 Hello, I'm Anika from May to So and welcome to my sewing for beginner series. Now I wanted to film a video where I could talk to you about how to clean and care for your sewing machine. So in this video we're going to be looking at tips for dusting and cleaning the machine, how to oil your machine if it's possible, and also how to transport your machine as well as a few little discussions about servicing. Now we're going to begin by looking at how to clean and dust the machine and we're going to remove all of the dust, the lint, everything that comes from sewing. Now the first thing is you've probably received a little brush in your accessories for your sewing machine and they want you to use this to clean it. Personally, I would say put this in the bin because they're not that great. Instead go and grab a brush or buy yourself a brush for your sewing machine and buy yourself a proper brush, something with a good size brush head. I would recommend a basting brush from a cook store, a makeup brush, something that you're going to really be able to get into all of the areas of your sewing machine. Make sure that it's nice and clean, so give it a good clean if you've used it for something else in the past and make sure that it isn't going to shed any fibers or bits of hair onto your sewing machine. So let me show you in closer detail how to actually take the hook and the bobbin part out of your machine and how to give this a good clean. Now when it comes to cleaning your sewing machine, you are going to want to make sure that you do it with the sewing machine turned off. Now it's probably a good idea to take the foot off and you can always take the needle off as well. Make sure that you do keep on top of changing your needles because again that is another important part when it comes to caring for your sewing machine. Now you're always going to want to give this area a good dust because this is where you can get lots of little bits of thread and lint. You can also give the needle bar a good dust. Use a soft cloth or duster to wipe down the other areas of the machine and to keep it free from dust. You're going to want to get underneath this stitch plate here. On this sewing machine it's easy. There is a little circle in the back right hand corner. You need to press firmly on the back right hand corner. Again you can remove the stitch plate and you'll see that my machine is looking a little bit dirty. Now you're going to want to give that a nice clean with the brush that you're using. Get rid of all of that dust and lint. One of the sewing machines you may need to unscrew this area. I will show you how. The next thing we're going to clean is in here with the bobbin. Open the front door if you're working with a front loading bobbin and remove the bobbin. Just like so. Now you're going to want to take out all of this bit to get the hook out and that will allow you to get a nice good clean inside here. There is a little metal bar on the left hand side which I need to push in. That will then pop all of this open and you're also going to want to take the hook out. Pop on to the central metal bit and remove the hook like so. Now you can give all of this a good dust with your brush and clean. Once you're happy that it's all being cleaned you can replace the hook. Hold on to the central part of the hook. On this machine the hook is going to go in on the right hand side but if you need to you can turn the hand wheel. By turning the hand wheel you'll see that this whole section moves. Now I want to move it so that the section that has got a piece of metal attached is on the left. Then I will insert my hook and you just want that to sit nice and flush. My other machine this is actually magnetized so it fits in much easier. Then you're happy that the hook is in. You can then close this section. Make sure that it clicks closed and it's all in nice and tightly. You do not want this to fall out. Then you can replace your bobbin and shut the door. Remember that you will also need to position your metal stitch plate back on. On this machine you position it in on the left hand side and then press on the right for it to click down like so. I can reattach my needle, my foot and thread at my machine again. This machine is also a front loading bobbin but it's ever so slightly different so I wanted to show you the differences here. Start by raising the needle to the highest position and then you can open the bobbin. Remove the bobbin and then you've got these two little black things on the side. You need to push them out of the way just like so. Then we can actually remove this silver metal piece which is the hook race ring. Then you can remove the hook. Just like with the other machine you would give it a good clean first. Then you could add a very small amount of oil onto the edge of the hook. Position that back in. Now it is a little bit tricky putting these back in and sometimes I will tell my customers to actually put the machine or tilt it backwards. Position the machine on the back. The hook will only fit in one way so you've got to make sure that you get a nice smooth finish around the edge there. If you would rather tilt the machine lie on its back. Please feel free to do that. Then we will reattach the hook race ring. Fits back in with the nobily edges towards me and this little nobily bit has to go down the flat bit at the top. Making sure that the bottom pin fits into the bottom notch and then we will lock everything into place with these little black pieces. Pushing the left one to the right and the right one to the left on top of the little silver nobs. This machine is a top loading bobbin. To remove the stitch plates you are going to need to undo this screw. Your screw might not be in exactly this position but you will need to undo the screws that hold the stitch plate in place. Now I can take that out. Obviously I use my screwdriver to undo it to start with and you might find it useful to take the foot off. If you want to you can unscrew this whole section to free up this area so that you can give the