Do Your Own Embroidery Machine Care

Are you one of the elite, one of the special few, who enjoy doing embroidery?

Today there are many brands of both commercial and home embroidery sewing machines. On the commercial side names like Tashima and Happy are well known. On the home front, Janome, Baby Lock, and Brother dominate the market.

In the arena of home embroidery machines, there are stand alone embroidery machines and there are combination or combo embroidery machines. These combo machines are world class sewing machines with exotic embroidery features added.

Commercial units are stand alone multi-needle machines controlled by computers. Several machines may be ganged or networked together and controlled by a single computer. Or they may be individual machines. Their smaller home or cottage industry sisters include machines that use one, four, or six needles.

The embroidery design is produced by using an assembly program on a computer (commonly called embroidery software). The finished design is fed to the embroidery stitch one stitch at a time. The computer signal controls the movement of the needle and the hoop. A group of stitches sew out from one needle. Then the pre-threaded needle assembly automatically adjusts for the next needle. Different colored threads are threaded on different needles.

I remember the first time we demonstrated a home embroidery machine. Everyone was awestruck by the machine sewing by itself. It is awesome what they can do, but they can be a bit ominous to the novice technician.

Another look at the embroidery machine, reveals that it is essentially a single stitch sewing machine with a moving hoop assembly. Each time another needle assembly engages, it forms another single stitch sewing machine.

Treat your embroidery machine as if it were a single stitch sewing machine at least as far as caring and servicing it goes.

Neglect is the number one cause of embroidery machine failure. The user must take responsibility for the care and maintenance of their machine. It must be kept clean and well lubricated. Dirt, lint, and gunk must be removed. Old dried out crystallized lubricants must be removed. Otherwise neglect will eventually lead to machine failure.

The user should pay very close attention to the bobbin area, each needle bar area, and the hoop assembly. These must be frequently cleaned and serviced.

Use a small brush and probe as needed to loosen debris. Use an air compressor, canned air, or a vacuum with special attachments to properly remove loose debris. Every three to four hours of sewing, clean these areas of your machine. Once clean place one drop of pure clean sewing machine oil wherever metal parts touch metal.

Replace needles frequently. Regular embroidery needles are good for about four hours of use, but titanium embroidery needles usually last three to five times as long. Dull, bent, and worn needles do not perform as they should.

As a user, you are the frontline of embroidery machine maintenance. Your cleaning and maintenance of your equipment is vital. There are two times, however, when you need to rely on your professional embroidery machine technician. Annually or after about ten millions stitches, have the machine professionally serviced. If it breaks or just does not work right, rely on your professionals.