If you to maintain the overall performance of your sewing machine, then you must clean it regularly. Cleaning sewing machine, especially electronic sewing machines, is more delicate as compared to mechanical sewing machines. If you don’t know how to clean a sewing machine, don’t worry, in this article, we will provide you with a detailed guide on How to clean a sewing machine. The good thing is for doing this you don’t need too many tools. A few right tools are enough for cleaning your sewing machine.
The tools that you need for cleaning sewing machine are:
- A small brush may be a paintbrush or a small makeup brush.
- A crew driver
- Mini vacuum
- Clean cloth
The steps that you need to follow are:
Step1:
Cut the thread from the spool. Pull out thread from the needle by grabbing the thread from the front of the needle. Make sure that you won’t pull it from the top; otherwise, it may affect the delicate parts of the sewing machine. Pulling out the thread backward from the spool causes the lint to build up or damage tensions disks or springs. Do it safely by removing threads from the bottom.
Step 2:
The bobbin case has lint bunnies and stitch plates. Clean them using a brush. If thread lint’s are built up in colossal amount use mini vacuum. A mini vacuum has a flexible tip that easily reaches to the tight spots
Step 3:
Use a stiff brush to get remaining dust out of dust bunnies.
Strep 4:
Apply some drops of sewing machine oil into your sewing machine. If you don’t know how to oil sewing machine. See the article How to oil a sewing machine.
Step 5:
Replace the removing parts, stitch plate, or bobbin case into its place.
Step 6:
Put back presser foot and add a new needle. See How to change the sewing machine needle.
That’s all. You are good to go!
Precautions to keep sewing machine clean:
- Keep your sewing machine covered. Most sewing machines come with a dust cover. Use this dust cover to cover your machine.
- Change needles of your sewing machine regularly. It suggested that replace them after 6 to 8 hours of use.
- Avoid using vintage or old thread. The reason is vintage threads tend to produce loose fibers. Moreover, makes more lint accumulate. You can use vintage threads for a pretty display.
- Be careful while winding bobbins.
- Ensure that you have your machine serviced by technicians. They will grease it when necessary, check the tension settings and all parts of the machine.
The things that you should never do while cleaning your sewing machine:
Like many other appliances, sewing machines are also very delicate. Avoid doing the following things to keep your sewing machines working correctly.
1. Don’t use air blower for cleaning the sewing machine:
Air dryer will push the dirt and dust into your swing machine. The air pressure of the air dryer pushes the dust particles further into your machine; it becomes very hard to pull it out. Instead of using a blow dryer use a mini vacuum cleaner, as mentioned above.
The best way forward is to use this mini handheld vacuum cleaner, like the one we use in the kitchen when we don’t want to pull the big vacuum. If you use a standard vacuum cleaner, you can set it to the lowest level of sucking if possible and use a new bag to find anything that can be sucked in by accident.
The vacuum cleaner will remove dirt particles and lint instead of pushing it into the machine.
There is also another reason why we don’t want to use the air blower with our machine. The fan air will contain moisture. Therefore, when using it, you will apply a little moisture to all the small parts inside your sewing machine. And we all know that moisture and metal is a nasty combination. This will end up creating rust inside your machine, which is very bad and something we should try to avoid.
You can also use the same type of suction head that you would use for a computer keyboard. They are designed to be able to reach tight spaces, such as cracks and corners.
2. Turn off the machine while cleaning( In case of an electric machine):
Altogether remove the power cord from the machine before starting to work on it. You should never open any electronic device before properly disconnecting it. This is for your own safety. We do this to ensure that we do not end up with the needle on your finger or with an electric shock.
If you unplug it and do not remove the power cord, you may accidentally plug it in suddenly. Therefore, always obliterate the power cord before starting.
3. Avoid using excessive oil:
Another thing that people struggle with is getting the right amount of oil when they finish cleaning. It is very important to lubricate your machine, but it is essential not to apply too much oil. When you use too much oil, you end up attracting dirt and lint, instead of making the machine run smoothly.
Conclusion:
In this article, we will guide you in detail the step-by-step process to clean your sewing machine. Cleaning is very important for increasing the overall performance of your machine. In addition, it also elongates the overall life of your machine, plus it also looks good.
When you sew clothes, lint is accumulated into your machine. No matter what you do, it’s obvious. But what you can certainly avoid is its consequence by cleaning it regularly. Generally, cleaning is recommended after every 10 hours of use. But it will be even better if you clean it more often.