A search for things that you can’t see – Singer motor lube replacement

A “controversial” post today folks.

Motor Lube for Singer motors.

This one causes a lot of sometimes heated discussion on forums.  Many people have done tests and lots of opinions have been stated.  Today, I’m going to state my opinion, back it up with my reasoning and testing and then you can decide what you want to do with your own machines.

A couple years back, I mentioned that I could still get Singer Lube that was still suitable for use in Singer motors.  In February of this year, that changed.  I spent some time posting about it on Facebook.

Because I still get requests for Singer Lube, I thought I’d discuss what happened to make the Singer Lube no longer suitable for motors and what I recommend to replace it.

Let me state that: Yes, I am aware that there are 2 companies/websites and a few sellers on eBay who are offering “new formulas” that are “identical” to the old Singer formula.  These are not what I’m recommending and I’ll explain why shortly.

singerlube

First, let’s talk about what we’re looking for in a lube for a vintage Singer motor and why:

  1.  It must be a grease and not an oil.  I’ve talked a little bit about the difference in the past but in a nutshell, oil flings off gears and seeps into places relatively uncontrolled.  It’s the second characteristic that we don’t want in a motor.  The purpose of lubrication is to reduce friction between the bushing and the main shaft in the motor.  Slow controlled release of oil (in the form of melting grease) does this very well. Uncontrolled oil can get past the bushing and get into parts of the motor that don’t like being coated in oil.  In essence, grease is an oil in a suspension.  This suspension controls the flow of the oil.
  2. The lube we use in motors needs to have a low melting point so it coats the bushing and motor shaft when it gets warm enough. We ARE wanting some melt but slowly enough as to be somewhat controlled. That’s how the lube is delivered to the bushings – the motor warms, which warms the shaft which warms the bushing and then the very smallest bit of the lube closest to the bushing melts and does its job.  Again it can’t be oil because it can flow too quickly into and past the bushing and compromise the motor.  This requirement also precludes the use of synthetic greases – they typically don’t have a melting point or if they do, it’s quite high. Synthetic greases though are excellent for the gears on a vintage machine.
  3. It should be as residue -free as possible so it doesn’t clog the wicks that are usually inside the grease tubes.  Incidentally, this is also another reason not to use some of the synthetic greases.  Many of them have additives like Teflon (PTFE) and we just don’t know what it’s going to do to the wicks.  I err on the side of caution and recommend against anything with PTFE or other additives in grease cups or wicks.
  4. It should be affordable enough to be used when necessary on all vintage machines that require it.  I have heard people tell me over the years that they don’t do X or use Y because it’s so expensive. This should not ever be the case with your vintage machines.

When the new lube showed up from my supplier, it was in a different tube.  The tubes I’m used to seeing are the White/Pink and Red ones.  These had sort of a denim print on them.  Originally – maybe a year or so previous, I had been told that the supplier had never seen these ones before and that they thought they may be older stock, then this year they showed up in my order.

newlube

Seeing the different packaging, I immediately opened one of the tubes and tested it.  I wanted to see melting point, residue left over and general texture.

Texture felt roughly right.  It wasn’t gritty or anything but it seemed like it was a little more “thick lotion”  rather than the grease I like to see.

Next, I spread a little onto a paper towel beside some original Singer Lube and “baked” it in my toaster oven.  The original Singer Lube had a melt point of about 115F.  I say about because there were a couple of different formulas and some melted at a somewhat higher temperature – but still under 200F.

At 5 minutes, the melt and spread were about right.

5mins

At 20 minutes, the spread rates were no longer similar – and the new lube was melting differently – it looked like it was essentially “drying out” instead of melting and leaving a residue behind. I forgot to take a photo of this stage!

At an hour, I called it a failure.  It’s hard to tell in this pic but all that’s left at that point is a sticky residue. The lube in the blue/yellow/white tubes is NOT OK for Singer motors any longer.

1hr

Ideally, I would have also checked the spread rate but after it failed the melt test, I didn’t feel there was much point wasting more time and smelling up the studio further.

The next step was to find a proper and affordable replacement.

There are a few things I did to determine what would work best.

  1. What’s been used in the past?  Other manufacturers used grease in their motors, what did they recommend?
  2. What did people I respect in the industry use and recommend?
  3. What would an electrical motor shop suggest (after they stopped laughing when I told them the size of the motor that I was asking about)
  4.  What would have the same or very close melting point as the original lube?

