We believe when you take care of your sewing machines, sergers and embroidery machines as recommended, they are guaranteed to return the favor. All sewing machines, sergers and embroidery machines need cleaning on a regular basis, every 2-3 bobbins or 4 hours of sewing time, to remove lint. All fabrics and thread have lint that will get into your machine during sewing. Some threads are very linty leaving even higher lint levels in your machine. All this lint leads to moving parts not moving so freely, therefore you must clean out your sewing machine. Uncleaned machines lead directly to skipped stitches, uneven stitches and broken threads right in the middle of a seam. Cleaning your machine inside and out regularly is the first step in good sewing machine health.
Step two is routine oiling and lubrication. Some machines require oil and some do not, therefore, you should check your manual for oiling recommendations. All machines require regular maintenance. We recommend annual service and maintenance by a service professional. The many moving parts of your machine require lubrication so that they move freely. As your machine is used or over a period of time just sitting, the lubrication dries out. Once it has dried out, moving parts don’t work well and can seize up resulting in your machine locking up.
Bring your sewing machine in for routine maintenance and service and we will perform the following:
- Remove covers to allow access to major components
- Clean out all lint, dust and old oil and lubricant
- Look for and remove threads from all areas of the machine especially in the take up lever, bobbin case area and hand wheel
- Check tension disks and remove any lint build up
- Check timing
- Look for excess wear spots
- Check all shafts for any play or wobble
- Check for excess wear on bearings, drive mechanisms and gears
- Check bobbin winder
- Check feed dog height and alignment
- Oil all moving parts in the machine
- Lubricate
- Replace needle and check alignment
- Adjust all tensions
- Check of automatic needle threaders
- Test Sew out to ensure a smooth-running sound, balanced tension, even needle swing, centered needle position, proper feed dog movement/balance of stitches that stitch forward and reverse.
Serger maintenance is slightly different from a sewing machine. Sergers receive extra care as the technicians check looper timing both for the upper and lower loopers, feed dogs, cutting knife and needles. Sergers must have precision clearance or else it will not work!
Embroidery machines require checking of all sensors, belt tension and arm movement, standard oiling and lubrication and lint removal. A test sew out is performed to ensure precise alignment of outlines and proper tension. Baby Lock machines are updated to the latest software version as appropriate.
Certain items are required for the technicians to be able to properly service your machine. You should bring your foot control, power cord, standard zig-zag foot and throat plate, bobbin case and correct bobbin when bringing your machine in for service and maintenance. If you are brining in an embroidery machine, you should also bring the embroidery arm, embroidery hoop and embroidery foot.
Annual service will allow areas experiencing excessive wear or misalignment to be identified and addressed before they cause worse problems. A little tender loving care will keep you machine in good health and ready to meet your needs rather than experiencing failure in the middle of a rush project.
If your sewing machine is in need of repair or maintenance services, talk to our experts. Family‐owned and operated for over 50 years, you can count on us to deliver high quality sewing machine repairs, friendly customer service, and affordable rates. For your convenience, we offer residential, commercial, and industrial sewing machine repair services. Whether you’re in need of a major machine repair or a routine service, we can handle it all.
We repair and service all types of residential machines, including sewing, embroidery, quilting, sergers and most commercial machines.
Shreveport Sewing Center is currently running a Service Special on sewing machines.