If you buy or work on vintage sewing machines for any length of time you’re likely to run into a vintage sewing machine oil can, bottle, or oiler. You may even run into tubes of sewing machine grease, often in the box it was sold in. These are great little knick-knacks that can add a splash of color to your work area.

As great as these items are, you shouldn’t use their contents in your sewing machine. Sewing machine oil and grease do eventually go bad, it may feel slippery, but it will break down under load and leave your machine unprotected.

You can refill the oil bottles and cans with new sewing machine oil, but I wouldn’t suggest that, since the caps tend to leak, and in cases where the caps or nozzles are plastic they tend to crack.