Beauty on the Beast

I hate to clean the house.  I love having a clean house.  I hate to do the work.  I have hired housekeeping help but I am, ironically, very fussy when I am paying someone to clean the house.  I will live in incredible squalor but if I hire someone to clean and he/she doesn't change the mop bucket water when it is dirty, I seethe. 

So why do I love to clean up old machines?  I have spent HOURS already on the ten dollar treadle stand.  Today I cleaned up the wheel.  I have declared it done.  Over the weekend I started on that 201.  Today, on my way back from getting the Boye Needle Dispenser, I stopped at Home Depot rather than hurrying home to Wilson. ( He had a big old benign lipoma excised yesterday and I was worried about him licking his incision.)  Why did I absolutely need to stop at Home Depot?  Why, to look for Krud Kutter.  I never found it.  I bought Goo Gone instead. 

Goo Gone is a thicker version, I think, of LA Awesome (one dollar at, yes you guessed it , THE DOLLAR STORE).  La AWESOME is just that.  Awesome.  Testimonial photos below

One Squirt was all it took.  Truly.  Then I rinsed with denatured alcohol to get the residue off and polished with flannel cloth.

This beautiful piece belongs on the current 201 project.  It is the rear cover plate.  The machine itself is a bit of a beast.  It has some knicks and scratches.  No initials carved into the bed, but one huge divot along the rear just in the center.  Looks like something heavy was dropped right onto it (as they way here in Otsego county)

Now the degreaser is not so friendly to the old machine black finish.  But it did work well to get the melted insulation off of the pillar. I used it sparingly and rinsed with kerosene.

I always cheat, too.  I like to see how shiny parts and the machine will look way before I finish the project.  Carnuba wax is my new favorite for endorphins.  It smells pretty good, but I love the shine.

 So I don't know why I hate to clean house.  Maybe because it's so much bigger than a machine.  Or maybe because I have only so much time and well, machines are pretty important to me.