Sewers Aid

[queenie123]

Finally ordered some of this to keep in thread guide . Now let me make sure I have it right about the mineral oil ,I put full cones in this over night ,seems anything with the word oil sounds damaging/stains .

[o2b Quilting]

I just squeeze about eight lines of sewers aide down the length of the spool just before I use it.

[Guest Linda S]

I have been longarming for nearly nine years and have never found the need for any of this stuff. What sorts of thread problems are you having that are tempting you to use this? I know Sharon Schamber uses the mineral oil and, yes, I think she dunks her threads in them. I love Sharon, think she's a rock star, but I just can't see it. Maybe I can help you avoid using the stuff. Let me know what issues you're having.

[Sheri Butler]

I wouldn't SOAK the whole cone in it! Do as Lucy said, I too just squeeze at least 8 rows "vertically" (up and down the cone), then I directly can use the thread!

[Susanri]

I do occasionally think it helps with reducing friction on cotton threads I get a lot less fuzzies and breakage.

[meg_marsh]

Just lines down the outside of the cone & reapply as necessary.

[dbz98236]

I had to use a lot of sewers aid on some Superior Rainbow thread. I had to keep putting it on about every row of the panto I was doing

[Zora]

I think it depends on the humidity in your area. When you have 25% humidity, you get a lot of static and Sewer's Aid helps. In a more humid climate, you may never need it. Silicone thread lube is used in commercial applications all the time. It doesn't stain and cuts down on friction. Sharon Schamber wins major quilt competitions all the time, so I suspect she is doing something right. If you want to try the mineral oil, try it on a partial spool of thread in a color you aren't wild about....give it a whirl on a practice piece, let it sit overnight, and see if it works for you without staining. You have a $5 investment in something that may solve your problems...or not. Either way, you aren't out much.

[Bonnie in Ok]

I have a little box on the side of my machine just under the thread path that you can put sewers aid on the little pads and your thread runs between the pads. Don't know where to get the itemm because when I bought the machine used she had it on there already. I do use it and like how the thread travels better but have also not used it and have not had any real issues but do notice less fuze form thread.

[Bekah]

Like Debbie, I sometimes need it on Rainbows and King Tut, but only put four lines down the cone if needed. I agree it appears to depend on the humidity.

[carolinequilts]

I have a little piece of batting in the first thread guide to control thread. If I use Sewer's Aid, I just add a few drops to this piece of batting and the thread runs through it.

[whitepinesquilter]

I sewed in a Lands End luggage factory years ago, and we used sewers aid type thread lube all the time. The machines either had a little container on top with the stuff in it that the thread went through, or you dunked the whole cone in the stuff.

I do as Caroline, I have a wad of cotton batting in my first thread guide above the cone that I put the sewers aid on. I do this because oftentimes the cones that were saturated more than once would have the dried lube flake off like white dandruff. Mind you, some cones were dunked several times as it was used by different machine operators before it was gone, but even though the silicone dandruff was harmless I didn't like the mess we'd have to blow out of our machines at the end of the shift.

[queenie123]

I mainly bought it for my main thread guide but this last quilt I did was a nightmare ,it was a heavy varagated superior thread the quilt owner wanted me to use on it,I just think it was too heavy ,it was just a practice quilt top ,many lessons learned . The main issue was the top thread fraying in all the dark areas ,owner said the thread may have been over dyed . I hope to have time just to play on it tommorrow ,I just love free motion quilting and a serious addiction to feathers ,I ppp for three weeks before I ever stitched any then I did an entire queen quilt in curling feathers and by the time I got to the end you could see the serious improvements . I have learned so much from this forum ,just last week I read a thread on tension springs , mine was worn and had loosened to when it was not rebounding back up to the correct postion ,I would have never caught it because my stitches were still great with my good threads ,and I payed close attention to everything I read ,Sylvia made a comment that it was only 15.00 to replace the whole tension assembly so I did that plus bought a spare spring ,from past experience with dsm I always had bad luck changing them things .I love my used milli ,but it could be scary if i ever test run a new blissed out white one ,lol .

[whitepinesquilter]

Queenie, Ive read other comments about threads others have had thevsame issues with. I've never tried mineral oil, but I'm quite comfortable using sewers aid. Squeeze several drops on a wad of batting in a thread guide and see if that does the trick when you're practicing. In the factory, we used the most sewers aid on thread used to sew the deep dyed cotton canvas pieces - the heavily dyed fabrics always were stiffer and felt gritty-dry, like not rinsed enough. Could be the same issue with some color lots of thread.

[Fastquilts]

I just ordered the sewers aid and the little box that attaches to your machine to put it in. A friend of mine uses this and says it helps a lot so I am sold and will let you know when I receive these and use them. This forum is wonderful for helpful hints and to help with problems we all have. Love it.

[cmkeindl1]

I have the little box attached with sticky velcro. I put it after the 1st guide from the cone. It has little pads, you pop it open, soak the pads with whatever you like to use and the thread passes through it. I live in a very dry climate?! I think this is it:

http://www.kmquiltingsupply.net/product_info.php?products_id=126

[Sheri Butler]

does someone have a pic of this little box? Kingsmen doesn't.

Wonder if you can bypass the box with your thread, and only use it when you want to?

[whitepinesquilter]

Go to ebay and do a search for 'thread lubrication box'. $11.95 free shipping for a magnetic one. Same as we had on the machines in the factory. You can use industrial Velcro to attach as well. The cotton batting scrap in your thread guide with several drops of aide does the same thing, and when your thread eventually makes a looser path in the scrap you just grab another scrap.

[whitepinesquilter]

And, yes you could bypass, just pull the thread out and rethread your machine.

[Fastquilts]

I ordered mine from southstar supply co online and they have pictures of the and think they are 6.95 if I remember right

[cmkeindl1]

Here is mine (p.s. that ebay one looks cool, but "where" do you put it that a magnet will work?)

[cmkeindl1]

and close up - you just put some sewers aid (or whatever kind you like) on the pads.

look at all that dirt (I assume?!)!

[Quilting Heidi]

I used to have a box like Cathy on my old machine and it does work great! I need a new one. Sharon soaks her cones in mineral oil and I've tried just running beads and dipping, both work but I prefer the less mess of running beads. I like the mineral oil as well as sewers aid and mineral oil is a lot cheaper. It is not an oil in the essense that it will stain your fabric. I've used it on cotton, synthetic, poly, satin and the like and not had any problems. I have a horrible time with threads on my Viking diamond sometimes and this treatment solves that problem and greatly reduces the lint, another problem. Lint gets in the machine and then it gets to the point where it has to to the shop so anything I can do to reduce that is great. As a general rule I use Superior Masterpiece to piece with and I dipped those cones and then used a paper towel to get off the excess. It does appear to change the thread color but after stitching with it the color is no different. I don't usually have to use it on the longarm but I will try it to see how the stitches look.