Thursday, January 22, 2009

How To Maintain Your Own Sewing Machine

By David Trumble

Have you ever visited a luxury automobile showroom? The cars sparkle with a sheen so bright you can almost see to comb your hair by. When you sat in that car, it had a super special feeling. If you had the privilege of going for a test drive, wasnt it amazing?

Your sewing machine is smaller than a car, and it tends to pretty much stay in the same place instead of rolling down the highway. Yet it requires much of the same kind of care you would give your luxury car.

Your sewing machine requires regular service at least once a year. If you have completed a sewing machine repair course, you may even do your own. The more you use your machine, the more often it will need to be serviced.

If you use your machine for embroidery, it should be serviced every 1,000,000 stitches.

If you do a lot of sewing with linty fabrics, you need to have your machine serviced more frequently. If you use your sewing machine professionally, it will require more frequent sewing machine service.

A recent national survey of sewing machine repair shops revealed a wide range of charges. A standard tune up in more rural areas might run as low as $79.95, but in a city shop you might find prices starting at as much as $150.00. Repairs and parts are always extra.

What if you could save as much as $1,000 on your sewing machine even after you buy it? Over a ten or twelve year period, you will need at least a dozen sewing machine tune ups. If the average cost is only $99, you can save $1,000 by simply learning to do your own sewing machine services. It makes a great hobby too, or even a good part time business. All you have to do is learn to do your own sewing machine tune ups. Short of that, you need to at least be able to maintain your machine between tune up.

You might really enjoy a sewing machine repair course. However, there are some things you can do right now to reduce your service costs. By properly maintaining your machine between tune ups, you can enjoy longer periods between shop visits and much less frustration.

First, replace your needle every few hours. You would be amazed how much wear and tear are caused by dull needles. Needles are so inexpensive, you deserve a fresh new one.

Second, Throw junk thread away. Refuse to use them. Linty cotton covered polyester threads are a disaster. They fill you machine with fine powdery fibers that get mixed with the oils and grease. They can harden into a substance as hard a concrete. Instead, demand quality threads. Use long fiber top quality threads on every project. It will save problems.

Three: Sewing machines are vulnerable to environmental exposure. Keep your sewing machine protected at all times from moisture, dirt, smoke, dust, temperature extremes, and direct sunlight. Sewing machines like to be clean, safe, and pretty.

Step four: After ever two hours of sewing, uncover the bobbin area. Remove the bobbin area cover. Remove the bobbin. Remove the bobbin carrier. If there is a bracket over the hook, remove it. Notice the hook moves along a groove called the race. Use canned air (upright only), sewing machine vacuum, or air compressor to remove all lint and debris from the bobbin area.

Fifth, before you put your bobbin and bobbin area back together, put one drop of pure clean sewing machine oil on the little groove the hook moves in. Remember, do just one drop every two to three sewing hours after you clean out the bobbin area. Reassemble the bobbin are and prepare to sew again.

Step six: Every two to three hours, open the cover over the needle take up lever. Some sewing machine models have doors that open at the touch of a finger. Some have a cover held in place by a single screw. Once the area is exposed, blow out or clean out all lint and gunk that may have collected in the area. Look closely around the needle bar and the various shafts and parts for threads and debris. Remove them.

Step Seven: While the needle bar area is exposed, place one drop of pure clean sewing machine oil everywhere that metal parts touch. Rotate the hand wheel forward to spread the oil over the various parts.

Now with this seven step home service, you have protected your sewing machine, maintained it in peak condition, prolonged the life or your machine, and saved a bundle on repairs. Check out a good repair course to learn even more about sewing machine repair. - 16928

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