Oiling Your Sewing Machine

Don’t Feed Your Machine, Oil It!
Once Celia was servicing a machine and found the inside chock full of Chex Mix, raisins, and marshmallows!* Hey! Our sewing machines are our friends. So, even if they beg, please don't feed them—just oil them with sewing machine oil. So, we're sharing some good advice from Lyn Lackey about how to oil your machine properly in her "10 Ways to Love Your Machine".

Keep your machine well oiled. Oil it every 8-10 hours of actual sewing or once a month or when you are sewing after your machine has not been used for a few months. Refer to your machine manual in order to know where to oil and be sure not to over oil. After oiling, sew a few stitches on a small swatch of fabric to absorb any excess before beginning your project.

Older machines need oil in several places as outlined in your manual. The newer machines only need oil on the hook race. If you've lost your manual, don't be embarrassed—just call us and ask. Make sure you know where to oil your machine and do it faithfully—or you'll be seeing us sooner than you want!

*In all fairness, this incident involved a machine in a high school classroom. Go figure, somebody there didn't want to sew!