Oh, ugh! I really need to oil my babies this week! I try to blow out the serger every time I change threads, or after it sew something fuzzy. I really need to oil Lydia3 soon, but I hate to mess with her when she's behaving so well!
__________________ ~bArb.
Sewin' mama to my little heathens Lydia Jo (11/01) and Thomas (07/07)
Married to a Microscopist
Disclaimer: If I appear to be crabby, it's because the Army is borrowing my husband
I vaccuum out my serger when I switch threads or before, if needed. I have one of the little attachment thingies for my regular vaccuum, and I derive strange pleasure from using it *lol* I liked my can of air before I got this, but I really like that my vaccuum attachment is a non-consumable, yk?
I oil my machines when they start sounding not great.
How often should you change blades in your serger? I've had mine for about a year and half and I've never changed them ... is that bad?
My Babylock is still in the shop ... but it's finally ready so I just need to make the hr. drive to pick it up. I really hope it's working well when I get it home. I think E. & I will head up there tomorrow to get it.
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Christine
mama to Ethan (8) and Noah (3
You shouldn't blow out your machines, especially the serger, it blows the fubbies (as we call them here) back into the motor and greatly reduces the life of your serger.
I clean my serger everytime I finish a wholesale order. I dust it out, vacuum it (with those little attachments) and oil anything that moves. When I clean it, I take off any of the outer casing that I can as well as the needle plate and get all the fubbies reachable. I also clean out the tension disks every few months. To do this, I use a thick thread (like jeanstitch or dmc), put a tiny bit of alcohol on it, then run it through the disk a few times.
For the sewing machine, I remove the needle plate and bobbin casing. I clean both of these. Then I get all the fubbies I can and put a drop of oil under the bobbin casing. I also open the top of the machine (on the machine that opens) and dust that part out.
Take good care of your machines! It greatly extends the life and means less visits to the dealer. Considering I use my machines way more than home machines were meant to be, they spend very little time in the shop.
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Allison
mama to Ara, Simone, and Zarin
According to this book that I'm reading (and learning SO much from) "Owners Guide to Sewing Machines, Sergers and knitting machines" by Gale Grigg Hazen,
* Don't blow into your machine with your mouth (the saliva can attach to the dust causing globbies.
* Don't use pressureized air cans - the freon is low-temparature and can freeze up your gears/parts
* She suggests using a hair dryer - the force is light enough to safely blow the dust away and the heat helps warm up the oils which is a good thing aparently LOL.
Cleaning sewing machine - dip the brush your machine came with into some rubbing alchohol to remove lint, old oil and other buildup. Rip a piece of old cotton cloth and dip in the alchohol and thread between your tension disks to clean between the tension mechanism. Making sure your presser foot is up so your tension disks are separated. Do this every 6 months. Remove your needle plate and remove your bobbin race and clean in there with your brush & some alchohol. For oiling always use sewing machine oil. The most frequent place to oil is the bobbin race. The book says to oil wherever 2 pieces of metal come together and when the uptake is at it's highest point (you can find this by turning your handwheel). Lastly, look for burrs. Burrs can cause drag which can affect stitch quality and can throw off tension. Look on your needleplate which is most likely where burrs will be found. Crocus cloth is a very fine sand paper-like substance found in hardware stores. Rubbing this on the burrs should remove them.
Sergers need more oiling than sewing machines because they move faster. If you have the wick type of oil disperser in your serger you will need to oil this often - when your serger gets loud, it's telling you to oil it The hole at the top that your manual may tell you to "oil often" needs about 20 drops of oil once per month. The other lubricating holes may only need to be oiled every 3 months. Refer to your manual for oiling locations. Clean and look for burrs as mentioned above.
Just thought I'd tell you some things I learned in the book I've borrowed from the library. Allison's techniques sound great - I will be making a note of those too
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Alison - mom of
Brian 5/28/02
Ruby 6/2/04
regarding cutting blade, my serger manual says if one strand of thread can be cut off in front or or at the rear of the knife, the knife is sharp enough. Also worn or blunt knives will cause the material to pucker or stitches to be uneven.
Depending on your brand, you may be able to find a local sewing machine shop store that can help you with a blade replacement (my stores service many different brands).
Originally posted by arasmama You shouldn't blow out your machines, especially the serger, it blows the fubbies (as we call them here) back into the motor and greatly reduces the life of your serger.
My machine shop told me the opposite... That is was okay to blow out your serger (air in a can), but that it wasn't a good idea for a sewing machine. If you think about it, all of the gears for a serger are exposed, so there's really no where for the fubbies (LOL) to get caught. In a sewing machine however, the gears are encased, so it's not a good idea.
Makes sense to me...
__________________ ~*Meagan*~
Mama to my Sweet Pixie, Sophie Elise
I am sure many methods work for many folks Anyways, you can't believe everything you read in a book - although I like this lady's logic and am learning so much about my machines.
Just wanted to whine that I couldn't find crocus cloth tonight. Oh well!
Originally posted by Pixie's~Mama My machine shop told me the opposite... That is was okay to blow out your serger (air in a can), but that it wasn't a good idea for a sewing machine. If you think about it, all of the gears for a serger are exposed, so there's really no where for the fubbies (LOL) to get caught. In a sewing machine however, the gears are encased, so it's not a good idea.
Makes sense to me...
All the gears in my serger are not exposed. There are a ton back where even the long arm of my vacuum attachment cannot reach. The motor is where you don't want the fubbies. If I blow air into my serger, it pushes them right back to where I cannot even unscrew the casing and get to, plus right into the motor.
You have to consider where the information is coming from. They make money when you clog your gears and blow your motor
I really hope it's working well when I get it home. I think E. & I will head up there tomorrow to get it.
The hole at the top that your manual may tell you to "oil often" needs about 20 drops of oil once per month. The other lubricating holes may only need to be oiled every 3 months. Refer to your manual for oiling locations. Clean and look for burrs as mentioned above.
Anyways, you can't believe everything you read in a book - although I like this lady's logic and am learning so much about my machines.
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