What did other manufacturers recommend?

White Sewing machines also called for grease in their motors of the same time period – instead of oil.  Some manufacturers called for oil – so it’s important to know what your motor calls for before lubricating it.   White’s recommendation was petroleum jelly.

What do other impartial people in the vintage sewing machine industry?

Jenny at Sew-classic says:

Tri-flow is “Not recommended for grease tubes or pots that lubricate motor bearings via a wick. Use petroleum jelly for those applications. ”

Rain  says:

“Be aware that all grease is not the same, they have different viscosities. What you want is specifically Singer-brand grease. If that is not available, you can actually use Vaseline or petroleum jelly, as that is the proper viscosity as well.”using and recommending petroleum jelly (which has the same melting point as the original Singer lube) “

In fact, a recent conversation here  (post #6) also indicated that Singer may have recommended Petroleum Jelly after their lube was no longer suitable.

What did the electric motor shops say?

Surprisingly, the electrical motor repair shops didn’t actually laugh at me when I told them what I was inquiring about.  Much.  😉  One recommended a synthetic until I told them about the low melting temperature requirement.  I asked specifically about PJ at that point and he said it would be a great lubricant and would cause no problems – if properly used.  The 2 other shops I called corroborated this statement.

What does “properly used” mean?  This assumes that lube or PJ hasn’t been forced into the grease tubes/cups.  Give it a 5 second squeeze and stop.  If it burps out before that, the tubes are full – so stop there.  It also assumes that your belt is properly tightened.  If your belt is too tight, your motor will get hotter than it should causing the lube to melt faster and potentially causing problems.  The solution here is to adjust your belt properly!

What has the same melting point as the original lube?

As far as I can tell, there isn’t a single grease out there with the same melting point.  There is however Petroleum Jelly.  Have you noticed a theme here? Petroleum Jelly has a melting point around 115F.  I say around because depending on how it’s formulated – the ratio of soap to oil – it may be higher or lower.  Most formulations don’t melt much lower than 100F or even as high as 200F.  This is excellent for our motors.  If they’re getting as hot as 200F – something needs to be evaluated – such as the belt being too tight, etc.

Bonus question: So, what about the lube that some shops are selling as a reformulated lube?

I have not had a chance to test these lubes.  The advertising says that the products match all of the talking points above.  I don’t trust advertising though without impartial testing.

What I will say is that especially for Canadians and other non-Americans – and I’ve heard Americans say the same – it’s not really an affordable option.  If you have one or two machines, it may be OK (price-wise, as I mentioned above – I have not tested it. )

It’s just a fact of life for us in Canada – most products like this are just not affordable. It would come in around $35.00 a tube for us once all of the fees and exchange were figured in and that’s IF customs let it through.

Here’s how the math works out for Canadians:

Let’s say $10 US for the Lube, probably $8 or more to ship.  (Based on current rates for me to ship the same sort of thing to the next province.) That’s $18 US.

Once it crosses the border IF it crosses the border – it may be rejected at the border as not allowed – I would be assessed a brokerage fee $10.50 – and GST on the Cdn amount of the purchase but not shipping ($0.70).

Now add Exchange at today’s rate: 1.3222  That adds another $5.80. Next there’s the surcharge on either my credit card or Paypal – both around 3% ($0.56) – for a total of $35.06 at a minimum for a single tube of lubricant.

Whether the claims of it being identical to the original are true or not, non-Americans are not the target market for this product.

$35 to do about the equivalent of one overhaul on a 15-91 or a 201-2.  Or Petroleum Jelly which is as close as can be to free – since most of us likely have some in the bathroom.

I hear someone out there saying: “But what about the fancy syringe?”

Something like this will work.  It cost me 99 Canadian pennies at the pharmacy where I get Stormi’s subQ fluids and her junk food.

syringe

What about that old tube of Singer lube sitting in the drawer of my machine? 

Sure.  If the lube is still of a petroleum jelly or slightly thicker consistency, go for it.  This comes from a Singer certified repair shop that was / has been in business for a lot of years.  (They’re still in business, just in a different province and possibly not doing Singer anymore?)

Note: If you’re like me, those old (lead?) tubes will burp everything out the bottom end when you try to use them though.  I squeeze all of the lube I can get out of those old tubes into a new syringe like the one above or even one without the curved tip and use it from there.

retubed
Singer Lube – Post-Burp


So give it to me straight, what do you use and recommend?

