My husband and I removed the sewing machine head from the base (there were two small set screws that were not seized) of my Singer model 27-3 sewing machine so I could start the cleaning process.

I’m following the advice in the book “Treadle Sewing Machines: Clean and Use an Iron Lady” by Donna Kohler. I have also found digital scans of the owners manual and an adjusters manual for a 127-128, which I’m told by YouTube is close enough to my 27. I’m photo documenting as much as I can along the way. I’m also not in a rush, this is going to take some time, so the machine has a dedicated table in the craft room and I’ll post about interesting observations along the way.

My first discovery was that the previous user of the machine didn’t remove old thread on the bobbins before winding on new thread, which blows my mind. I see how it would save time in the short term, not unwinding, but it reduces the amount of space for new thread, so the bobbin has to be wound more often. An interesting choice for certain. Some of the bobbins had four different colors of thread.

To give you an idea of the level of grime I’m dealing with, past the spider webs and mud-dauber nests, below is a photo of the underside of the needle plate. To remove the needle plate I needed to add PB Blaster and let it sit for about five minutes, then the screw backed out smoothly. Underneath was a build up of lint, oil, and dirt.

There are YouTube videos of machines in worse states. I know this one was well used, and I want to keep as much of the patina as I can. The black finish flakes off when it is touched, so I need to be very careful not to remove what decoration is left. This will definitely be an ongoing project, and I’ll post about interesting things as I find them.