When it comes to sewing machine maintenance, knowing how to clean and oil your sewing machine is something everyone who owns a sewing machine should know.
That’s not to say you shoud never be taking your sewing machine to be serviced, but maintaiing the health of your machine at home will mean less damage to your machine over time and less expensive service and repair bills too.
If you’re here as part of my ‘learn to sew series’, this is lesson four, and the accompanying video is at the bottom of this post.
What You’ll Need To Clean And Oil Your Sewing Machine
There are some basic sewing tools you’ll need in order to successfully clean and oil your machine and these are:
- Awl (preferred)
- Cotton buds
- Lint brush (optional)
- Scrap fabric
- Screwdriver
- Sewing machine oil
Some people recommend compressed air, but I do not use it myself, as I feel that the air may in fact push lint and dust further into the machine, leaving the possibility of damage greater.
Before we get started, I think it would be wise to show you just how dirty a sewing machine can get. Here’s what the needle-late of my sewing machine looks like after three projects.
And then this is what the back of the needle plate looks like!
As you can see, plenty of cleaning to do for this tutorial!
If you do still have the instruction manual for your sewing machine, do check this, as there may be tips and hints included on how best to clean your machine.
How To Clean Your Sewing Machine
To start with, I like to remove all parts that can be removed. This includes:
- Bobbin
- Bobbin casing
- Sewing machine needle
- Needle plate
- Presser foot
In the accompanying video at the bottom of this article, I am cleaning and oiling my Bernina sewing machine.
I use a combination of the lint brush and the scrap fabric to remove any lint and dust from the individual pieces once they’ve been removed from the sewing machine, and then switch to the cotton bud and awl to remove more lint from the hard to reach sections of my sewing machine.
I go in with the awl first, as it has a sharp point and can be used to coax the lint out of the depths. I then use the cotton bud to collect up the clumps and make sure they do not go further into the machine.
I could use the lint brush, but I personally find I have less control and that I’m at a greater risk of pushing the lint and dust further into the machine rather than out.
Step 1: Cleaning The Needle Plate Area
You can see that the only parts I haven’t removed are the feed dog and that’s because it’s the screws are too tight for me to undo.
Start by cleaning the needle plate area, as this is housed above the bobbin area and we dont want to be cleaning it twice!
If you’re able to remove the needle plate then do so. You can see in the photo that I’ve removed everything possible, so that I can really get in and give everything a good clean.
I use my awl from below to ‘push up’ any visible larger clumps of lint so that they don’t go down into the machine area.
I then go in with my cotton buds to gather up the remaining dust and lint from the needle plate area.
Getting stuck in with both the awl and the cotton buds leaves the needle plate area very clean and ready for the next stage!
Now that the needle plate area has been cleaned up, we can move onto the bobbin area.
Step 2: Cleaning The Bobbin Area
The bobbin area can gather up quite a bit of lint and dust, so do open it up as much as you’re able to, and really get in and remove as much as possible.
The photo below shows the state of my bobbin area before cleaning it up.
I use the cotton buds to cleans out any very visible dirt, and then use my awl to go in and coax harder or more trickier lint out.
Below is how much dirt I removed from my sewing machine on this occasion.
A tip to prevent dust and lint build up is to keep your sewing machine covered. I’m guilty of not doing this and am frequently having to clean my sewing machine.
Now that all the lint has been cleaned up from your sewing machine, we move onto oiling!
How To Oil A Sewing Machine
Oiling sewing machines often comes down to following one rule: oil moving parts only!
The reason being is that oiling the moving parts prevents friction, wear and tear on the areas preventing unnecessary damage while oiling non-moving parts means machine oil will just be sitting in place, with the excess oil making things sticky and messy.
As mentioned earlier, do check your sewing machine manual first for any recommendations on how to oil a sewing machine.
Step 1: Oiling The Bobbin Area
The area where your bobbin is housed sees a lot of movement. The bobbin hook is located here and moves with every rotation of the hand wheel. Turn it with your bobbin house open to see!
I use my super fine pointed oil applicator in the above photo to get the machine oil dotted around the bobbin housing. You won’t need much here.
Step 2: Oiling The Needle Plate Area
To oil this section you really need to get up close to your sewing machine to see which parts actually move.
In the above photo – you can’t see it due to the other parts in the way – but there is a bar with notches cut out, which moved horizontally from side to side. This is the only part which I dab oil onto, as it is a moving part.
Step 3: Oiling The Presser Bar Area
I’ve mentioned in the accompanying video that I cannot get into the housing of my Bernina 1008, which means that to oil the upper moving parts I need to lay my sewing machine down and dab small drops of sewing machine oil in key areas.
In the photo above you can see me applying some to the top of the presser bar, which will ‘feed it through’ when I turn the hand wheel of my sewing machine.
Maintaining Your Machine
If you compare the photos at the start of this article to the ones towards the end, you can see just how much cleaner my sewing machine is now that I’ve given it some TLC. It now runs smoother too with less ‘clunking’ when I sew.
How Often Should You Clean Your Sewing Machine?
Cleaning and oiling your sewing machine should be part of your routine maintenance so that your sewing machine outlasts you and is handed down.
If you use your sewing machine regularly you would want to aim to clean it more often – the amount of lint seen in this article is after sewing three projects, so you can see how quickly it can build up.
If you’re sewing daily, aim to clean your machine at least once per week.
How Often Should You Oil Your Sewing Machine?
Oiling your machine can be a less frequent activity. I usually oil mine when I hear the sound change. It’s usually a sign that things need some lubrication.
How Long Can Your Sewing Machine Last With Proper Care?
How long your sewing machine lasts depends on the brand, the model, and how well you care for it.
My Bernina sewing machine has been with me for 20 years now, and is still going strong.
The Singer 66 I own is another sewing machine which has been around for many more decades, because it was taken care of.
So it all depends on many factors, but caring for your machine will give it the best chance!
I hope you take the time and enjoy the process of showing some TLC to your sewing machine.
Video Tutorial Cleaning And Oil A Bernina 1008
If you enjoyed this, you may also like other sewing machine tutorials and guides that I have!