LOL! Really?  It wasn’t obvious? 😉

Petroleum Jelly.

Far smarter people than I use it.  I’m willing to use it too.

Today’s post title was inspired by possibly the most obvious song title ever (especially if your teens / 20s or 30s were in the early to mid-90s.) but grabbing a line from it and not giving the verdict away was a little harder. 😉

Stone Temple Pilots – Vasoline

One time a thing occurred to me
What’s real and what’s for sale
Blew a kiss and tried to take it home

It isn’t you, isn’t me
Search for things that you can’t see
Going blind out of reach
Somewhere in the vasoline

From their 2nd album and the beginning of Scott Weiland’s unfortunate descent into addiction. 🙁

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53 thoughts on “A search for things that you can’t see – Singer motor lube replacement”

  1. I just acquired a 221K and since it sounded rather dry, my first step was to oil and grease it. I read your article even before I had a look in the manual, so first thing I did was getting some Vaseline (no original oil or grease came with the machine). But then, when I got to the part in the manual which deals with lubricating the motor I found there it is explicitely stated *not* to use Vaseline. Do you have any idea why Singer advised against using it? I’m pretty unsure now, what I should do.

    1. Singer said that because they wanted to sell their lubricant. It’s no different from people today who say that vaseline will destroy your machine – see who says it and who says it will be fine and make note of who’s trying to make money with a competitor product. People I greatly respect use and recommend vaseline for these motors. Motors did not vary significantly from White (who called for vaseline in their motors) to Singer. The biggest thing is to not flood the grease tube by forcing a bunch in. Just a 5 second squeeze and stop. If it burps out before that, you’re finished earlier. If you’re not getting a huge amount into the tube, it’s impossible to force the lube past the bushing and into the motor to do damage.

  2. Tried pasting instructions for my 1950 Westinghouse New Home rotary machine showing to use unmedicated vaseline for the motor but it would not upload. . I am waiting for delivery of a 1955 Featherweight and did purchase the New Featherweight grease and lubricant $9.99 free shipping and used it on a 1950 model 66 I recently purchased for $57 shipped. I don’t mind sacrificing that machine to experiment on but now question what I should use on the $450 Featherweight. It may be a paper weight until I feel comfortable with which one to use.

    1. Hi! Yeah, the site won’t let photos be uploaded in comments. If you want to send it via email though, I can post it. Just hit Contact up in the upper right corner and I’ll respond with an email address you can use.

      I’ve had a chance to evaluate the FW shop grease and I have concerns, as do a couple of my colleagues who’ve encountered it in machines they’ve serviced.

    1. I personally wouldn’t. When I mentioned to my supplier that the formula was clearly different, he went back to manufacturer and they weren’t interested in supporting the vintage machines. Though I’m really not sure what the market is for Singer lube other than vintage machines, since the new ones aren’t that accessible for user applied grease.

  3. Thanks for writing this post. At last I finally understand the reasons for oil and grease/lubricant. The aha moment was great to finally have!

    I just came into possession of a 221 Centennial(?) that was left behind with the house we just bought (first time home buyer). I had my MIL’s old 221, but it was stolen from our storage unit in our apartment complex.

    Anyways… The newly found one was in its case and works well but definitely needs to be lubed up. This post helped enormously.

    Now what to do about the clearly used once or twice metal tube of grease and can of oil in the case?

    1. I’m so glad I could help. 🙂 Congratulations on the new house! What a wonderful gift the former owners left you.
      Well, as long as the grease is still of a greasy consistency, you can likely use it. The oil can can be kept as a collectible and technically it’s also usable if it’s not cloudy, seriously discolored or foul smelling. I usually don’t though because oil is easier to come by that original grease.

  4. Hi Tammi! Thanks for this post. I’m wondering if you’ve revised your position at all in light of the Featherweight shop’s video two years ago comparing original Singer Motor Lubricant, their grease, and petroleum jelly. I felt they raised valid concerns about the extremely low melting point and the way that PJ melts as opposed to other greases, where PJ fully liquifies and therefore is free to flow into areas it should not. Any thoughts? While they certainly are trying to sell their product, the experiment seemed unbiased. I’d like to believe PJ works as well considering the price difference, but now I’m not so sure! Have you cracked open and inspected a motor which has been lubricated with PJ after a decent amount of use?

