Well this time I will be explaining how our family has restored a vintage sewing machine to it’s previous glory. My family just wanted this to be top priority in the restoration list. There was a reason for this.

For your information, sewing machines changed the way textile or clothing industry works. Thanks to the sewing machines, clothing industry saw a huge revolution in the early 20th century.

It wouldn’t be wrong if I said the world was changed into what it is now and one of the reason being the invention of sewing machines. They have a place in the history.

Many craft collectors love to own a antique sewing machine.

So do we.

The main reason for this is because they are mechanical and built with perfection in mind. It adds a classic touch to the sewing room doesn’t it!

The reason for this restoration was my grandmother, she just loves to sew on a vintage sewing machine. Back in the old days, she was one of the advanced tailor in my family.

When not using the old machine, my grandmother prefers to use the singer 4432 sewing machine brand best designed for beginners and advanced sewers.

Before you start with the restoration work you need to understand the working principle of the vintage sewing machine in general.

How Does a Mechanical Sewing Machine Work?

Well this is a simple question to answer. They come with a pedal near the foot and when you press on the food pedal this would move wheel that in turn made the needle move.

They even had a manual crank which was used to sew minor stitches without requiring to foot pedal.

The mechanical sewing machine came with a table and a drawer underneath to store sewing accessories. Moreover all the components were made out of metal and the table was made of wood.

Watch this video to see how an old vintage machine works.

As electricity became accessible, and industries started using them to increase production via electric powered sewing machines.

Later followed the computerized sewing machines which we see and use today.

So why an antique singer sewing machine?

The reason is simple, the quality and the metal body with great control is what makes it preferred choice for my grandmother.

Restoring a Vintage Sewing Machine – Instructions To Follow:

1. Clean the sewing machine first, we used a small blower to blow out dirt from the tight places.
2. Then we used a vacuum cleaner to remove the dirt. Be careful not vacuum clean delicate areas of the sewing machine like the needles.
3. Now use a clean wipe to clean the surface of the sewing equipment.
4. If required use sewing machine oil along with the wipe.
5. Check the condition of food pedal, cable wire, needles, and all the parts for fault.
6. Replace any faulty component with new component.
7. After replacing the faulty components test whether they work as intended.
8. When everything is working fine lubricate the machine with recommended sewing machine oil only.
9. Now remove the bobbin case and oil clean it thoroughly.
10. Take out the feed dogs and use a cleaning brush to remove silts from the gaps and put it back in it’s place.
11. Put the bobbin case in place and test the sewing machine with straight line stitch.

That’s it. My grandmother’s vintage machine only required the above steps along with some sanding and painting work of-course at the end. One more successful family appliance was brought back to working condition.

How To Find the Right Spare Parts for Restoring Your Antique Sewing Machine?

Restoring or repairing a sewing machine isn’t an easy task if you can’t find the right part to replace. The fact that we are dealing with an old vintage machine finding parts might be a little tougher than expected.

The good news is there are still suppliers who source antique parts to customers. You just do a quick search on the internet and this is how we got some spare parts for our singer sewing machine.

To start easy, do a search on ebay and if you don’t find one go to suppliers website and ask them about the part. For sure, some one would have all this. The price might be on a higher end if it’s a rare part to find. But it’s worth the price if you can get your vintage machine back in action right.

Just be extra careful while dealing with these suppliers not everyone of them are genuine. So ask them for a photo of the spare part first before ordering one. This should save you from a lot of frustration and time.

I found calling the suppliers on phone was more efficient than emailing them because some don’t respond at all. I am not even sure how many of them are still in business.

A quick note, keep the model number of the part with or a picture of it so that you can send it to the supplier via a message. If they don’t have the part you are looking for then ask them where you could possibly find one. They should be able to guide you.

You can try another trick which was my last resort and it apparently never happened.

Go to your local sewing supplier shop and inquire them about the part or move on to collectors if they are willing to trade some of their parts. Some collect only spare parts and later sell it for a higher price.

The used antique sewing machines are still available on the market but sewing is not a fun task using it. You can keep them as a collectible in your house.

Your family vintage car is a pride to ride. This is true especially if you go on a short drive outside the streets. People on the streets just stop and gaze at your vintage car like a celebrity.

