Why you should ALWAYS put a piece of fabric in your machine when not in use!
 

I have for years taught my pupils, group members when packing their machine away to put an odd piece of fabric in their machine, with the needle down, why? It stops dust and particles going down into the bobbin area and protects the needle are just a couple of reasons.

On buying my little Frister Rossman Cub 5 I found another reason, and what a discovery. When packed away without the fabric, for a considerable time look a the damage that occurred, fortunately I had a spare sewing plate from a recent machine.

When at first I looked at it closely I could actually see the shape of a presser foot on it, since then a few more bits of chrome have fallen off. I will be keeping it to show my pupils tha value of that little piece of fabric!

Wow. I never considered that could happen.

I cover my machine (foot up) when it's just sitting out. Dust is a hazard to more than just the bobbin area...think tension discs, and all kinds of 'seams'. When it's stored away for long periods, like my spare machine is, I remove the needle and the foot, cover the machine and don't worry about it. Works for me.

I see people putting ads on ebay all the time with the machine running with no fabric between the foot and plate. It drives me nuts to see that! The feed dogs rub against a metal foot and it's a no win situation. Both the foot, plate and feed dogs all clash together and no good comes of it.

I'd prefer to leave the presser foot up. I recently purchased a 1926 White Rotary that I think had been stored in a basement. The cotton fabric under the presser foot attracted moisture and there is an imprint of the presser foot in rust on it.

Never put my foot down when not using. That machine must have been sitting for a very long time...

My plate is a solid metal, not laminated like this one appears to have been. Can't imagine mine pealing in layers.
When I transport mine, I do put the needle and presser foot down to protect the needle, but I'm bad about not covering my machine when I'm not using it.

Jan in VA

Thanks for this very interesting information.

I was told to put the presser foot down when not in use , because it releases the pressure on the presser foot, theres a spring or tension disc or something.