That may seem like a VERY personal question, but I am actually talking about waxing your sewing machine bed……
Have you ever waxed your machine? I love my sit-down longarm, and I found it extremely useful in quilting. When I purchased it, I bought the plastic cover that goes over the top of the machine. This was designed to help the fabric slide better
I was never truly happy with the slickness of the cover, so I also added my super slider to it….
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of threadwork. The problem is that I have backed the piece with interfacing to give it a little more stability as I stitch. The interfacing is a little fuzzy and it does not slide well on my machine bed.
Since I was getting ready to do a lot of detail work, I really wanted this to be as slick as possible.
Enter Turtle Wax for cars.
I had read this works well, but hadn’t tried it yet, so I decided that this was the perfect time to give it a test.
I applied the wax with a rag…..
…. although, after the fact, I realized that I was supposed to use a damp rag… Oh, well note to self… Read the instructions first!
I was careful to keep the wax away from the needle area….
Once I was finished……
I turned on the overhead fan and waited for the wax to dry. I then buffed it off….. first with paper towels…..
and then, with some soft cheesecloth…..
As you can see, I used too much wax and ended up with bits of balled-up wax everywhere. I had to be very careful to get them all into the trash can and NOT on my floor or other supplies!!
Now for the ultimate test. Do pieces more smoothly?…
And the answer is a resounding YES.!!
When I started doing more stitching I found that it was so easy to move the fabric around on the bed of the machine.
It was definitely a success, but….. Would I do it differently next time?
First of all, I will read the instructions…..I WILL read the instructions…..I WILL READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!
Secondly, I won’t add such a thick layer of wax!! (Using a damp rag will help this)….see the above statement!!
I have also heard of using a silicone spray but since the wax worked so well and since I still have a lot left in the can, I will probably stick to waxing going forward.
My only question is how often do I need to do this?
If you have waxed your machine bed previously, how long did it last???
If you are interested, these supplies can be purchased on Amazon….
Turtle-wax” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>urtle Wax Super Hard Shell
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4 thoughts on “Do you wax??…..”
My question is, can you wax the plastic arm that makes your machine larger?
I would think that you can wax on any part of the base. I just made sure that I didn’t get it near the needle area. Please let me know how it goes!!!
Before Covid at a quilt show, I bought a small (and I mean small) container of wax that was to be used on the tabletop. It came with a microfiber cloth. It worked great. Never used it again, guess I forgot about it. Off, I go to see if I can find the little container. Otherwise, I will use your turtle wax idea. Thanks for the tip and the reminder. Keep us posted as to how long it will stay slick.
Yes, I was given one of those when I bought my machine but it was too small to deal with!!! I really like the Turtle wax option….but not as much as I used!!!