Touch and Sew was the first machine I bought with my babysitting money as a 15 year old and I loved it! My understanding now is because it was not an all metal machine, some of the internal plastic/nylon gears, parts become brittle with age and break. Repairs may be expensive or difficult/impossible to fix. I would check out this before deciding on a Touch and Sew. The machines do sew well but the self winding bobbins may give trouble.

A sewing machine repair man told me that the 404 - one of the slant-o-matic ones - is a good machine.

It does straight stitch only, but a lovely one.

I bought a Touch N Sew new in the 70's, it has many miles on it but I still use it on a fairly regular basis. I have had very little trouble with it - no major repairs, just regular cleaning and service from time to time.

I started looking for a backup machine as I didn't want to be without anything last fall. I ended up getting an even older 15-91 so now I just use the Touch N Sew for applique and when I need a zig zag.

Like any machine - if it is taken care of it should be fine for what they would use it. I would recommend having a manual for one though.

was also the first i bought love it i passed it on to preachers wife. the only thing about it is there is a plastic gear or something that if it breaks i was told cannot be replaced but if they are still working i loved mine it is the only machine that i have passed on to any one but my girls.

I used a slant nedle touch n sew for about 30 years. Made clothing for kids and me, furniture slipcovers, upholstery, drapes, etc, etc. Replaced it with an embroidery machine 8 years ago. Still have the singer an it still works fine. It's a much better machine than the singers on the market today. Why do you think so many of us are buying featherweights? They're older singers.

I had a Golden touch and sew machine that I got in the 1970's, it was the worst machine I have had. When something went wrong with it., you had to pay Singer to do a complete tune up before they would fix the problem.

I got ride of that., and have moved out to Baby Lock Machines., I love them. Our Sr. Center must have 25 or so Singer's and no one will use them. Everyone brings there own machines. From Baby Locks, to Bernina., the only singers they will use is their own Featherweights.

From the 1970's when the Singer company was taken over by a company that never had anything to do with Sewing Machines.

The old singer were great., and I don't think you can beat the Featherweights for simple sewing. They are well worth the price.

This is so true! My husband bought me a Touch-n-Sew as a newlywed in 1974. I sewed everything on it....my clothes, his shirts, curtains, quilts, kids' clothes. I sewed on every kind of fabric there was too...cottons, polyesters, double knits, and even repaired bluejeans. I used straight stitch, zig-zag, and the decorative stitches. That machine got a tremendous workout and lasted me almost 20 years. But then it started having problems and eventually wouldn't sew, just made a clunking sound. I took it to a repair shop and was told that the plastic gears had broken and the cost of repair would be almost the same as the price of a new machine. I couldn't afford to fix it at the time, and eventually got a newer machine, but couldn't bring myself to part with my old friend. Maybe someday I can have it restored. We share lots of memories.

I bought a 1966 (the 626 "special" zig-zag) T&S at a thrift store a few days ago for $12, and it does NOT have plastic gears. I took it all apart and cleaned it...it sews beautifully. And the in-place bobbin winder is AWESOME! I don't know why my $1K+ Bernina doesn't have that! :) I plan on taking it up to our cabin to have a machine there, and may even teach my 7 year old to sew on it.

IMO, it'd be a great first machine for someone.

It think maybe in 1966 they were still good machines.

What it cost to repair something with plastic, that you can't get parts for anymore is most likely more than it is worth.