YUCK! What can I use on this mess?
 

My first bobbin assembly tear down and clean up. I am NOT thrilled. This machine was so beautiful on the outside and when I looked at what I could when it was on the sale floor I never suspected this.

I have already cleaned out a bunch of greasy sticky fuzz and a greasy ball of tangled thread.
So I have made a note to myself that what you see on the outside is possibly not going to be what you get for the working insides and to really really try to get a good hard look. I am getting an idea of what goes with the vintage sewing machine territory. ;)

What would you use to clean this mess up with? Liquid Wrench? Any help appreciated.

Hi,
did you check out the sticky posts at the top of this vintage/antiques machines section? There is a lot of great info there on what the "specialists" here on the board use/recommend to clean vintage machines. As I am new to vintage machine "cleaning" I will leave it to others more knowledgeable than I to chime in...
Regards,
K

Thanks yes I did but there seems to be a lot of different ideas on what works and what people feel shouldn't be used. I was hoping by showing a picture someone would say I use such and such on that kind of a mess and it worked great. :)

Allow me....

1. Use sewing machine oil.

That is it. Now, to apply the oil you can use any of the following; q-tip(any part), soft cloth (any part), rough cloth (everything but decals), steel wool (or synthetic steel wool also known as green or blue scrubbies)(metal parts ONLY), wire brush (brass is best)(metal parts ONLY)


Apply the oil, give it some time to soften the old oil (what you see there that looks like resin) and then wipe/brush clean

If you REALLY need to have the metal parts shine, after using the oil to clean it you can use Brasso to polish it (Non-abrasive)

just my .02

...also, that was not even that bad.... really really. Imagine the same maintenance of the exterior only, now make the machine 130 years old.... sigh....

For the parts you removed you could use alcohol. But alcohol dissolves the paint so for the parts that are inside you could use liquid wrench. It's mostly kerosene and very stinky. I would try sewing machine oil first. Squirt some on and then rub with a rag, let stand, repeat, etc. Requires more patience but I really hate the smell of liquid wrench.

Not to minimize your complaint, but your machine doesn't look so bad! The gunk looks like dried up oil. There doesn't seem to be rust, and that's the worst.

For the brown gunk on the insides I usually use kerosene on an old toothbrush, then follow with Tri-Flow.

Nice looking machine. Like most have stated, sewing machine oil.

Be careful using this sequence... Kerosene is a great oil breakdown chemical, but for the same reason, if you do not get ALL of it out of the little nooks and crannies and between moving parts, you will be breaking down your new oil soon...

I only use the harsh oil cutter methods with parts that I am removing, so that I can be sure to clean it all.

All of the above is good advice. SteveH sums it up with the above quote. Know when to use harsh chemicals and when to use oil. If in doubt, use oil.