Oiling the Machine

Use the oil that is provided with your new machine, or the one recommended by the manufacturer. All knitting manuals include a page that shows where to put oil. Basically this goes on all moving parts, both on the bed and carriage, and on the front and back rails. You will also be instructed to either put the oil on a soft cloth or your finger, and use them to actually oil the machine. This is so that you do not "over-oil" or accidentally spill a puddle into the machine. Serious problems can result if this happens, particularly if a machine is oiled heavily, then stored unused for a long time. The oil will solidify into brownish "gunk", and can freeze up the moving parts. It will then be necessary to have your machine serviced to remove the buildup.

After trying unsuccessfully to explain this to a couple of my customers a few years ago, I decided to create an "object lesson". One of my older bottles of Studio oil was beginning to turn yellow (they all do it with age.) I keep it in a closed cupboard, so it definitely was not caused by exposure to sunlight. This bottle has since become one of my best teaching tools. As it aged (now about 6 years old), little brown flecks began to appear. This grew bigger and bigger, and it now has some pretty large chunks in it. In the photos below, the bottle of clear oil is about a year and a half old. It has not yet started to yellow.

So do oil your machine. It needs oil to move freely. But apply it correctly. This is definitely not a case of "if a little is good, a lot is better." A couple of years ago I bought a used Knitking 881 from a dealer. The machine had belonged to her mother, and had not been used for awhile. Unfortunately, it was well oiled when the knitter stopped using it. The change knob was completely frozen. I called Jerry Carriere, the authorized Brother repairman, and he asked me if I had any Studio Spray Lube on hand (of course!!) He told me to spray it hard--"soak it" was the actual term. Give it at least overnight, or even a couple of days to penetrate, then try gently wiggling the knob. I had to repeat the process twice to get the gunk out, but now it works great. Needless to say, the rest of the machine also had to be cleaned in the same manner to remove the solidified oil.

Close-up view of the "gunk" gunk

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Irene Woods
P.O. Box 637
Wickenburg, AZ 85358
(928) 684-2969

Email: irenewoods@clearwater.net