Plastic-topped worktables on industrial sewing machines prove highly durable.

Increasing numbers of industries claim to be saving thousands of dollars annually in maintenance costs through the use of plastic laminate work surfaces. The laminate does not scar, burn or nick and is resistant to most chemicals. It does not require varnishing and can be cleaned with a damp cloth.

Among the first to shift to laminated surfacing were the producers of tabletops for industrial sewing machines. A spokesman for this trade, the president, of the Phillocraft Co. of Philadelphia, estimates that 80 percent of all new sewing machine stands are being made with plastic laminate surfacing. In addition, he states, 50,000 are being rebuilt each year, with plastic tops the preferred replacement.

The laminate on-wood tops are processed in his company's woodworking shop. A 1/16-inch think sheet of Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s Micarta plastic laminate is bonded to a 1 5/8-inch core of aspen wood. Two patterns--tan birch and green linen--are most generally indicated for this function.

The hard-surface plastic is resistant to splintering and wear from garment buckles, snaps, fasteners and zippers during sewing operations, also to scissors' nicks during cutting.