Singer 15-30 restoration and decals
 

Hi all,

My first post here, been lurking for a while....
I wondered if anyone could advise please - I am currently restoring a 1914 Singer 15-30 machine and treadle table for my wife.
The decals are in near perfect condition, but the machine is completely caked in oil, grease, dirt, etc. but thankfully very little if any rust. I've started to gently clean the machine, but wasn't sure what the actual colour of the decals should be. They are the 'Tiffany' / 'Gingerbread' style.
On the photos I've attached of the close-up decal, there is a much lighter bit - is this me taking too much of the surface off, or is that the colour the decals should be? Also, I presume this will be coated in shellac, so I need to be extra careful. Has anyone ever re-shellaced?
Any advice greatly appreciated!
Many thanks

Welcome. That is neat that it has the Singer mat. I have never seen one in real life.

Those are my favorite decals. The first one I saw, but was not in a position to buy it, seemed to have a lot of rose pink and green in the decals. They also seemed rather translucent. The machines that I have been able to get since then, seemed to have been washed out from what I remembered.

There are some stickies at the beginning of this vintage and antique sewing machine section of the board that have some very good instructions about how to clean & use this old machines. The two I'm referring to are rather long, but have a lot of good information. The second one is how to re-shellac the machines. I know that Glenn still checks in here and has been about answering questions. I know several have good outcomes following his instructions.
https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...v-t167789.html
https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...s-t193635.html

Glenn also did a couple of threads about the cabinets. Those are:
https://www.quiltingboard.com/tutori...s-t109859.html
https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...ts-t97670.html

That is a good machine to sew with.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Thank you Janey, will take a look!

Don't use water or any water based cleaner or you may "silver" the decals.

There are a few sources of what I believe to be good information about what decals looked like when new. See here:


https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_mac...ic-decals.html

https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery_decals

https://www.singerdecals.com/