Taking Care of Your China
Bone china, like all good things, has its peculiarities. Below, our experts have listed some hacks for keeping their bone china in excellent condition. Apart from an accidental slip-and-smash on the kitchen floor, with these tips your china should look as beautiful as the day you got it.
Can I use my Stokes Croft China mug in the dishwasher?
The short answer
It’s up to you but the less you use a dishwasher the shinier your china will be for longer... but then one slip when washing up could see it crashing to the floor! It’s a dangerous world out there.
The long answer
Our china is decorated using hundreds of different transfers made at different times and from different factories. We ourselves are still exploring the possibilities and properties of the thousands of combinations. We don’t know all the answers but we can tell you what we have learnt:
Modern dishwasher products have come a long way but prolonged use can cause a small amount of the glaze that covers the transfers to erode. Some of us have washed our china in the dishwasher daily for five years with no ill effect. Others have seen gradual matting of the glaze and in some cases fading of the transfer beneath.
We know that thicker 1960’s transfers can be seen to erode quicker.
We know that transfers with a large amount of reds, yellows and oranges are prone to fading.
It is to this end that we do not recommend that you put our 50’s Red Rose or Scooby range in the dishwasher.
Gold Lustre
All china featuring gold lustre accents has a sub micron layer of REAL GOLD that sits a few molecules deep under the glaze. It is not recommended that you scrub it with scourers or put in the dishwasher, and it definitely should not go in the microwave!
Tea Stains
Tea stains are caused by a build-up of tannic acid. They can be worse if you live in a hard water area and take black tea. Luckily they are easily dealt with. We recommend getting rid of them by mixing Bicarbonate of Soda with vinegar and leaving to stand overnight. BANG! The tea stain is gone.
If those stubborn stains still aren't shifting, some alternatives to try are denture cleaners, a Magic Eraser and Bar Keepers Friend.
Cracking
We take great care to minimise damage to our china. Occasionally there are cases of a mug cracking within in the first few uses with boiling water. A hefty bash in transit before it gets to us, or in the post on the way to you can cause an undetectable hairline crack to form.
We are happy to replace your mug should you be unlucky.