How do I restore & clean Antique Wood Sewing Machine? It has scratches on the legs and one water stain on top.

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Do I use Briwax? Varnish remover? Do I strip it?I dont want to ruin this wood sewing machine. It is a Singer from the 1920′s from my Grandmother. I want to clean up leg scratches and a few surface scratches. Also, one water stain. Thanks.

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  1. mic1 says:
    July 5, 2009 at 5:02 am

    1 part Linseed Oil, 1 part Turpentine, paint on surface let sit then wipe down with 000 steel wool in direction of wood grain wipe off excess. This method removes dirt and puts original stain back into the wood.

  2. rhamm618 says:
    July 5, 2009 at 5:02 am

    You know, to redo the finish is not a difficult task unless you want to restore it to its original finish so it holds its antique value. If you want to just redo the finish so it is a great finish, but not necessarily original, and has no scratches, gouges, etc. in it then follow these directions – I do this to my wood projects all the time and it is a great finish in the end.

    First I’d use about an 80 grit sandpaper to remove that current finish. Then I’d move to 100 grit to get off what was left behind – you want bare wood when you are complete at this stage.

    next we use wood filler to fill in all holes, scratches, and gouges on the wood. Allow this to dry totally.
    Use 150 grit sandpaper and sand until all surfaces are nice and level.

    Once this is complete then I use my wood stain but when buying stain make sure you buy a product that is considerably darker on the picture than what you want your end product to be. I never had a stain that actually ended up as dark as the image on the can so go much darker. The longer you leave it on the darker it will become, so you can controll how dark your wood will be by the amount of time you leave it on. Test it on a piece of scrap wood first, using various lengths of time.
    Once you have the finish a bit darker than you want the final product to be then move on.
    Note: you are buying a stain that is considerably darker than you want your end product to be, but when applying stain you will stain slightly darker than you want the end product to be. Reaons:
    1. The picture on the can is not as dark as the finish actually is- go much darker to get what you want.
    2. You need to stain it darker than you want because the finish will cause it to lighten a little – so stain it a "Little" darker than you want in the end.
    ———————————————
    Now with all of that done we move on to a 220 grit sandpaper followed by a few swipes of a steel wool #0000.
    with this said and done it is time to apply the actual finish.

    1. Polyeurathane is a hard finish and very resistant to water and scratches.
    2. Polycrylic is a nice gloss type finish and it is water based – the more coats you apply the shinier it will become – it dries in less time than the above. This is my favorite.

    For a sewing machine, polyeurathane will allow garments to slide somewhat because of the hard finish, in my opinion. I think it will also be a good choice if you are like me – I drink coffee when i sew therefore, I’d go ‘Poly’

    To apply finish:
    Poly(use a hair style brush)
    Acrylic ( use sponge style brush)

    Dip the brush in the finish so that only the very tip is coated so lightly that you can barely tell it is wet. This is how you want to apply your finish, very thinly is the best coat.
    You want to coat the entire surface evenly, so if you need to dip the brush again, make sure it is not heavily dipped or applied.

    For polyeurathane allow 24 hours for it to totally dry.
    For the acrylic allow several hours to totally dry.
    Get about 250 grit sandpaper and sand very very lightly over the finish and use a tac cloth to get up all sand and saw dust.
    Apply the next coat the same way – very thinly.
    I usually put about four coats on of Polyeurathane and I do not sand prior to the last coat.

    For the acrylic I usually apply about 5 sometimes 6 coats and do not sand prior to the last coat. You will probably get by with four coats on this one and three coats of the Eurathane, it is just me that likes thicker finish so it will last longer. Plus if you bought this for one project and you have plenty then you might as well use it – is how i think.

    once you are complete I’d let it rest for about two maybe three days undisturbed. Then it is considered complete.

    As I said – it is not hard just time consuming, but the end product is well worth the effort and it will last many, many years ..probably 50 years of regular use.

  3. Patricia D says:
    July 5, 2009 at 5:02 am

    If you want to keep it’s value, do nothing. I had a White, treadle machine that was originally painted white with decals. I also had a Singer treadle that I refinished to use in a bedroom as a table. It even had a metal box with different feet for specific tasks. At any rate, even though the White machine was chipped, yellowed and the decals were faded, I got more money for it than the Singer because of the authenticity.

    If you watch HGTV’s Antique Roadshow, they tell you the same thing… The choice is yours….

  4. saaanen says:
    July 5, 2009 at 5:02 am

    Formby’s makes a complete line of restoration chemicals. Check at a good quality hardware store, or furniture repair shop. You can choose which ones you want to use. All of them are safe.

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