I recently came into possession of a set of china presented to my grandparent's upon their 30th wedding anniversary in 1960. While researching the dishwasher compatibility of vintage china, I was surprised to discover several safety warnings concerning lead content in vintage dinnerware. The warnings ranged anywhere from cautionary reminders to proclamations of lead levels so high as to be considered generally unsafe for food usage. It is my intention to use this set for holidays and/or special occasions; which for me would mean once or twice per year at most. Is there any real concern eating from these dishes or are these warnings a pantywaist reaction to a nonexistent problem? Not surprisingly, cleaning recommendations for vintage plates also range from those who regularly put them in the automatic dishwasher to those who positively hand was only. What say SIGforum? Thanks!

C. 1960 Franciscan Ware Happy Talk Pattern

my understanding that while newer china is considered dishwasher safe, some of the older china's are not

I'd hand wash

I have a set of Noritake and it is not recommended for dish washers

Dishwashers dull knives due to the abrasive nature and will damage nice china. If I ever put our wedding dishes in the dishwasher my wife would cut off my balls. I don't believe you are supposed to dishwash sterling silverware either. Anything that has value or that I want to last generally gets hand washed.

Home lead test kits are available. I would hand wash.

Hand wash only.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
Home lead test kits are available.

We know vintage china contains lead. The question is whether or not the plates are unsafe for use. I tend to believe fears over asbestos, lead & etc. are greatly exaggerated though I am open to suggestions.

I can’t help with your question but it looks like some replacement pieces are available for this pattern if you need something.

https://www.replacements.com/c...n-happy-talk/c/24889

My wife did a lot of reading about lead in old china, there’s a lot. If you only use it a couple of times a year, unlikely to make a difference IMO—although my wife disagrees.

The danger with lead paint is peeling, flaking, and crumbling into smaller particles that are ingested, especially by small children. Similar to Asbestos where the danger is breathing the fibers. Intact undamaged lead paint or asbestos is not a significant issue. Ironically the removal of both is more dangerous than simply leaving it alone.

I really don't think lead in fine China can transfer into the food, unless the finish flakes off or cracks/breaks result in particles.

Most of us are at greater risk from inhaling aerosolized lead from shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Intact undamaged lead paint or asbestos is not a significant issue. Ironically the removal of both is more dangerous than simply leaving it alone.

This is my belief and understanding, as well, though I do not claim to be any kind of authority on the issues.

We have 2 patterns of fine china. Both are old, and if I had my way we'd eat off them at least once a year. My wife doesn't want to use her aunts china that often. Maybe once every 2 years. The other pattern we can't even identify. We bought it in an antique shop and was labeled "Dawson Hogan's mothers china". I didn't understand why old Dawson didn't want the family china. The sales clerk said "he's in his 90s and in a nursing home."

I've bought several of the test strip sets that is supposed to identify lead. Save your money and time. It barely shows lead on a cast wadcutter. I'm going to guess that for occasional use, its just not a worry. Maybe more for serving pieces than individual services. How long is your food going to be in contact with the surface? One of the serving bowls might have the mashed taters in it for an hour, your plate, not so much.

Same goes I guess for you stemware. I think we used to call it leaded crystal. Think Waterford stemware. Or Baccarat if you've got it. Good stuff. I have no idea if it can leach lead out. My wine never lasts that long. Drink up to minimize the opportunity. Again the lead test strips are worthless. Several brands.

On the silverware thing, its not full of lead and dishwashers don't leach out the silver. My poor deceased mother had a theory. She said the original owners of sterling only used it for special occasions. The hand-me-down daughters used it much more frequently, and the grand daughters used it every day. We use ours everyday and bought it 50 years ago when we got married. No, the dishwasher doesn't harm it that I can see, and I'm more discriminating than most.

We've gpt some sterling tumblers we use on special occasions, like Christmas eve. Its from a Japanese artist and isn't 92.5, its 950 sterling. We've only owned it for 20 or so years and it has yet to kill us. I'll take my chances, once a year for an hour or so. I'm old enough to die, so who really cares. My guess is that bad stuff leaches out of plastic, too.

Hand wash. It’s China, and it’s vintage.

As far as the lead content, you drink from crystal glasses once in a while? It’s not really that different.

Franciscan china is safe.

The glaze is fired at high temperature and the lead is bonded and should not leach.

You could always buy a lead testing kit and test your dishes if you are worried.

The testing kits are about $15.

The dishwasher should not make a difference.

I use the dishwasher on everything, but my wife chooses to hand washes all our fine china.

Both methods clean the dishes.

If you have ANY concerns, which you seem to have, then hand wash. It isn't that much effort to hand wash and you are only using them infrequently anyway (based on your post).

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:
I recently came into possession of a set of china presented to my grandparent's upon their 30th wedding anniversary in 1960.

Rather than eat off these, and risking damage, have you considered maybe getting some hangers and putting the plates where they can be admired every day, rather than eaten from infrequently?

There are mounts for hanging plates on walls as well as displaying on counters/flat surfaces. Link: Amazon dish hangers

Hand wash, that's what I do with my parents china.

Growing up we ate off of Fiesta Ware all the time. I always went for the red ones. From a quick google ~

"Updated June 27, 2019. Old Fiesta dinnerware was made using radioactive glazes. While the red pottery is noted for its especially high radioactivity, other colors emit radiation. Also, other pottery from the era was glazed using similar recipes, so just about any pottery from the early to mid 20th century may be radioactive."