How Often Do You Clean Your Machines?

Are you good about keeping your machines clean?  Because it doesn't take much time, I generally clean my machines after each project.  I did a post a few years ago about machine maintenance - here.  I still use this process.  However, I am not at home.  I only had the screw driver and the paint brush.  That did not slow down the cleaning.  Here is the result:

Uck!  What you can not see from this picture is that the pile of dust is just as tall as the bobbin case.  I did not think that I had sewn a lot since the last cleaning.  I am fairly certain that I stitched a couple of muslins, 2 tanks, and about 30 masks. 

So a word of warning for all those mask makers, take a couple of minutes and clean your machines.  It is well worth your time to take care of your machines especially if they are electronic.  It is not the best time to be taking your machines to the shop.  I actually do not know if the sewing machine shops are even open.  It has been about 3 years since my machine has been to the shop.  There is a Viking shop about 30 to 45 minutes away.  I have not visited a Viking machine shop since I moved here.  I guess it is time to get out and see what the shop is like.  My machine is old in the world of electronics.  It is 12 years old.  I know at some point I will have to make a decision regarding it.  Hopefully it will not be soon.

Happy Stitching!

Cleaning Your Sewing Machine...

How often do you clean your sewing machine?  I generally clean my machine after every big project. My last project was a trapunto project with a lot of free motion embroidery. I knew my machine was in need of cleaning.  So, here's my process:

Here's the area in question on my machine.  I have already removed the presser foot and the bobbin cover.

Here are my favorite tools. With the exception of the screwdriver, the basic cleaning tools are the same as when I am cleaning the serger.

With this picture, you can see how dirty my machine is.  I was actually a little bit shocked at how much fuzz was in the bobbin area. I have removed all the loose items from this area.  They will be cleaned separately.  When cleaning this area, I mainly use the natural bristle paint brush.  I can get into a lot of the little nooks and crannies by turning the fly wheel and then moving the paint brush into the machine as far as I can. I also go around as many times as I feel necessary which is basically until I'm not longer finding any dust inside the machine.

All the loose items.  The throat plate will be wiped down along with the little gray part.  The bobbin case will be carefully dusted and checked to make that there isn't anything hung up inside.  Don't forget to check the feed dogs.  They will get the fuzz built up also.

Just to give you an idea of how dirty my machine was after a day of doing free motion embroidery.  That is a lot of dust.  In fact, this makes me want to have my machine serviced.

All sparkly clean and ready for the next project.

So, does this mean that you should take the time to clean your machine more often when doing free motion quilting?  What do you think?

Remember to clean your machine often.

Happy Sewing!

How Often Do You Clean Your Serger?

Are you a person who cleans your serger after every use?  I'm more of a it depends on the project. I just finished a project where the serger had to be cleaned many times.  Here's my serger where I'm getting ready to clean it for the next project:

A little pile of the synthetic fabric that was my last project.  I think I cleaned the machine 4 or 5 times while working on that project.  There was a lot of lint produced.

Here are my favorite tools for getting rid of the dusty materials inside the serger - a wool mini dust-it and a paint brush with natural bristles.  Yep, that is all.  I do not oil the machine every time I clean it.



Here you can see some of the fine fibers on the machine.  It is covered inside and outside with this dust.

I start with the mini dust-it to knock out all the large particles. Then, move in with the paint brush and dust inside the machine everywhere I can reach bringing out the little clumps of dust.

Next, I take off the cover and presser foot.  Using both the mini dust-it and the paintbrush, I remove as much of the dusty particles as I can see.  Then, I put the machine back together.

  You can see the little pile of dusty particles that came out of the machine with this cleaning.  It is now ready for the next project and so am I.

Happy Stitching!