Water rings on Featherweight
 

I didn't realize that setting a cold cup down on the fold down part of my Featherweight would leave a watermark ring from the liquid condensing on the outside of the cup and running down the exterior.

I tried to immediately rub it out when I realized it happened. Cup wasn't down for very long (maybe less than 15 minutes). So far a brisk rub didn't do anything, but if I scratched with my fingernails it started to disappear.

Have you EVER heard of this happening before? What do you do to keep the japanning on the exterior looking good? I'll have to try waxing it down like several of the restoration threads on this blog suggest.

Still, I wouldn't have thought the finish was SO DELICATE.

The machine was looking really good, but now really looks like garbage! Yikes!!!

Any ideas? I would really like to know if anyone else has had this problem.

Hi Vicky

I bought a machine that looked like that, thinking it would be good to repaint.
By the time I was finished cleaning and oiling it, it didn't need a repaint. Oops!

Try oiling the body with sewing machine oil. (In this case only, I may suggest the regular sewing machine oil, not the triflow everyone likes for the moving parts.) Even leave it on that spot for a few minutes and then wipe away the excess. Try it a few times, I find that the oil seems to build up where it needs to.

After that, if it still doesn't look like you want it to, apply a coat of good quality car wax with a high carnauba wax content in it. I use Mother's products on our vehicles and the sewing machines. I get this from NAPA in Canada, but any automotive shop should have it.

Good luck!!

For cryin' out loud don't scrap it off, and don't coat it will oil. Wait before doing anything else to it! Singer used shellac to coat the black paint on all the machines they manufactured. The shellac is what didn't like the water. You need to learn about shellac finishes, and how to repair them. Join a conversation with Glenn and ask him what you need to do. He's one of the experts, I've followed his directions on restoring several of my machines.

Leave it alone. It will dry overnight.

I think you can fix it with denatured alcohol. Google a bit and see if it comes up, I'm not positive. Glenn may know.

Denatured alcohol will make it much worse, it dissolves shellac. I know you want to save your baby, it IS fixable, just make sure you learn about shellac finishes before touching the ring. :~)

Yes, which is why it can also fix it. You just have to be careful. Do you have a solution?

Yes, my solution is to look for Glenn's tutorial on sewing machine finishes. :)

If, after the machine is completely dry, you still have water rings, then you can use one of the products (available at the big box stores, and paint stores) that is a treated cloth made to remove white rings.
I, personally, would give TR3 a try on it....sounds like the water oxidized the finish.

Sorry if people vehemently disagree with what I said. I was relating what has worked for me, and what has been recommended to me by more than one OSMG. The SM oil will not hurt the machine. The OSMGs I deal with (neither knows each other, and neither knows I talk to the other one) both say that using SM oil to clean a machine is the way to keep the finish shiny and black.

According to David Mccallum, Naptha (lighter fluid) can be used to remove SM oil residue (I tried it once, it scared the hell out of me), if necessary but he says very specifically never to use alcohol on Shellac, it's a solvent for shellac.

Carnauba wax will leave a layer behind to help protect the machine. Also a David Mccallum recommendation.