Adventures with a Treadle Sewing Machine: Cleaning the Singer

So I stayed up way too late last night but it was well worth it. The Singer is now shining in her cabinet! All that's left to do is to oil her, wax the cabinet and attach the belt. I am so excited to get sewing!

As promised, I am posting before and after pictures. The very first thing I did was to wipe her down with a soft cloth and warm water with a splash of dish soap. Then I decided to work on all of the chrome pieces. To clean the chrome I would pull each piece off as I was working on it and clean with metal polish. I did one piece at a time so I wouldn't forget where each piece went. Some pieces were really dirty so I would also scrub with a fine steel wool pad. Then follow up with more metal polish.

I then wiped the painted part of the machine down with sewing machine oil . . . if you are cleaning a machine be very careful with what you use on the paint, especially if your decals are in good condition! After wiping down, sewing machine oil is your best bet.

Not too shabby for 106 years old, right? 

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