Tutorial: Spinning Wheel Maintenance

My lovely wheel, and a visual list of things you'll need!

I was musing the other day as I spun some yarn on my Louet S70 wheel and realized that it had been almost half a year since this wheel came into my possession.

The first thing I did when I purchased this wheel was to take it apart, clean out all the nooks and crannies of debris. Then I re-oiled and give it a coat of Tung oil, which you can get at most hardware stores, if my memory serves. But its been a few months, so possibly over Thanksgiving break, I plan to give my wheel some TLC.

You'll want to have lots of paper towels and Q-tips on hand!

So, here are are a few tips/guidelines for everyday maintenance of your wheel:

• Oil your wheel's moving parts; for every few hours, or once you've filled a bobbin with yarn, you should wipe off the metal flyer and re-oil it before sliding on a new bobbin.
• Two areas not to oil: sealed ball bearings and the groove on your wheel and bobbins in which the drive band sits. This may seem like common knowledge, but when I say moving parts I think its good to specify which parts.
• 30 weight machine oil is considered by most spinners to be the way to go. Though some spinners do not like the smell (I haven't noticed the smell at all myself,) you can buy the oil at hardware stores fairly cheap. I've seen some say that sewing machine oil works too, but I've also heard that it is too light for a wheel. Another suggestion for lubricating your wheel that I've seen is Vaseline. I can definitely say this is not a good idea to use, as it will collect fibers and gunk up your wheel.
  

Dusting with a microfiber cloth and then puttin' on some wax. Gloves are handy to have and you might want to lay down some plastic to protect your table or floor for this messy step!

And for your periodic maintenance of your wheel:

• Wipe all dust and fibers from your wheel; check for and gently tighten loose screws (if your wheel is making some noise, this could be one possible cause of the problem.)
• Use a pair of tweezers to (very gently) remove fibers that have wrapped themselves around various moving parts of your wheel. 
• To prevent your wheel's wood from drying out and warping, periodically feed your wheel's wood with a wax furniture polish. I like to use Howard's Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish and Conditioner, which doesn't leave residue and gives a beautiful glow. It has beeswax and orange oil in it and smells wonderful, too. You may need to put more than one coat on if its a second hand wheel that has seen better days. (I'll also mention that I'm not getting paid to recommend these guys, this stuff is just my personal favorite.)
• Check for any worn out parts that need replacing and spots on your wheel that have seen some wear and tear and need to be refinished. You can usually find these parts on the wheel manufacture's website, Ebay, or a local yarn shop may carry some of the more popular brand's parts.
• If you haven't done so already, evaluate the location your wheel is in when its not in use. It should be some place not too hot, near vents and or in direct sunlight as this will also dry out the wood. Placing your wheel in a clammy, wet place where your wheel will suck up the moisture and swell, which is just as bad as it shrinking and drying out.

I hope this is educational for some and a reminder for others; there is so much info out there but this is a good place to start with for basic care of your wheel. Happy spinning!

This is my happily glowing wheel after a good cleaning and waxing!