    1. Hi Matt,

      I haven’t revised my position, no. Generally speaking, there’s not enough petroleum jelly in a motor tube to flood the motor -if- it liquifies completely. And realistically, it wouldn’t – in an oven, heat is applied all around the lube. It would be easier to liquify than a single touch point, like a motor shaft at the end of a grease tube.

      Additionally, I know techs who’ve had to remove the FW shop’s lubricant because of hard running, sluggish motors and once the machine had PJ in it, it ran properly again. Perhaps the lube was damaged before it reached our latitude, I don’t know. When I tested their lube, I found it sticky, not lubricant-like. It certainly didn’t feel like original Singer lube. I wouldn’t use it in my own motors, not even to test. My vintage motors have never shown any evidence of damage and they run PJ in them, including a 222K that I would never compromise if I thought there was a chance of an issue.

  5. Thanks for the info. I am hoping use my Mum’s singer machine after it has been sitting idle for over 12 years.

  6. Thank you for this post! I was about to buy some from a local sewing shop near me, but after reading this I’ll probably splurge on some fabric instead 😉

    I recently got a Singer 1591 with the manual a bunch of fancy attachments from a yard sale for $50, and am wanting to do everything to the book as possible! Been hearing so much good things about this machine, I can’t wait to start using it

  7. Thank you for such an informative article. I am new to VSM. I cleaned and re-wire my Singer 15-91 motor. I put PJ in the grease cups with new wicks and applied some PJ to the gear. I was reading some posts and several of the FB groups for VSMs and began to doubt my decision to use PJ. Thanks again for a well thought out article

  8. I have my grandmother’s 1929 Singer 101-3. The manual mentions both oil and details multiple locations that require one drop (one location requires 12 drops) and grease/ motor lubricant for the motor. Thanks to you I now know to use PJ for the motor lubricant, but what kind of oil do you recommend? Thank you.

    1. For a machine that’s freely moving, there’s nothing wrong with regular sewing machine oil.
      If it needs to be freed up, I use Tri-Flow oil.
      The one thing about Tri-flow and the reason that I don’t use it on customer machines any longer is that if the machine sits for a period of time, the first half dozen revolutions of the handwheel can feel sluggish until the oil starts to move again – and that can lead to people thinking that the machine is stuck up when it’s not.
      If a person realizes that and knows to watch for the difference between a slow to start for a couple of revolutions by hand and actually frozen or they use their machine regularly, I feel that the Tri-Flow is a far superior product because of the PTFE (Teflon) additive.

      1. I rec’d a comment. Perhaps this isn’t the place but I have a friend who’s a retired motor rewind guy. I asked him about my Singer 99K not wanting to accept any lubricant I tried to give the motor. I have some old Singer motor lube and also bought some stuff from an auto supply shop that looked like Vaseline. This guy says 3-in-1. I mentioned I’d read NOT to use 3-in-1 on old machines even for regular parts oiling. Well, time flies and it turns out that 3-in-1 now makes two oils: one for machines and one for motors. I saw it in a store and confirmed it with him just last week. Haven’t had time to try it.

        Cheers

        1. I wouldn’t.

          Here’s why:
          1. Most Singer motors require grease not oil. The new motor oil from 3in1 is an SAE20 oil. This can get past the bushings and into the motor.
          2. Their SDS (https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/3inone/3-in-one-motor-oil.pdf) says that it contains mineral oil (this is fine), naptha (also fine) and a mixture of “non-hazardous ingredients” – this is listed the same on the original multi-purpose oil. I would suspect that it would have the same tendency to lock things up over time.
          3. Vaseline is cheaper and most households already have it on hand.

          I do notice that rewind guys often say that 3in1 and synthetic greases are OK until you mention that the grease needs a melting point. Most of the motors they deal with would also have a higher torque so be more naturally able to overcome a little bit of initial stickiness. They’d also see near constant duty cycles so be less prone to setting up. Our little motors don’t benefit from any of those scenarios. In fact, our little motors are well below the “1/4HP motors or larger” that’s specified on the label of the 3in1 motor oil.

          1. Thanks! I bought the 3 in 1 but Life hasn’t allowed me time to sew , let alone play with sewing machines. I just read the fine print on the label. It says equivalent to SAE20 oil and Engineered for 1/4 HP Motors or Larger and I hadn’t noticed made by WD 40 which alone I don’t have much, if any, trust in. I can see through the top of the bottle it looks just like car or chain saw oil. It’s possible I’ll see the fella next week.

