J Miller

"IF" it is a good substitute for the Singer Motor Lube in the tube I will try it. I'm not so sure about her comments about Petroleum Jelly considering what I've read in other places, but a real lubricant is better.

Joe

Rodney

That was the one thing that really stood out for me. I've seen petroleum jelly recommended by people who should know what they're doing because it had the same melting temperature as the original lube. Nova says it makes a sticky mess inside the machine. She also states that many old manuals say not to. She could be right, they could all be right. Conflicting data isn't that hard to find in the sewing machine world. I only have one machine where I put petroleum jelly in it and it hasn't been there long enough and the machine doesn't get ran often enough to really give it a fair test.
I'm not ordering any any time soon (financial reasons, nothing against the product itself) but from what I've seen of other products the price doesn't seem terrible when you think of the cost of getting it made or at least repackaged in small amounts and it sounds like she put in the effort to find a good product. A little also goes a long way so a tube is likely to last a while.
I don't think she plans to retire off it, I think she is actually just trying to provide a good solution to a known problem.
Rodney

sdhaevrsi

Thank you for your reviews, as far as they can go at this point, just from this information. I appreciate it.

J Miller

A couple of my White made machines have little grease pots on the motors. The manual says to use petroleum jelly for lube. The little grease pots have wicks in them just like the Singer motor grease pots, so the design is very similar.
I don't see how the use of petroleum jelly would cause soot in the motor ... unless too much p-j was forced into the motor. I suspect that Singer motor lube would cause the same problem if used excessively.

Still if this is an actual grease that is the same or at least functionally the same as the Singer Motor Lube, I'd prefer to use that in lieu of petroleum jelly.

Joe

misseva

I read Nova's article yesterday and was wondering what some of you 'old heads' here think about it. Since they don't make Singer lube any more like the original formula, what do you use other than petroleum jelly? And if you use petroleum jelly how do you get it in the grease tubes? Does it come in syringes? Can you tell I'm completely ignorant when it comes to machines? I have a FW that needs to be lubed and I don't want to mess it up. I do have a tube of Singer lube that I bought fairly recently and now I'm afraid of using it.

Rodney

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Singer was repackaging petroleum jelly with a few additives (like maybe a little lead to help keep things quiet) then recommending against using petroleum jelly. We are talking about the same company that destroyed trade-in machines to help remove competition from new sales after all.
Rodney

Rodney

If you ask at your pharmacy you can get a syringe with a blunt tip. They're used to give oral medicines to kids sometimes.
The last tubes I filled I just forced the jelly in with my fingers.
Rodney

J Miller

Sew-Classic has craft syringes and you can also buy them hobby shops. Most have a curved tip you can cut to just the right diameter to fit inside the hole on the Singer grease tubes. Then just fill the syringe from any bottle of p-j put the plunger back in and inject it into the motor.

I have so many partial tubes of the original Singer Motor Lube in the tube I'm not hurting. But were I to run out I'd give the p-j a try. It works in my White made machines, why wouldn't it work in a Singer?

And Rodney, you might just have something there.

Joe

mlmack

Actually, the Featherweight manual doesn't warn against using petroleum jelly in the motor. It just says "Never use oil or ordinary grease on the motor. For best results, use Singer motor lubricant furnished with the machine."

I wouldn't classify petroleum jelly as an ordinary grease.

SuzzyQ

I just talked to an old Singer repairman and he said to oil the part that comes out of the motor only and forget trying to lube ... since Singer doesn't make the lube anymore. Still sounds wrong but if you think about out it ... how often of some of the old Singers actually been lubed and oiled and they still are running like tops. My grandmother's Singer from 1950 has been serviced once that I know of and I learned to sew on it.