Diana Lea

We got an old singer stand. The paint looks old and dull. I would like to repaint it. Do I sand blast the old paint off or just paint over it? THANKS!

SteveH

Well now. The first one I did I wire-wheeled the metal down to iron (more gentle than sandblasting) and then did a repaint. I was happy enough with it that I am doing another now.

With that said, I have about 9 treadles and only two were bad enough to warrant a repaint. The othere were saved by a good wipedown with a clean cloth and sewing machine oil. I do that first to all of them. if I cannot stand how it looks after that then and only then do I repaint.

Final note... it is your machine, do what gives you joy. we have opinions but do not judge.

Stitchnripper

I had one that looked "sad". No rust. I washed it and dried it immediately and then used stove polish on it. It isn't shiny but it looks really good to me. My brand was Rutland Stove and Grill polish and I got it at a store that sells outdoor grills and fireplace things.

Diana Lea

Thank you for your input.

DogHouseMom

I personally prefer to sand blast before repainting IF there are places where the previous paint is missing. I don't like to paint over missing paint areas as to my eye they always show through. But I also happen to own a sand blaster and it's great fun to use so ... I use it

That said, I have only done my old Singer treadles. None of them are "rare" or have any historical significance. If I acquired a rare machine that had irons in less than perfect state ... I may not touch them at all except for a gentle clean.

tessagin

friend of mine took theirs to a auto body guy who used walnuts to blast it. They took a photo of how it was suppose to look from an old photo they found on the internet. It was beautiful when it was finished. Turns out the auto body guy fixed his grandmothers the same way. His wife uses it. Auto body guy was only 23 years old and they were quick fixes for him.

MadCow333

I didn't want to make a "Federal Project" out of refinishing mine. I removed the entire top from the cast iron base first. So I just bought a few (like 6) small wire brushes, wire-brushed it hastily, steel-wooled with 0000 grade, rinsed it with lacquer thinner, lot dry. Then I brush-painted using Rustoleum black semigloss and a decent artist brush that wouldn't leave brush marks. After that, I bought gold paint from the art supply store at the mall and painted the Singer letters and those designs on the ends. Those gold paints come in different hues, and some are more "24k," some more brassy, some yellow, some coppery. I ended up using one of the deeper golds.