How can you prevent sewing machine troubles?

Question

How can you prevent sewing machine troubles?

Answer 1

Clean and oil (if required) regularly -- I do a basic cleaning before I start sewing each day.  Use it regularly, especially machines with sintered bronze (oilless) bearings.  If you don't have time to do anything else, haul it out of the closet and take out the needle and put a brick on the pedal for 5 minutes every couple of months.

Clean your machine with brush and vacuum, not compressed air, which will blow lint further in to the inaccessable parts of the machine.

Use good thread.  Crummy, lumpy, linty thread is heck on machines.

Do not use heavier threads (particularly stuff like upholstery nylon) on home machines -- it will wear through the tension disks.

Use the correct needlesystem and needles.   Make sure you don't use a larger needle than that recommended (most home machines will handle size 8/60 through 16/100.  18/110 is too big for many machines.

Do not push or drag the fabric through the machine.  Let the feed dogs do the work.  Hauling fabric around under the needle is a good way to break needles, jam the bobbin case, and other assorted ill$.

Change needles regularly.  If you hear a pop-pop-pop as the needle enters the fabric, it's time to change the needle even if it was only 30 minutes since you put one in.

If you need to use thread lubricant, consider applying it to the thread just before it goes through the needle (a little pad of moleskin works well).  Putting it on the spool gets silicone into the upper tension, and all sorts of (non-)merriment can ensue.

Keep it covered and away from windows when not in use.  You don't need the UV light eating away at the plastic case, and you don't need extra dust falling into the machine.

Take it in for a COA (clean/oil/adjust) on a reasonable schedule... at least every couple of years, preferably yearly.

Answer 2

Read the manual so you know how to operate it.

Follow the maintenance instructions in the manual.

Have it serviced by a pro once in a while--yearly or however often the manual recommends or if it starts to run rough and following owner maintenance as per the manual doesn't help.