Just imagine you could be bringing back the memorable moments to your parents or grandparents.

But not all the vintage cars are clean enough to grab the attention on the streets. You have to maintain the car regularly cleaning it to reveal the classic look of your old car.

But wait a minute, don’t start washing your vintage car like a regular car because of the age it needs special care and attention. If you ignore this you might end up damaging the old car (exterior or interior). So be careful while cleaning your old car, I have listed some tips to consider when washing your car.

1. Whether to use a pressure washer or not?
2. What type of detergents to use?
3. Cleaning stains and oil or grease.
4. Waxing your classic car.

Power Washing Your Vintage Classic Car.

Initially, park your classic vintage car in shade out of sunlight’s reach and let it cool for a few minutes before starting your cleaning work.

Keep the instruction manual of your classic car with you and in case you don’t worry you can are still good to go. Now manually wash your car by hand I don’t recommend using any sponge on the surface of old car.

The reason I don’t use sponge is because it has tiny pores which pulls in dirt and might scratch the surface if you continue to clean with it.

Then what material should you be using on my classic car? Well you can use a wool or cotton work – any material that is soft on the paint works. Avoid any abrasive cloth on the paint but you are good to go on the tires.

I have a question, can I power wash my car? Actually I do prefer to use them with a low psi on the paint-less metal surfaces. For cleaning my vintage car, I use one of the best and reliable pressure washer called karcher k 2.300 electric with 1600 psi because it is easily adjustable to wash a car.

I should say now you should be all set to wash. Let’s start with roof of the car and go down step by step until the tires.

It’s important that you clean the cloth or wool during every wash so that it doesn’t hold any dirt. I actually maintain two cleaning cloth, one is for wet cleaning and the other is for drying it.

What about Detergent and Pressure Washers?

When washing the car try not use harsh detergent soap because this might harm the paint. I am more cautious when it comes to the paint of the old car and this is the reason I do not use any heavy duty pressure washers on the car.

Rust is also a issue that bothers me when washing, so I use a light duty power washer and then use the dry cloth without any chemical to absorb water from the surface.

Now comes my secret weapon to clean the uneasy places, I hope you don’t laugh at this tool. It’s a toothbrush.

Yes, not many would have had an idea how helpful a toothbrush is when it comes to getting rid of the dirt. Especially the tires are hard to clean without the help of a light duty pressure washer and the toothbrush in combination.

Washing Chrome Surface of Your Vintage Car.

I advise you not to use the toothbrush on the chrome painted surface. This could end up resulting in partial scratches on the chrome surface, I hope you got my point here. Instead opt for a cotton cloth to wipe of any oil or dirt from the surface but do this only after wetting the chrome with water.

Cleaning Stains and Grease from the Surface.

People have a tendency to clear of the tough stains first so they press it hard and try to get rid of them. But, I advise not doing it. Let the tough stains alone and move on to clean the remaining parts of your vintage car.

Once you are finished with cleaning the full body now come back to the tough stains. Try using a leather material to rub and remove the stains. It works most of the time for me.

Also try not to break the paint bubble on the car surface because this could damage the paint and leave a dent like appearance. You might spend more on repair if the paint bubble is broken.

Now if you are trying to remove grease then I have a trick that works well. Actually my father taught this to me, apply soft talcum powder and let this powder suck out the liquid. Give the powder some time before brushing it off.

The same trick applies to gum or stickers that once was pasted on the mirror or window shield.

How To Safely Dry the Classic Car?

I mentioned earlier that cotton is a very good option to consider because of it’s unique nature. Be careful not to put too much pressure on the surface while drying the surface.

Use a gentle motion to uniformly clear any water spots. I usually wait for an hour after doing this and vacuum the entire surface carefully. I try to keep the vacuum at a safe distance not to over suck any paint which is a problem with old cars.

Waxing Your Vintage Car For a Perfect Shine.

I only wax my family vintage car on special occasions only. Waxing protects your cars paint from varnishing but I rarely take my car outside so I do it only while going out like attending a vintage car show.

If you are not sure how to clean your family’s favorite car, just hire a professional who does it for you. Again keep a watchful eye on each step as precaution while the professional service does the cleaning work.

