Hi Jeff

​You'll probably get as many different answers as there are members on this forum, every procedure has its advantages and disadvantages and also depends what facilities you have at your disposal. Depending on how dirty the machine is will tend to dictate how much of the machine you take apart. ​With having my own mechanic's shop, I have access to several different kinds of cleaning solvent, compressed air and solvent application tools. So here's what I do:

If the machine is really dirty, remove all the covers, the platen, paper trough and feed rollers. If the carriage assembly comes of in one piece like the Consul typewriters, remove that too. Take a few round wooden toothpicks and dig the worst of the crud out of the type slugs. Cover the keys with a cloth to protect them from the next solvent. Use carburetor cleaner or acetone and a toothbrush to scrub the type slugs clean. Now the mechanism goes out to the shop.

​Using a varsol spray gun and regulated compressed air, the mechanism gets a complete wash down from all angles. Varsol will not hurt injection molded keys, but don't get it on the glass topped keys, it will soak into the cardboard. Stubborn dirt can be loosened with a stiff bristled paintbrush, a toothbrush and a selection of paint spray gun cleaning brushes which are useful to get in between the type bars. A handful of cotton pipe cleaners are really handy to clean out the slots in the segment. 

​Once I'm satisfied the mechanism is as clean as I can get it, compressed air regulated to 40 psi is used to blow everything dry. A warm sunny day is good for the next step which is to set the mechanism out to air in the sunshine. While the mechanism is airing out, all the covers get a spray down with Scrubbing Bubbles®, scrubbed with a soft bristled dish brush, rinsed under a hot water spray then dried with a soft towel.

​The platen and feed rolls get wiped down with a warm damp cloth to remove any surface dirt. Once dry, an application or two of rubber rejuvenator will help them. By this time, the mechanism will have aired for an hour or so and can be brought back inside. As everything on the mechanism is now completely clean and dry, ½ a drop of sewing machine or similar oil is applied to every link, pivot point and moving part. I'm partial to Liquid Bearings 100% synthetic oil. The general recommendation is to not oil the type bars in the segment as this will attract dust creating a grinding compound over time and accelerating wear on the type bars and segments. I haven't found anything to say whether or not to oil the pivot point of each type bar.

Now we reinstall the paper trough, feed rolls and platen followed by the covers. The cleaning and servicing is now done. Next is to tune the machine up. Install a known good ribbon and a couple of sheets of paper and do a type test. If the type is clear and properly aligned, it's good to go. If not, then adjustments are needed and how these are done depends entirely on the specific machine in question. This whole procedure usually takes me a Sunday afternoon and most of the evening. Hope this gives you some ideas to work with. As I say, there are members here who have more experience than me, so take heed of what they say. Typewriterman from Luton in England is a professional typewriter service technician with close to 40 years experience under his belt, so he really knows what he's talking about. All the best,

​Sky

Hi Jeff

​Uwe, our gracious moderator for this forum, uses the Maxx brand rubber rejuvenator (called Blow-Off up here in Canada). I've been using Gunk brand Slip-Stop belt dressing and rubber conditioner, but plan to get some Maxx real soon. The other product I heard about for use in industrial print shops is Varn Rubber Rejuvenator, but as far as I can tell, this product only comes in one gallon cans. All the best,

​Sky