Update 06-30-2016:  The latest batch of Singer Lube I received from the supplier is no longer suitable for use in Singer motors.  As such, I’m recommending the use of Petroleum jelly.

People far smarter than me are recommending it and White Sewing machine motors of the same time period used it.

Over the last few months, I’ve been hearing that Singer Lube / Lubricant / Motor Lube (S2129)  is getting really hard to find, especially here in Canada. This has been my experience as a consumer as well.  Walmart used to carry it, but no longer.  I believe that it may have been at Fabricland at one point.  Also, no longer.  With the loss of the Singer store in Edmonton, there were no longer any options I was aware of in my area.

What really got me though is when I went to two of the most popular online sewing parts sites (including Sew Classic) in U.S. and found that they were no longer carrying it.

The last time I ordered the lube, my supplier was back ordered but promised to get more in stock.  At that time, I was getting pretty low myself and asked which shops around me were carrying it, and I was told that there was one shop in Alberta a year back, but they’d closed their account and were possibly no longer in business.  Luckily, my supplier was true to their word and the lube was part of my next shipment.  As a bonus, the lube I received was the brown lube, not the white lube that people are not recommending for use in the motors.

So, in an effort to help the vintage community out, I’ve sent off an email to my supplier, and hopefully I’ll hear back by Monday or Tuesday.  I’ve asked how many tubes they have in stock, and within reason, if there’s enough interest, I will order them all and make them available to my readers.

Update 2013-08-27 – They have 180 tubes still in stock and are ordering more.  We don’t know yet what the new stock will look like, but I’ve asked them to inquire, and explained the issue.  Hopefully we’ll get some information right from the horse’s mouth.  I will put in an order at the beginning of next week, so please do let me know if I’m ordering for you too! 

Update 2016-03-22: Unfortunately, I’m no longer able to get Singer Lube that is suitable for use in Singer motors.  It has recently been reformulated and leaves too much residue to be good for the wicks.  My supplier is talking to the company that makes it to see if there’s something that can be done (and has told me they’ll keep me in the loop) but there’s no information at this point.

In the meantime, several people I respect in the industry recommend the use of Petroleum Jelly, including:

“Not recommended for grease tubes or pots that lubricate motor bearings via a wick.  Use petroleum jelly for those applications.”  From here: http://shop.sew-classic.com/Tri-Flow-Sewing-Machine-Grease-1-4-oz-TF75454.htm

And “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.”  From here: http://vssmb.blogspot.ca/2011/12/how-to-re-wire-potted-motor-part-19-re.html

Additionally, I’ve spoken with a couple of electric motor shops and they feel that petroleum Jelly is fine.  Vintage White sewing machine motors called for petroleum jelly in their grease ports as well.

The gotcha?  Canada Post’s fees.

One way to offset it is to share the shipping with a couple of friends, and order a few tubes at once.  The other way? Keep reading. 🙂

Although I haven’t managed to set up a webstore yet, I can get you most of the things you’ll find in a sewing machine shop, with the exception of fabric and batting.  Many product lines are available to me, both machine parts and notions.  In rare circumstances, items will be available only to particular dealers (ie certain Pfaff parts are sold only to a Pfaff dealer) but those are the exception not the rule.  The other thing I often have are vintage parts, just ask. 🙂

As I mentioned back in October when I blogged about having become a dealer for SMS, I don’t have the overhead of a “bricks and mortar” shop, so I can often be extremely competitive as well.  If there are things you need, I would be pleased to let you know what I can get them to you for.

In the absence of a webstore, please click on the contact link up there in the upper right corner to contact me directly, or scroll a little further down to post a comment for all to see.  Either way, I will get back to you.

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