            It’s not handy at the moment but it sounds like the grease the auto supply supply sold me back when I first got the little Singer would be better. It looked a lot like I remember petroleum jelly to look. (haven’t seen or used PJ for 40 or so years. Oh! am I dating myself? LOL

            Thing is/was, I have part of a little tube of Singer lube (from a thrift store), and even in the heat of the sun on a hot summer’s day the machine’s nipples didn’t soak any of it in, nor did the auto shop lube. Just hope I don’t regret getting rid of the beat up 99K I bought for a part. Storage space is at a premium so it had to go.

            Cheers.

            1. I would check to see if the grease the auto shop sold you is synthetic. If it is, don’t use that either. One of the main selling points of synthetic greases is that they “don’t have a melting point” – this is exactly wrong for these machines.
              PJ will have a melt point around body temperature – so unless your hot summer day was 40C +, I wouldn’t expect it to have started to noticeably change state. That’s IF it was the old formula. If it was the new formula – it doesn’t melt properly anymore at all.

              1. I have no idea when the Singer grease was made. I had picked up 2 different label tubes in a thrift store. One squeezed out rather creepy and dark and the other more of a thick cream. That’s the one I tried. It is a white tube printed in red. Most of the printing is worn off. It was a hot day but only about 37C in the shade. I let it sit in the sun for several hours.

                The auto shop stuff is called Permatex Dielectric Tune-up Grease OEM certified, contains polydimethylsiloxane, in the health warning, . In fine print it says Permatex, ITW Performance Polymers permatex.com made in USA. Probably exactly what you say not to use, eh?

                I like taking things apart and fixing them. If I didn’t live where there were so many other fix it jobs and maintenance work always needing doing – not to mention a huge yard being invaded by knapweed, I’d take the motor apart. Alas, I have no time. Besides, I was working on my serger a couple/few years ago, needed more light, decided to wait for spring, got into sewing French seams and never got back to the serger. I takes priority over taking this motor apart and seeing what’s what.

                I came down with long Flu 2 months ago and wasn’t able to connect with the rewind guy. Perhaps this month. I think he’s retired now. Maybe I can get him to check it out and give advice. I saw a great youtube where the guy took a 99K apart and totally cleaned and adjusted it. I was hoping to do some work on it this coming year. I love the machine and want to try to preserve it. Coming across it made up for one of my few life regrets: selling my 1968 Featherweight. Apart from its presser bar not seemingly strong enough to hold up to buttonholer and zigzag attachments, the 99K’s biggest drawback is not having a screw setting on the forward/reverse lever. It’s a major PITA to get it back to where it was.

                Cheers.

                1. I’ve seen some of the red and white tubes contain the proper lube but the creamy stuff you describe sounds like the new formula that doesn’t work for motors anymore.

                  Yeah, I wouldn’t use the Permatex product.

                  I find the same thing. There’s always so much to do around the house that sometimes the machines fall to the side. Such is the joy I guess of home stewardship.

  9. Hi, how about grease for motors used in 400 and 500 series Singer machines? Those motors have no grease ports, but if you take them apart, the lower bushing is a metal cup, and most online tutorials instruct to add some grease into that cup.

    Is melting point still relevant in such application, since there is no wick? Will synthetic crease work?

    Thanks!

    1. The melt point is applicable where the grease meets the warm bushing more than it’s for the wick.
      Synthetic grease does not have a low melt point (or at least none of the ones I’ve seen).

    1. The easiest way is with a squeeze tube of pj. Some almost always burps out but it’s a very good moisturizer for your hands. You can always tell when I’ve been filling syringes for class – my hands are baby soft!

  10. How often do you recommend that I grease my 221? It is not heavily used, but used enough to keep it happy.
    Thanks for this information. Sadly I just ordered one of the two new grease formulations seen on line. Fortunately, I live very close to the border and can go and pick it up at friend’s home in Bellingham, thus avoiding all those extra fees, but after reading the information you provided I guess I just wasted $10 American. It’s hard to know who to believe, especially since they’re all trying to sell me something. As I don’t think you’re competing with London Drugs or Costco for my tube of Vaseline, I think I’ll believe you. Thanks. I’m delighted that I found your site! One of those fortunate accidents.
    I hope your pets are still with you. It’s never easy when they have to leave us. They don’t livelong enough as I know only too well.