machine a nice clean. Just like so and obviously you can remove the needle as well. To remove the stitch plates I recommend pushing this little button to the right and taking off the plastic cover. Now you should be able to get your fingers underneath to remove the stitch plates. And wow look at all that dust. Use a brush to get all of that out of the way. You can also remove the bobbin case so that you can give the hook and all of the rest of the parts a really good clean. Once you are happy you are going to need to position this back in. Make sure that you put it back in the correct place. It should only fit in one way. Then you will need to replace your stitch plate. Replace the bobbin cover and fasten the screw. Make sure that the screw is really nice and tight and then you can replace your needle and foot and continue working on your project. So how often should you be cleaning your sewing machine? I would say that it is always best practice at the start of every project to give everything a nice clean so that you are ready to start something new. Now once you have given your sewing machine a clean you might want to give it a bit of an oil. This depends on your sewing machine. Some sewing machines the manufacturers prefer that you take it in for servicing and they are oiled when you service it. With my bellina I am able to oil it at home so I will show you how I do this. When your next question is probably going to be how often should I be oiling my machine and that really depends on how much you are using it. I generally go by at the start of every project but if I have only done a small project then I won't bother. So it is a little bit dependent. I think some people say every month but it really does depend on how much you are using it. So it is just something to bear in mind. Let me show you where you need to oil on the sewing machine. When it comes to oiling this machine I am going to go back in to my front loading bobbin. I am going to remove the bobbin and then I am also going to press this lever on the left that we did a second ago for cleaning to bring out the hook. Now I am going to put a tiny bit of oil on the edge of the hook. You must never oil any plastic areas. Remove the hook and let me show you where to position the oil. So I have my hook and I have my oil. Now this oil came with my sewing machine. Please make sure that you own use the oil that comes with your sewing machine. You don't want to use something that is inappropriate. Now with my other binning the sewing machine I got this pen. This is brilliant because it has a sharp tip where the oil comes out. I believe you can purchase these so I would really recommend this because it makes it really nice and accurate to oil something. Now to oil the hook we are going to put one or two drops no more on the outside edge here. So you want to put a tiny amount it does not need very much. Literally one or two drops and then I just tend to use my finger to sort of blend that in just like so. Then we are going to put this back into the machine. Take the hook that you have oiled and position that back into the machine. Lining everything up. Remember you can turn the hand wheel if you need to. Close the casing. Make sure everything is nice and secure. Then you can pop the bobbin back in. Run the machine through just to check that you don't have any oil anywhere. You don't want to have the oil spoiling your work. So once you clean and oiled your sewing machine you are going to be good to go. Remember to keep on top of replacing your needles. You do want to make sure that you are sewing with a good quality sharp needle. If you want to learn more about what needle you should be using and when then I do have a tutorial that discusses that. And also make sure that you pick a good quality thread. Poor quality thread does create more lint and dust in the sewing machine. As well as cleaning and carrying for your machine at home you are also going to want to make sure that you transport it correctly. So let's take a look at that. So when it comes to transporting or storing your machine it might be that you are taking it to a class or it might be that you are just not going to be using it for a few weeks. Perhaps you are going on holiday. I spoke to Steve, my sewing machine dealer, about what he recommends you do. His personal opinion is that you should put the presser foot down. On the majority of machines there is a little bit of a spring and when the presser foot is down the spring is relaxed. Therefore he feels that the presser foot should be down when the machine is being stored or transported. He recommends that you put a little bit of fabric underneath the presser foot and then position the presser foot down. With the presser foot down and therefore the spring relaxed it should prolong the life of that part of the sewing machine. Finally we are going to want to talk about how often you should get your sewing machine serviced or looked at by a professional. Now this does depend on how much you are using your sewing machine. You will find that different sewing machine manufacturers suggest different things and you may need to look into if you need to get your sewing machine serviced to keep the warranty up. Now personally I get my sewing machines serviced every year and I believe that this is best practice. It is good to get a professional to look over them. They can get into areas of the sewing machine that I can't or don't want to and they can just check everything, clean it, oil areas that I can't and it just means that my sewing machine is running at its best. Now you also need to consider getting your sewing machine serviced if you haven't used it in a very long time. If it's been sitting in a cupboard for a number of years it is worthwhile getting it serviced before you get it back out and start sewing on it just to make sure that everything is performing as it should be. So hopefully that has given you some tips and techniques for how to look after that clean and care for your sewing machine. Thanks for watching and see you soon.