The Elna SU I had for 30+ years got oiled and cleaned when it started sounding funny. The Bernina I've had for the last three years gets a drop of oil and cleaned with most every bobbin change.

Lorna

Jeanine, that is fascinating! I've been around Berninas for 30 years and never heard of one that didn't need oil. Which ones do you have?

Margo...LOL

I have 2 berninas and will oil them between large projects even though manuals said NOt to oil them - both came with a little bottle - go figure.
Much like many if you, I hear and feel my machines and oil, defluff, etc. when the purring gets wonky.
Jeanine

I have a Janome 6600, my dealer told me to oil the wick that you can see in the bobbin compartment. Just a drop of oil, I do it every other bobbin change. I wonder why they would put a wick there if we weren't supposed to oil it? I can tell when mine needs some oil by the change in the sound when I am sewing. I also sometimes put a little oil on the needle shaft.

My "other" machine, a Pfaff, that my mom uses, I oil the in the bobbin compartment when I hear it getting noisy.

Kathy

I was bought up with Singer machines which all needed oiling. My mum had worked in a Singer shop in her youth, so I did as she has taught me and oiled and cleaned regularly. My Elna quilters dream says very clearly in the manual, 'DO NOT OIL', so I never have. Machines are like a lot of domestic appliances, if there is something major wrong with them, their sound tell me.

When I bought my first computerized machine (New Home) back in the early '80s I'm positive it said no oiling needed. It also had an automatic tension which never needed adjusting . . . off topic again!

Margo - are you "needling" me?

Love it! Great way to start a stressful day, with a good laugh! off topic also

My Berninas (yes...plural! ) get de-fluffed and a single drop of oil on the bobbin race with every bobbin change.

My serger (also a Bernina) gets vacuumed and oiled every time I use it.

My Handi-Quilter is just like the Berninas and gets thoroughly de-fluffed and a single drop of oil on the bobbin race with every bobbin change.

Needles get changed when I start having thread issues or need a different size because I switch to a different size of thread. OOPS...wrong topic!

My sister has a new Janome and both the dealer and the manual says NO OIL! :shock:

Oiling your sewing machine (How often? When? Where? How much?) was mentioned in a discussion about threads, and the suggestion was made that it should have it's own topic, rather than be part of an existing one where things have gone somwhat off topic.

So, here you are! Your very own 'Oily Topic'!

From what I hear, the way this is handled by quilters varies a lot. It not only depends on personal opinion and advice received in the past, but also on the type of machine you have and the way the bobbin case sits in the machine.

I have two Berninas (used almost daily), a Frister & Rossman Cub4 (used most weekends), a Husqvarna Interlude (rarely used), and an antique Singer handcrank (perfect working order, very rarely used because power failures are very rare around here). I regularly oil all these machines, and also de-fluff them. I don't have a fixed rule when and how often to do it. My machines talk to me. I can hear when they start to sound a little different and then it's time for some tender loving care. How often that happens depends to some extent on the type of thread used, and I use all kinds.

So, what do you all do?