How to clean an Underwood 565 Electric portable
Remove all covers, and platen, spray with regular solvent/Marvel Mystery oil mix 50/50, don't spray to hard or you could unseat tiny springs, try to focus on the internal parts and stay away from the motor too, then blow the excess out with air and let sit overnite to air dry the rest. If you have a yellowish drive belt in the unit, you should remove it also before spraying. Once all is dry, reassemble and test. Wipe the platen with a fast drying spray solvent that won't eat rubber like Trichlor 111 or equivalent, no lacquer thinner or products containing toluene, Contact Cleaners work, all keys should move freely, I cannot recall the drive mechanism for the keys however, generally speaking, rubber parts need to be clean and dry, no oil there, small mechanisms should move without binding, some people spray WD40 in typewriters thinking they will free it up, NOT! WD40 BAD!
The aforementioned wash should restore it back if someone WD40'd it for ya, have fun with that. :)
