Now that the New Year is fading in our memory and resolutions might be slipping a little, we wish to ………
- Dare you to take time to sew; embroider; serge; use your Digital cutter; experiment with your embroidery software and generally sew up a storm!
- Dare you to your dream up projects to sew and embroider
- Dare you to complete these projects!
Before the holiday season, our Janome machines probably worked really hard to make hand-made gifts… you know… we like to do that and they are often the msot popular gifts we give! And we know what you were sewing as you told us when you entered our janomelife Christmas book give-away. You were all very busy!
So it is probably a good time to remind you: Did you thoroughly clean out your machine after its hard work? Some fabrics leave a little stain from dye which needs to be cleaned with a damp cloth and mild soap before you forget!
Remember also to remove the needle plate and the bobbin case to remove all lint and fluff which would have accumulated down there. It is quite normal – just like dust collects in our homes! But it does need to be removed.
Many of our newer machines now have the fabulous one step needle plate remover button to removing the needle plate without having to use a screw driver to remove the screws. SO much quicker and easier. This button pops the plate up in an instant and when your cleaning is done, just click it back on.
One step needle plate removal button
Now….about oiling: you have the needle plate off and the bobbin case out. Take a look at the centre of the hook race – that is the metal cup area in which the bobbin case rests. Do you see the very centre is a little round part which looks like it might have lint stuck in it? See pic below. DO NOT REMOVE THIS. It is not lint or fluff. It is the wick for oil. Put ONE drop of good quality sewing machine oil onto this wick. The oil should NOT shlosh around all over like in a swimming pool! Oh no, then you have put way too much oil and you will have to mop it up with a paper towel. Just watch after putting ONE drop: You may see one little bubble come to the surface of the wick as the oil soaks down into the wick. If you repeat this important step often, 1 drop is all that will be needed. But if you are a bit lazy with this task, you may need to do 2 drops this time. When one or 2 bubbles have popped up, you have enough oil. If no bubbles, then the wick was probably quite moist enough. And the oil should not overflow the wick area.
Yellow arrows points to where oil goes.
AND – this cleaning and oiling does NOT take the place of having your machine regularly servcied at your local Janome dealer. This oiling and house keeping is IN ADDITION to servicing your machine(s) at least once every 18 months – 2 years. Seriously……would you drive your car for 10-15 years without ever taking it to be serviced? Would you never put oil in your engine? Mmmmmm….didn’t think so!
I like these brushes as they help me get out all that lint & fluff that collects in my sewing machines and sergers. Ask your local Janome dealer to order you oneof these.
It is a good idea to replenish your supply of bobbins after a busy time of sewing. You can use the bobbin winder to refill your bobbins with Janome bobbin thread – which is thinner so is receomemnded for embroidery projects. (No-one like the feel of a bullet proof vest when the embroidery is complete so do use appropriate threads). This Janome bobbin thread is available from your local Janome dealer in large cones and smaller spools as well packets of prewound boobins:
Janome bobbin thread is available at your local Janome dealer.
Part #’s are as follows:
300m: # 200921781 (white)
800 meters: # 27-J-209-1 (Black)
1,600 meters: # 27-J-208 – 16C (white)
20,000m: # 770433004 (white) 120wt thread so very thin – great for embroidery asit is polyester and smooth and strong.
# PWBOBBIN -W (white) or #PWBOBBIN-B (black)
Did you know this? Each bobbin contains 80 yards = 74 meters. And the special machines that wind our pre-wounds do it much tighter than our sewing machines wind so more thread is contained on a pre-wound than on a self wound bobbin.
Now you are all set to start sewing up a storm again? Well we hope so!
This post courtesy of Celine over at Vie Janome – translated into English and edited slightly.
Janome Life 
My manual says nothing about oiling my machine. What kind of oil do I use?
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Hi Jan,
Your local Janome dealer should be able to assist you with this query. They would be doing your regular servicing of your machine and could show where you need to oil and sell you the correct type of oil. This blog post has a good amount of information on this except for the type of oil. The oil needs to be fine and suitable for sewing machines. One with a long narrow spout helps apply just a small amount to the machine.
Liz
JANOME CANADA.
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Thankyou for this info. The wick is not in the book. Luckily my husband thought it was a wick and told me not to remove it until we checked. I tried doing the a chat on Janome with a technican but she didn’t understand what I was asking and I finally had to stop and try googling it again and found you.
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Hi Cindy,
Your local Janome dealer/authorized Janome service technician should know this information and be able to share it with you.
Janome North America also has a wonderful service where they can skype and actually show live to answer queries. They do this primarily with our Janome Dealers but, point is, this information is readily available.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Appreciate this information. I wondered about the ‘wick’ and couldn’t see anywhere in my manual (Janome S3 in Aust.) about oiling.
