beckyw

Does Singer all purpose machine oil gum up your machine. I heard years ago that it gums up your machine, I used zoom spout for years because quilt shops said it was better.

Onebyone

Machine oil is made to evaporate, thus the reason you don't have to change the oil before adding new. I use the oil the quilt shop sells. It has the long spout. I think singer oil may be best for older machines.

Quiltwoman44

i have Singer oil and used it for years. even on my Janome now. not sure if it's all purpose though.

sewingpup

Different machines require different oils. Basically, I would use the one recommended by the maker of your machine. While they all contain "oil" some oils are more refined then others and contain different "oils"

sewingpup

As I have a Bernina....I copied this advice from the Bernina website:"Always use the original oil supplied by BERNINA. It is a high-quality, resin-free and acid-free oil with the right consistency. If you finish the oil supplied, you should buy a new one from your BERNINA dealer.

If you use cooking oil, you will do more harm than good to your sewing machine because the oil turns into a thick, sticky mass after application, meaning that the hook can no longer run smoothly and easily. We do not recommend any other machine oils from retailers or online stores.
Important:

The consistency of the oil varies slightly depending on the hook, so the oil for the BERNINA hook should not be used for rotary hooks, for example. If you also have an overlocker, the oil for this is different from conventional sewing machine oil."

I have invested enough in my machine to follow this advice as oil really does last a long time.
The other machine I have is Viking....but it does not require oiling at all
On my long arm I do use a different sewing machine oil then on my Bernina

Quiltwoman44

mine is old, Janome MC4800. nothing in the whole book on oil. nada. and no oil came with it either. even my repairman never mentioned oil or tried to sell me any. the Singer oil is still clear, not cloudy, so i use a drop every once in awhile. does help.

Jingle

I only use the oil came with my machines, It is a very light oil. My two used only machines need to be oiled often. I bought a quart of it and about half gone.

quiltedsunshine

"Singer" and "Lilly White" are the two basic sewing machine oils. They are the same and are made from mineral oil. Bernina has made a couple different oils with different vescosities (or thickness), but they are basically the same thing -- mineral oil.

You want to avoid 2-in-1 oil. It tends to make a black, sticky mess on a sewing machine.

WD-40 is a solvent, not a lubricant. We use it to remove gummed-up oil, but it has to be completely removed while wet.

Tri-flow is an awesome oil for older machines that tend to get gummed up. It has added Teflon, that gets things moving. Not recommended for newer machines.

sewingpup

from Wikepedia:

"Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name mineral oil by itself is imprecise, having been used for many specific oils over the past few centuries. "

My understanding is that most sewing machine oils are "mineral" but some are "lighter" then others. And some machines have tighter clearances or whatever, so the different sewing machine makers recommended the specific type of sewing machine oil (mineral oil) they think is best for their products.

Quiltwoman44

found this Do I need to oil my Janome 6500?