i admit, i've had my lady for over four years, have used her continuously (more or less), and have NEVER cleaned or oiled her. this is often on my conscience, but i don't want to mess her up by doing it incorrectly; sometime a while ago i lost the directions on how to take her apart, clean and oil, and put her back together. i can sorta dust around the inside with q-tips, but she really needs some maintenence. do you suggest i take her to a sewing machine store and get her a tune-up? any idea how much that might cost? how do you guys clean and oil your machines? how often do you recommend cleaning and oiling?
some machines don't require oiling. My mother's machine (which is about 2 years old) says in the manual in big letters "DO NOT OIL". So, my first piece of advice is to make sure your machine needs to be oiled. Do an internet search. I clean mine every 6 months... sooner if I am sewing "sheddy" or "linty" fabric. I do recommed taking your machine in to the pros. They will be able to tell you what you need to be doing in terms of maintanance. I don't know how much it will cost though. Good Luck!