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Great article! Whish I had seen this sooner….What if I accidentally cleaned and removed the wick, can I replace it?
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Hi Susan,
Yes, you sure can. Please contact an authorized Janome dealer and service Technician – they can do this.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Is the 15000 in need of oiling too? Cant see anything in the instruction book.
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Hi Audrey,
Our Service Manager advises that it is NOT a good thing to over oil your machine as it can do more damage than good sometimes. Which is probably why there is not info on oiling in the manual? We advise you to have your machine cleaned, serviced and lubricated regularly by an Authorized Janome Dealer who will take care of this for you. Of course, we know many people do not follow this recommendation. A drop of oil in the wick is okay as long as it is a drop from time to time but it is not advisable to get any oil on the bobbin case and hook surfaces.
Hope that clarifies the matter.
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Hi, I bought a skyline s9 last fall and love it, the manuel does not say anything about oiling but just wiping with the brush and cloth, so thats all I do on a regular basis. When i bought my machine the dealer told me not to put oil either. So I would like to know if I should put oil or not in the skyline s9?
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I am awaiting confirmation on the answer so I will get back to you. I got the other message too!
Liz
Janome Canada
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I recently purchased the Skyline S9, where is the Couching Foot PC-1 and PC-1, Yarn guide bar and Yarn guide packaged? I cannot find them. Is there a secret compartment?
Thanks
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Hi Gwen,
It is a while since I opened my box so I do not remember where in the box this is packed. Im sure it would be with theother accessories and I do remeber that it was in a little plastic bag. Please double check everything in your box. No secret compartment that I am aware of! Please contact your local Janome dealer where you purchased this machine for further assistance.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Thank you for maintenance reminder. I think of ;my Horizon as a new car. So I should treat it as such.
JLF
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Hi Joan,
Yes, I use the anology of caring for your car often when I mention caring for your sewing machines. Very simialr principles apply!
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Can I use the Janome prewound bobbins in my Janome Memory Craft 15000? If yes, is it ok to use for embroidery, quilting and/or regular sewing?
Thank you for the great post. I have not oiled my 15000 yet but I have cleaned and brushed the bobbin area.
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Hi Sandy,
You sure can! You may use it for all of the above but the Janome pre-wounds are a 60wt thread in white and black so are pefect for your embroidery projects. I do use for regular sewing and quilting sometimes but often prefer to use a slightly thicker thread in my bobbin for those projects – same thread as my needle?
If you use Janome pre-wounds for embroidery, you may not need the yellow dot bobbin case for embroidery. The regular bobbin case with red mark may be fine. However, if you wind your own bobbin thread for embroidery, you will need to use the yellow dot bobbin case.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Love my Janome and I do clean it after every big project I also change my needle.What size needle do you recommend for every day sewing.
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Hi Wilma,
A Janome blue tip needle is a good place to start. That is a size 11. Our Janome red tip needle is a size 14. We have done blog posts on needles from time to time so you could do a search on janomelife home page for more info. Glad you love your Janome and keep it clean!
Liz
JANMOME CANADA
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Hi, I bought a skyline s9 last fall and love it, the manuel does not say anything about oiling but just wiping with the brush and cloth, so thats all I do on a regular basis. When i bought my machine the dealer told me not to put oil either. So should i put oil or not in the skyline s9?
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Hi,
Our Service Manager advises that it is NOT a good thing to over oil your machine as it can do more damage than good sometimes. Which is probably why there seems to be conflicting pieces of information about this. We advise you to have your machine cleaned, serviced and lubricated regularly by an Authorized Janome Dealer who will take care of this for you. Of course, we know many people do not follow this recommendation. He did tell me: A drop of oil in the wick is okay as long as it is a drop from time to time but it is not advisable to get any oil on the bobbin case and hook surfaces.
Hope that clarifies the matter.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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thanks Liz, I guess I am going to stick with my first plan which is to regularly just clean and wipe it myself and to bring it to the dealer once a year for a good checkup, clean and lubricate
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Good plan.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Thanks for this reminder. Going to do it right now!
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I clean my machine after every big project. I am currently using the Acufil on my Janome 15000 to quilt a king size quilt. I use a pipe cleaner in addition to a brush. The pipe cleaner picks up a lot of dust. Thanks for a great article.
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Thanks for the pipe cleaner tip. Happy sewing.Im also busy with about 3 projects for upcoming shows – 1 of them is acufil which I just LOVE.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Thank you for the oiling tip! Good article!
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Thank you for sharing. Is that little bobbin spot the only place we oil our precious hardworking Janome workhorse?
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Yes. Sergers are a little different but our top loading bobbin machines are all much the same for oiling. Service at your local authorized Janome dealer is in addition, as I said in the post, they get inside your machine, clean it out thoroughly and lubricate inside. Only authorized Janome technicians can do this.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Thank you Liz!
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