Cleaning the interiors is easy if you have a vacuum cleaner and do not wet wash the interiors of your old car.

After many hours of cleaning my family vintage car was finally read for a glam show on the streets. Not only the onlookers but my own family are happy to take a ride out on our vintage car.

Apart from taking care of your vintage car you should treat it like a family heritage because the classic car deserves it’s own share of respect. Right from our ancestors till us, the car would have carried several generations and still going strong.

I have to write this post out of some excitement because I just got my family refrigerator (ancestors) restored. It was a pretty proud moment for me and my entire family to see the old refrigerator back to life.

The person who restored our refrigerator has done no less than a fabulous job of giving us (our family) back our heritage. More essentially it is my great grandmother who is very happy with how new the fridge looks.

She is very excited about the fridge !

My great grandmother did not stop talking, she just went on with her old memories. It was a fun but emotional family moment to both my great grandmother and my mother.

But we had to be very cautious when we decided to get the fridge restored because we did not want to lose any of that classic look from the refrigerator. We just wanted it to start working and little bit of cleaning that’s it. I guess the restoration work has turned out to be a great success for us.

By the way, did I mention that this refrigerator I was talking so long was a custom made model.

Yes, you read it right. My great grandmother and great grandfather wanted a model with only a refrigerator no freezer compartment in it. So they took this has a challenge and built their own refrigerator without a freezer and that’s history now for our family to protect. And we are proud of it.

So how did we proceed with the restoration?

Antique Refrigerator Restoration – Step by Step Procedures.

1. Unplug the power source if it is still in use. Unload all the trays and any items inside the fridge.
2. Now let’s start with dismantling each part at a time starting with the door handle.
3. Use a screwdriver to dismantle.
4. Then move to the backside of the fridge and remove the grills or electrical connections one by one.
5. Try to follow the same step until all the components or modules are carefully dismantled from the unit.
6. Now when you are done with the dismantling process move on to the scrubbing process. Here we scrub the exterior and interior surface of the fridge with a sandpaper.
7. Scrubbing using the sandpaper is the most efficient way to remove the old varnished paint without damaging the refrigerator.
8. Clean off the dirt and any oily stains thoroughly.
9. Now it’s time to fix any dents or abnormality in the surface of the fridge.
10. Later check each electric and mechanical part for functionality. Do they work as intended. If not replace them with newer parts (I mean vintage parts from the same old days).
11. Check for faulty electrical wires too. If required reinforce it with modern wires for better safety.
12. When all the parts are working fine, spray a layer of rust resistant paint to protect the equipment for a much longer time.
13. Now paint with the color that the original fridge actually had. Be careful while painting because you might miss match the color, so you better test it on a piece of scrap paper or metal and then proceed on the main equipment.
14. Allow it to dry well.
15. Now put back all the components back into it’s original place and restore the structure of the fridge to normal.
16. Complete the electrical connections.
17. Check whether everything is working fine or not. If it’s doing good then congratulations.

We tried to retain as many original parts as possible to maintain the integrity of the fridge. After-all that was a memory being restored not a matter of energy efficiency or modern look.

If you need a visual help then this video might help you in the restoration process.

There Are Different Types of Vintage Refrigerators?

Let me cover up the most common model available in the market back then. The regular upright refrigerator with a freezer compartment at the top portion. These were pretty famous and are still the best and most preferred types of refrigerator by the consumers.

But back in the old days these were the first and only refrigerator that the consumers had and there were no other options to pick from.

Then after years on consumer research and feedback companies started manufacturing application specific refrigerators. These were instant hits among the crowd. You name it almost every other fridge that was different and apart from the conventional fridge came to the limelight and are now used for a specific purpose.

For example, a beer refrigerator or a freezerless refrigerator. This is what my great grandparents built themselves back in the days when such models were not available to the common man.

Then followed the double door, bottom freezer, and all the refrigerators which were unique in its style and purpose of use.

Not only did we successfully restore the fridge but we now started helping out others do the same. Many have their family’s history hidden in the basement, if you have a piece of history (I am talking about an appliance) then why not try and get it working.

Well it was fun for us and it could be the same for you and your grandparents to see their childhood appliance working again.

Your constructive comments and suggestions are always welcome.