How to Clean a Typewriter (2024)

How To Clean And Oil a Typewriter

Every typewriter needs some kind of cleaning or servicing done before it can be used reliably or resold for actual use. Even typewriters kept in their original, unopened box for sixty years need some work before they can be used. Upon examination of any typewriter, cleaning and lubrication of these amazing machines may seem complicated. In reality, almost anyone with the proper tools and knowledgecan effectively clean and oil a typewriter.​

What You'll Need For The Basic Cleaning/Oiling:

The Job Begins:

Let's start with a 1930s Remington Noiseless typewriter that I've recently purchased from an antique store (Editor's note: I recently added some photos from an Erika Model 14 and its cleaning process- differentmachine but same overall principles). Both typewriters, especially the Erika, have quite a bit of dust that needs to be cleaned out before anything else can be done. With that in mind, lets gets started!

First:

Put a large rag, towel, or a bunch of newspaper underneath the typewriter to absorb any dirt, dust, or oil that will fall from the machine during the process.
​I highly recommend cleaning your machine on a sort of work-bench or desk if possible, but note that a lot of these photos were done on the ground to make photo-taking easier.

If your typewriter comes with some kind of case, unlatch and remove your machine from the carrying case. If your typewriter is screwed to a base and has a lid, use a flat head screw driver and unscrew it from the base if possible.

Try to open up any covers that will give you access to more area to clean inside the typewriter. If you want the most thorough cleaning, you can unscrew all the outside covers to get the easiest access to cleaning the insides of the machines. This is not needed in most cases unless your typewriter is extremely dirty. I usually don't recommend unscrewing too much, especially if you are worried about remembering how to put it back together. Just keep in mind that in most cases, the more area inside the typewriter you expose to clean, the more dust-free and clean the typewriter will be in the end.

Second:

Start by using your vacuum and one of your brushes to wipe away the dust found just about anywhere on a typewriter. I find it the easiest to hold the extension arm within 6 inches of the area you're brushing to suck up all of the dust that you are freeing up with your brush. Without the vacuum, the dust would just be spread around instead of being sucked up. This is one of the longest parts of cleaning, but also one of the most important. Make sure to clean just about every part of your machine. Remove ANY dust that you see. Lift the machine so that it lays on its back, giving you access to the bottom of the typewriter. Move the carriage to the right and left, and be sure to clean everything you see. For cleaning the carriage rail area, make sure your margins are as wide as they go. Even keeping the shift-lock key depressed may expose new areas to be cleaned. Getting out all, or nearly all of the dust out of the inner workings of the typewriter is important, because when the time comes to oil, you'll want to have little to no dust in the way to gum things up again.
After you feel that you've thoroughly cleaned out the typewriter from dust, make sure to leave any unscrewed covers open. You're not quite done yet.

Here's a few quick before and after shots on the Erika Model 14. This was achieved only in a few minutes with the help of a brush, and the vacuum extension arm.

Third:

Now that all the dust, or at least most of the dust is removed from the typewriter, you can begin to use your rubbing alcohol. If your typewriter has sticky or slow keys, this part is also needed. Clean off your brush and then dip it in some rubbing alcohol. Apply the alcohol to any joints and moving parts of the mechanism where metal meets metal. You can look at the above picture to get a better sense on where it's most important to clean in this step. Keep in mind that both alcoholand WD-40 do not do their jobs by themselves. You will need to scrub a little bit with a brush, Q-tips, or rags in getting the grime out. WD-40 is not a favored product among many typewriter repairmen/enthusiasts, however I know several who use it correctly and don't have any issues. If you do use WD-40, I recommend you use it very sparingly, and wipe away any excess.

For sticky keys, see:
​https://kytyper.com/blogs/news/103996934-how-to-fix-sticky-typewriter-keys
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URhjSGGaq6c

Fourth:

With the mechanisms now clear, it's time for the oiling. Using the suggested Rem-Oil, spray a little bit of oil in the same type of spots where you cleaned with the alcohol inside the mechanisms. Do not spray the stuff everywhere you see metal or mechanism. Use it sparingly, and always wipe away any excess. For places I didn't individually photograph, try to apply oil to pivot points or joints. For many, a typewriter mechanism such as the picture above may look like an enigma. The easiest way to find these pivot points that benefit from oil is to depress the spacebar, a key, the shift key, backspace key, etc. and see where metal moves or pivots against metal. If you use your typewriter a lot, feel free to apply new oil when you feel it is needed.
Keep in mind that the reason for using oil and wiping off excess is to prevent the oil from attracting extra dust, and gumming up the mechanism- eventually making things worse. Even if you did wipe off excess oil, it's a good idea to keep your machine covered to prevent dust accumulation.

Fifth:

Now that the mechanisms are nice and clean and have fresh oil lubricating them, it's time to do some shining up. Many collectors have their favorite products for cleaning up paint and making it shine, but I prefer to start out with water with some dishwashing liquid in it. Use your cloths and lightly dampen one and wipe the exterior covers and parts of the typewriter (not thechrome/nickel plating) and be especially careful and cautious around the labels... They come off very easily, or can bedamaged with just about anything. Use another cloth to dry the area you wiped clean with the damp cloth. You may want to repeat this process as you feel necessary. If you have some kind of wax (I suggest Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0) you can apply it by putting a blob of it on a cloth and rubbing it on the paint (once again, careful around the labels). Often I find that the wax does an even better job of picking up the fine layer of grime and really making the typewriter shine like new.
Note that some typewriters have a crinkle finish, and others may have a more flat paint finish that wasn't made to shine like a mirror. The Noiseless I'm using as an example does have a glossy, shiny finish.

If the rubber platen on your typewriter is quite dirty and has some trouble feeding, I'd always recommend using rubbing alcohol and a cloth to rub the platen clean. Just stroke the platen with the dampened rubbing alcohol cloth and roll the platen while rubbing side to side. This should clean up the platen enough to where it looks much better. In fact, it you scroll all the way down, you can compare the uncleaned platen to the cleaned platen and see how much a little rubbing alcohol does. The dishwashing liquid and water solution also works well with platens.

For shining up metal, try using the cloths and rubbing alcohol, followed by the Flitz metal polish. The chrome or nickel plated parts shine up very nicely with rubbing alcohol and Flitz, but remember that the interior mechanism weren't made to shine as much as the exterior chrome/nickel parts, so don't waste your time trying to polish those. DO NOT get rubbing alcohol on the paint of any typewriter with a glossy finish, or a crinkle finish. It tends to leave a white stain and damage the paint. Rubbing alcohol is rather effective on cleaning other paint finishes, however, so if your typewriter is plastic or has a flat finish, give it a small-scale test before going to town on it.

Cleaning out the typewriter's case is just as important (if it has one). Be sure to vacuum out the dust and dirt found inside the case where the typewriter sits so that the dust doesn't go back into the typewriter after you've cleaned it so thoroughly. You can experiment with just about any reasonable cleaning solvent to make the outside of the case cleaner and look better, as I'm sure almost anything would work okay.

Sixth:

Now lets take a look at some before and after shots: