Weird paint on my Pfaff 332
 

I've just started working on this little doll today and after trying a few different products I wasn't sure about any of them.

I need to stop and re-evaluate what is going on and what can I clean it with?

The paint is your typical Pfaff hammertone paint. I believe is was originally a light grey/beige color. It has several areas where the paint has worn off but it also has areas where the paint is thickened and yellowed. In those areas I can feel it a bit tacky.

I'm not sure if this is dirt/scum/oil or did the Pfaffs have a clear coat too?

If anyone has dealt with this I would love to hear input on cleaning methods.

How weird!

Mine has some very minor yellowish spots around the lid and in the little lines where the stem meets the body, but I have been assuming it's just grime from sloppy oiling. I haven't gotten around to giving it a spa day yet so not sure how easily it'll come off. Definitely nothing to the degree you've got going there.

Is it for sure the coating that's coming off? If you clean it off, are you left with bare metal? Or plain flat paint? I'm just wondering if it's not some sort of grunge that's accumulated rather than being the machine's coating that's failing.

It does seem to be focused on the bed...maybe someone used to sew some sort of vinyl that had chemicals that reacted with something in the coat? It almost looks like some sort of sunburn but I can't imagine sunlight would destroy the finish like that or seems like my gran's machine would have had issues - it sat in full sun (through a window) for part of the day for 50 years and had nothing like this happen to it.

Does it sew OK? I'm so happy that I got mine running, it has such a nice quiet sound to it for being such a steel beast.

I can't figure out what to call this color. When I was a girl I thought it was a light army green, and I still think there's a touch of green in there somewhere.

It looks like something attacked the paint. The stickiness would indicate that too. I know that at least the modern hammertone type paints are lacquer based. I'm not sure if the old ones were. Lacquers tend to be a little more delicate than enamels IMO.
Hammertone paints are still available. The colors are limited though. You're not likely to get an exact match. IIRC you can make your own too. The internet can help you there.
It looks like only the bed of the machine is affected. I would remove it and only repaint that part. That or try to find one being parted out and buy the bed from it.
Rodney

My best guess is it's oil both from oiling and from hands. I was told this machine was the sellers mothers main machine for many years. This color is the worst on the bed but it is in other areas that seem to be consistant with oil and grunge on any machines I clean.

Sewing machine oil did nothing. Tuff Stuff makes the cotton ball come back brown so I think that is dirt but the color isn't changing. A bit of TR-3 seems to make the cotton ball come back dark grey and that doesn't feel right, so I called a halt until I could get a better plan.

It powers up and all the switches move but I am not sure how they all work yet and the motor isn't strong as in it needs interiors cleaned first before playing too much with it. I bought this machine without a power cord but from someone I have bought other machines from so i took a chance. I have cords for it now so it's time to clean it up and see what we have here.

Here's a link to a manual for it: http://www.manualowl.com/m/Pfaff/332/Manual/333705

It's a trip, if you sew one of the decorative patterns, those dials in the middle there will move around a bit. Spooked me the first time I saw that, I first thought something had broken and they were coming loose!

You'll need the design wheel to figure out the decorative stitches. I didn't get one of those with mine so I ordered one from a fellow in Germany through eBay. It should be here soon - I think it's a repro and not an original but that's OK with me. You have to change settings in 3-4 places to get each specific stitch. So far in playing around with the knobs without the wheel, all I get are ragged zigzags, LOL.

It looks like you're missing the light switch button too.

Yep, missing the light switch button, and a screw in the clutch wheel but I found a replacement for that last night. It also appears to be missing a cover for the lamp..if there was a cover. It's a work in progress lol.

I tried some goo gone and it worked on other odd bits but not on the deck. She wasn't a smoker..the house smelled fine and other machines were all clean.

I don't think there was a cover for the lamp. My gran's machine didn't have one, anyway. Mine doesn't either. I always thought it was funny that it had the little lever to lower the bulb; when I was a kid I assumed that was so you could get the light even closer to your work and I liked to sew with it lowered. Of course that just put it right where it could burn the back of my hand, LOL. (I was a cute kid, but sometimes not the sharpest tool in the drawer...)

I don't think that looks like nicotine stains either - I'd expect those up on the arm and head rather than down on the deck - seems like it'd be constantly buffed off of the deck if that's what it was.

I'll be really curious to see what it looks like when you get whatever that is off. This might be a good candidate for a repaint! I've never seen a repainted 332, could be a very unique machine, lol.

Nice to know it never had a light cover. That makes me feel like it's missing one less thing lol. The whatever is NOT going to clean off. I've found if i really try then paint come off instead. It's into the paint and pretty sure it's here to stay unless/until I decided to repaint it.

I'll work on getting it cleaned up and running so I can play with it. I guess I can stand the uggo exterior for now and could consider a repaint at a future date.

Maybe just a lower-half repaint...I can't imagine how much work it would take to actually empty this body out to the point where you could really repaint it properly!! I sure am not brave enough to try it, I was so glad the fix for mine just involved the lower tensioner area on the side and nothing under the "hood".