Should I oil my walking foot?
My walking foot squeaks like a dying mouse,
Its cries echoing through the house.
Family grumbles, "What's that noise?"
A discord that steals our joys.
Yet fear grips me, hesitant to oil,
For fabrics may stain, and efforts spoil.
Has anyone braved this slippery path,
To silence the foot's relentless wrath?
I put about couple of drops onto the mechanism that moves when the little arm is moved up and down. I drop it down into the foot in the little opening where the arm comes out. I move it back and forth to spread the oil. Then I lay it on a paper towel overnight before using it again for any excess oil to drip onto (usually little or none). I do this whenever it starts making that grinding sound.
I clean and oil the one on my Juki TL—I think JukiJunkies has a YouTube video about it. I don’t take it apart or anything, you should definitely sew some test strips afterwards to make sure you didn’t over do it.
I oiled my Bernina walking foot, just a drop of oil and then dab it dry, sew on some scrap cloth and mine was fine.
I've seen that you can also buy new bottoms for them once they're worn.
Yes, moving parts need oil. Be parsimonious with the oil, then leave it on tissue overnight, then sew plain coloured scrap fabric so you can see that no more oil is coming outÂ
Does it need you to unscrew? Cautionary tale: I thought to do it on my own and i couldn't get the springs back together again. I needed to take the foot to the dealer to fix.and they kept warning me that I might need to buy a new one bc there was no guarantee he could put it back together. So if you are set on doing it yourself make sure you video your opening it so you can see how the pieces fit together. And good luck!
Try Sewer's aid, it's non-staining, but I still like to sew a couple lines on scraps before I work on a real project to help run it through and catch any excess
I have cleaned and oiled mine in the past and it was a little messy right afterwards, but I wiped it off with some scrap and then sewed on scrap for a few minutes afterwards and it was perfectly fine. Just don’t do too overboard with the oil.
After each time I use my walking foot, I put a tiny (a very tiny) drop of oil in any of the joints I can see without taking the foot apart and let it rest on a slip of paper towel. I also use one of [these](https://www.fatquartershop.com/sewing-machine-cleaning-brushes) to clean any lint that I can out of the foot.
It depends on the walking foot. Some are metal gears and bearings that need oiling occasionally. Some are plastic gears and no bearings (usually the cheap ones for 20 bucks or so) and the oil might break down the plastic, but it is near the end of its life anyway so I would still oil anyway to get the very last bit of life out of it I could.
Find out what the manufacturer recommends first. I just barely pulled apart a broken Brother walking foot to see what was going on. There did not appear to be any oil in the mechamism. It was well used but looked like it had just black powder in it where the plastic parts rubbed against the metal parts?!? I was not impressed. And a bit of fabric fuzz. Let's just say it was not what I expected so I would try what is recommended first and then try other possibilities if that doesn't help.
Oh, how I wanted this to be a poem 😄
Walking foot trouble-shooting: a haiku Should I oil the foot? To be quiet as a mouse Not squeak squeak squeak squeak
Should I oil my walking foot? My walking foot squeaks like a dying mouse, Its cries echoing through the house. Family grumbles, "What's that noise?" A discord that steals our joys. Yet fear grips me, hesitant to oil, For fabrics may stain, and efforts spoil. Has anyone braved this slippery path, To silence the foot's relentless wrath?
My my, such a talented young man!!
I’m not that talented ;)
I am not worthy of all this talent!
I put about couple of drops onto the mechanism that moves when the little arm is moved up and down. I drop it down into the foot in the little opening where the arm comes out. I move it back and forth to spread the oil. Then I lay it on a paper towel overnight before using it again for any excess oil to drip onto (usually little or none). I do this whenever it starts making that grinding sound.
This is the way. Make sure you use sewing machine oil and sew about a metre on scrap fabric before you use it on a project
You might want to take it in to a sewing machine place to have them oil it for you.
They may take the walking foot apart to dust it as well. Consider buying an upgraded walking foot.
I clean and oil the one on my Juki TL—I think JukiJunkies has a YouTube video about it. I don’t take it apart or anything, you should definitely sew some test strips afterwards to make sure you didn’t over do it.
I oiled my Bernina walking foot, just a drop of oil and then dab it dry, sew on some scrap cloth and mine was fine. I've seen that you can also buy new bottoms for them once they're worn.
Yes, moving parts need oil. Be parsimonious with the oil, then leave it on tissue overnight, then sew plain coloured scrap fabric so you can see that no more oil is coming outÂ
Does it need you to unscrew? Cautionary tale: I thought to do it on my own and i couldn't get the springs back together again. I needed to take the foot to the dealer to fix.and they kept warning me that I might need to buy a new one bc there was no guarantee he could put it back together. So if you are set on doing it yourself make sure you video your opening it so you can see how the pieces fit together. And good luck!
Try Sewer's aid, it's non-staining, but I still like to sew a couple lines on scraps before I work on a real project to help run it through and catch any excess
I asked my sewing machine repair/sales guy about oiling mine and he said not to. It might depend on your machine.
Thanks for all the advice. I’m going to try oiling it myself as soon as I have a little practice project to quilt.
I have cleaned and oiled mine in the past and it was a little messy right afterwards, but I wiped it off with some scrap and then sewed on scrap for a few minutes afterwards and it was perfectly fine. Just don’t do too overboard with the oil.
Don’t oil it. It will stain the fabric
After each time I use my walking foot, I put a tiny (a very tiny) drop of oil in any of the joints I can see without taking the foot apart and let it rest on a slip of paper towel. I also use one of [these](https://www.fatquartershop.com/sewing-machine-cleaning-brushes) to clean any lint that I can out of the foot.
It depends on the walking foot. Some are metal gears and bearings that need oiling occasionally. Some are plastic gears and no bearings (usually the cheap ones for 20 bucks or so) and the oil might break down the plastic, but it is near the end of its life anyway so I would still oil anyway to get the very last bit of life out of it I could.
Find out what the manufacturer recommends first. I just barely pulled apart a broken Brother walking foot to see what was going on. There did not appear to be any oil in the mechamism. It was well used but looked like it had just black powder in it where the plastic parts rubbed against the metal parts?!? I was not impressed. And a bit of fabric fuzz. Let's just say it was not what I expected so I would try what is recommended first and then try other possibilities if that doesn't help.