Embroidery Machine Care

Is embroidery your passion?

Do you treasure your embroidery machine and thrill to the creative wonders you can perform with your embroidery machine?

Do you get goose bumps when you see those beautiful threads all embroidered from your embroidery sewing machine?

There are many brands of embroidery machines. There are machines designed for commercial use like those made by Tashima and Happy. There are smaller units made for home use by well knows sewing machine companies like Janome and Babylock.

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 embroidery only devices controlled by computers. These units may be operated alone or networked together with the computer. While stand alone home machines may have one, four, or six needles; commercial units may have 12, 14, 16, or more needles.
Computer generated designs are used by the computer to control the embroidery head. The signals control the movement of the needle and hoop to produce the design one stitch at a time. Groups of stitches sew through one needle. This constitutes one threaded color. Then the next needle threaded with the next color sews its portion of the design.

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.

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. Your professional sewing machine repair technician is also the right person to manage more complicated embroidery machine repairs.

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.

There are three crucial areas of the concern to the user. The bobbin area, the needle bar area (for each needle), and the hoop assembly are those three key areas.

User service consists of cleaning these three areas every three to four hours of sewing. To loosen dirt and crusty deposits, you can use a probe or small brush. To remove loosened gunk, you can use an air compressor, canned air, or a specially equipped vacuum. When you have cleaned an area, lubricate the area with high quality sewing machine oil.

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.

If you diligently do your own embroidery machine maintenance, your machine will last for years and work well stitch after stitch, month after month. About every 10,000,000 stitches you should have a professional technician perform a complete service on your embroidery machine.

If you are having difficulty with your machine, always depend on your professional embroidery machine technician.

Find out more on sewing machine repair and download David Trumble's free beginner's course 7 Steps To Peak Performance For Your Sewing Machine. He offers a complete curriculum of sewing machine repair manuals, tips, tricks, and supports.