    1. For greasing gears, you can probably do every few months. If the gears look dry when you do it, up the schedule. Technically it counts as a spinning item so the schedule is 8 hours but I don’t find gears need that sort of attention with grease. As for the motor, Singer recommended at least every 6 months in the owner’s manual. Dave McCallum recommended every 3 months. Those are pretty good guidelines.

      $10 American isn’t a huge loss at least.

      I’m glad you’re getting use out of the site. One more happy machine. 🙂

      So far, we’ve still got 2 of our girls. We were at 3 when I started this blog but the Queen (Stormi) is still going strong at 21.5yrs as is our 15+ yr young Husky Shepherd cross. I suspect I’ll be allowed to travel in the not too terribly distant future but I’m really happy for the reason I’m tied to home for now. 🙂 I heard once that they don’t live as long as we do because they couldn’t handle the heartbreak – so I guess that makes it better that we take that pain in exchange for their companionship.

  11. The red plastic tube that comes with WD40 works on clearing the old grease. It’s actually a tad narrower than the one that comes with one of the ‘modern formulations’ which fit FW motors but strangely not the other ones.

    1. Thanks for that suggestion! If I didn’t always find the straw missing before the can was empty, I’d squirrel some of those away. Where DO those straws go anyway??

      Some of the other motors have wicks in them – that’s not what you’re running into is it? (Guessing without knowing the models…)

      1. Hi Tammi, check this is out particularly from the 2.35 mark. It’s interesting that he says the tubes are only Q-tips with the ends cut off although the Aussie ones look thicker than that. PS It’s even hard finding a WD40 with the tubes in the store as I think people steal a whole bunch of them! I bought a tube of this last year but after research here and lots of other places, when the tube runs out it’s Vaseline for me.

        1. I’ve had a chance to feel (but haven’t had time to test) the new formulation and I find it sticky. I actually don’t have a lot of interest in putting it in a motor I use. I also know someone who said they found their motor running hard after using that new formulation and once replaced with Vaseline, the motor ran much better. One of these days, I will do some extensive testing but right now, it’s petroleum jelly for all of my motors and what I teach in classes.

          I’ll have to look at the Q-tips I have here. I thought these ones were just cardboard sticks – like a sucker stick – with fluff balls on top. I suspect lots of people swipe the straws at the store too. I always double check to make sure I get one with a straw and sometimes have to dig to the back of the shelf.

        2. Hey Ronson – I removed the link to the video you posted, only because it was linking this site to the FW shop via Pinterest and that’s not a can of worms I wanted to open up. I’m sorry, I’m really not trying to censor – only trying to not stir up the hornets’ nest.

    2. Thanks for the tip! Will try it. I have a couple WD40 straws. I picked up another Singer 99K – paid too much considering its super poor condition, but its power plug was intact and swapped out with my original foot pedal. I’ve been using it to experiment. The grease plugs on it are plugged hard as a rock which made me wonder if and how much the better machine is plugged. I had managed to get some grease in it but it has never gone down further than where it was after greasing. Hmmm. I learned that someone I know is related to retired owner of a motor rewind company. I’m going to see if he’d have any info on these things. The not-long-closed rewind shop is the last of its kind here.
      Thanks again.

  12. I’m in Canada too. I found a partially used tube for 99K @ a thrift. not really sure how to put it in. think it’s white tube red text (not handy right now) Holes plugged right off but machine hadn’t been fully oiled and run for some time – possibly years.,, hmmm.

    1. If you can find a tiny straw that will fit in there, it can usually help push out the old lube – unless there are wicks in the grease tubes. That depends on the model of the motor.

      Then put the end of the lube tube into the grease port and give it a 5 second squeeze. If it burps out before that, you’re done. Oil does not belong in a Singer motor, only the lube you bought – as long as it’s not white. Proper Singer lube should be an amber color.

      If there are no visible grease tubes (be careful not to mistake the brush tubes for grease tubes) – then your model of motor does not need to be greased.

      1. Thanks to all those who mentioned the straws! I’m going to try them, however I’m wondering if there are wicks in the Singer 99Ks. I have two 99Ks and the holes of the machine I bought for parts are completely plugged and hard. I think it was a mal-treated machine though. In the case of the machine I’ve been using, I had more or less forced some grease in using my fingers. I’m wondering about it now because the level hasn’t gone down after sewing a several garments. Guess time will tell?

