Sewing and Embroidey Machine Maintenance Tips

How my embroidery thread is currently stored.

Dear Friends,

A couple of days ago I attended a class held by our local sewing machine dealer.  It was on sewing, serger and embroidery machine maintenance.  It ended up being a good review as I knew much of what was covered.  Oh well, to be reviewed on sewing machine maintenance is a good thing right?  I'm going to re-cap what was taught in 3 basic sentences.

1. Do all you can to keep lint out of your machine.  Keep it covered, clean it regularly, and if you have your thread stored on the wall like I do, cover your thread with a sheet.  I used to have my thread in boxes according to colors but when I got my own sewing room I wanted it on the wall where I could pick my colors easily and quickly.  Covering it sounds like a good idea because some colors of thread sit for long periods of time collecting dust.
2. Change your needles regularly.  We were told needles should be changed after every 6 hours of use.  Titanium needles last 4 times longer.  I guess I need to invest in those.  I use my old needles to stitch out my cards that you have seen HERE.
3. Have your machine serviced regularly.  The instructor said light use is up to 6 hours of sewing time a month, have your machine serviced every 2 years.  Moderate use is up to 20 hours of sewing a month and have your machine serviced yearly.  Heavy use is over 20 hours of sewing a month and then have it serviced every 6 months.

A couple of additional tips is he likes to clean his machines with q-tips rather than the lint brushes as he feels q-tips remove lint better.  Do not push or pull your fabric through the machine or if you do be VERY careful as that can damage the needle bar and timing.  You may have heard never to blow into your machine to remove lint because the moisture from your breath can cause rust.  In all his years, he has never serviced a machine due to rust from blowing, the rust occurred from being in a humid basement for years.  Better to blow and get the lint out of the machine.  He encouraged vacuuming inside the machine with those little vacuum attachment tools.  Better to suck the lint out than blow it deeper into the machine.

My machine, Brother 1250D - Largest hoop size 5 x 7

On a dual machine like mine, sewing/embroidery, embroidery is much less hard on the machine than sewing and using built in decorative stitches.  With embroidery, the needle bar goes straight up and down consistently.  With zig-zag or other decorative stitches, the needle bar moves side to side in addition to up and down.  He also mentioned that using the walking foot over time can add to stress of the machine.  (I love the walking foot so I guess I'll have to accept additional wear and tear)

Also, when you look at my machine above, you can see that the spool holder is horizontal rather than vertical.  Lint or dust that has settled into the tray below the spool holder can be dragged into the machine as the thread unwinds, vertical is somewhat better.

So that's it friends, hope you enjoyed the review to keep your machine in tip-top shape.

Blessings,
Nancy