How To Clean Your Embroidery Machine

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

Melco and SWF are popular commercial brands, while Janome and Brother dominate the home 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.

At first glance, the embroidery machine can look really complicated. It is wondrous what they can do. Machines with multiple needles can be a bit foreboding for the user and the novice technician.

If, however, you think of the embroidery machine as a simple straight stitch sewing machine with a moving hoop arm, the machine becomes much less intimidating. Yes, the machine may have many needles, but they only work one at a time.

When you think of your embroidery machine as a single stitch sewing machine, you can treat it the same way as you would a single stitch sewing machine.

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.