        1. It will really depend on the motor that was supplied with the 99K. If you can get a model number off the motor, see if you can google to find wicks for it. If you find a listing for them, you’ll know that it has them for sure. If you don’t find a listing, then that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have them but that they’re not generally available via a common number.

          Alternatively, you can take the motor apart and investigate from the inside. Of course, that will depend on your comfort level with the disassembly. I’d strongly recommend Rain’s tutorial over on the vintage singer sewing machine blog. It’s done on a potted motor but the theory is the same and can be extrapolated to other motors.

          It does sound like there are wicks and possibly wicks to the very top (i.e. no springs holding the wicks). Typically the tubes are filled once or twice a year and sometimes the lube doesn’t really move at the top.

          1. I hope this is going to the right person and place.
            The original riveted tag is still intact. Singer Cat. No. BAJ3-8, Ser 7709553. The other is 7598710. Both made in Canada.
            I bought a new featherweight c. 1978. Very regrettably I sold it when I upgraded 1981. I recall it needing grease but no outstanding memories. I think I just squeezed the grease from the tube and wiped off excess.
            If you have a link to Rain’s article I’d sure appreciate it. If not, many thanks regardless. I’ll google the motors

          2. PS Oops/ The featherweight was 1968 not 1978. think I typed it wrong.

            No, I’m not afraid to take it apart. It’s a time issue. My serger’s been apart for months. Among other issues, it needs another adjustment to the space where the needle goes down. Last time I wanted to use it I opted for one of the stitches on an old Kenmore I’m testing for a friend’s daughter or to resell.

  13. OK you have convinced me to use petroleum jelly. I have learned so much about Singer machines here and not only that understand why. I have another question before I melt some petroleum jelly and pour it into a syringe. I would really like to know what’s going on under those chrome tubes before I pump in some grease. Is there an easy to remove them without wrecking them or do I just shoot in the grease and hope? I also considered a few drops of oil then the grease. What are your thoughts? Thank you.
    Robin

    1. That’s my goal – to provide the why as well as the what. 🙂

      Usually the PJ doesn’t need to be melted – I just squeeze it in – if from a tube or you could probably use a spatula or similar.

      You could technically use a tiny straw to get the old grease out – push it in and pull it out, don’t try to slurp it out! If there’s a wick in there though, it won’t go in.

      Depending on the motor – some of the tubes come out, some don’t. Notably, the featherweight ones don’t.

      With fresh wicks, I have used a couple of drops of oil to get the wicks started – like when I do a motor rebuild which includes changing the wicks. With wicks already saturated with grease, I don’t usually because there’s no guarantee that the oil will stay where I want it to.

  14. Thanks for posting this. Even though I have used petroleum jelly in my Singer 15-91 motor, I wasn’t sure if it was okay to use in my featherweight’s motor. I know of two vendors in the US that claim their reformulated lubricant is safe for featherweights. I only trust to buy from one though as I saw the melting point test results for both products and only that one passed. I feel for you having to contend with exorbitant shipping costs though.

    1. Hi Phyllis! Your featherweight motor is really no different than the 15-91 as far as the motor lubrication requirements are concerned. One of the points I was trying to make with this post is that a motor is a motor is a motor when it comes to these grease lubricated motors.

      I’m reasonably sure that the two vendors are using the same product. And notably, the test the one vendor did – did not include PJ despite the fact that it would be their #1 competitor now that the Singer Lube is no longer suitable.

      1. I agree & I had wondered about that. Motors are motors. There are slight variations, but the inside of the potted motor isn’t that different from a featherweight motor. Both made by Singer and both from the same era. Both used the same lubricant so presumably had similar melting points.

        If vendors know about pj and aren’t sharing that knowledge, then that is very disappointing.

        I plan to do my own melt test using pj, vintage Singer lube, and the two vendor’s products. I also have a tube of the stuff with Teflon in it.

        1. I agree that keeping that knowledge hidden is disappointing. It’s part of why I wrote this post. So many people kept telling me about it and I kept saying, “Yeah but…”

          I’d like to hear the results of your tests. I’ve always wanted to do more precise testing but with my list of “to do”s,… I don’t know when I’d ever get to it!

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