Causes Crazing In China

Which dishes should I get?

"You must take care," said Shax Riegler, author of "Flat: 813 Colorful, Plates Wonderful" (Artisan, October 2011), "because you will see every day."

Well, some of them. Other dishes you do not haul out for the holidays, which means soon.

For those of us who can not make a turkey dinner as the Barefoot Contessa can we figure we can at least get the plates on the right. I know this is not the issue, as the woman who needs to rush to the emergency room but do not know what she should wear. Not that I know someone like that.

The need to impress others by your choice of household objects, like plates, has caused many brides to utterly seize in the registry department. Many perfectly good engagements never make it to the altar because the act of choosing china sends brides-to-be running from the registry as if from a burning church.

When researching "Dish," Riegler haunted china departments, where he overheard many brides agonizing.

"They would start with a lively pattern they liked, then some older, mother-like female relative would say, 'But will you still like it in 20 years?'"

Then the bride — if she didn't run off screaming — would default to classic white, perhaps with a simple border.

"People are afraid to have bad taste," said Riegler. Easy for him to say, Mr. Features Editor of House Beautiful is finishing up a Ph.D. at Bard in decorative arts. So while he's getting a doctorate in good taste, the rest of us wing it.

"Dish" can help. A flip through lets you see and compare 800 plates, and get their stories, so you don't feel like a caveperson when selecting out in public.

Riegler starts his plate story in the Middle Ages, when folks ate off thick slabs of bread, or slabs of wood. Then some evolving female, tired of mopping gravy off the floor, had the bright idea to carve round impressions into the wood to better hold the food, and wooden "trenchers" became the plat du jour.

Eventually, Europeans learned that the Chinese were way ahead in the dish department. As trade with the Far East opened up, the Europeans, especially the English, imported gorgeous porcelain pieces from China (hence the name china) by the boatload.

By the late 1600s the penchant for china had taken such a hold that a name emerged for those who had developed the tableware sickness "maladie de porcelaine." Some had it bad.

In "Dish," Riegler puts the passion in perspective, sort of.

Old China | ASIAN ANTIQUES

I love the thrill of hunting down vintage items for myself and for my stores. But it can be dirty work. Finding pristine mid century items, for example, can mean digging around in the back of kitchen cupboards at estate sales for the quality wedding list pieces, the treasured dinnerware or glassware which has been carefully stored, seldom used, often forgotten …

Spotting a gem through decades of kitchen grime is only the first step. The next challenge is the cleaning. How do you best remove years of accumulated grease and dust without spoiling your prize?

Of course, the first place to start would be warm water and mild detergent. But be careful! Please ensure your china is at room temperature first – do not bring it in directly from a cold car in winter and plunk it into warm water. Vintage china can be very susceptible to extremes of heat and cold, and this kind of treatment may cause it to crack, chip or craze.

Before starting, check the label on your detergent to ensure it does not contain any bleach or lemon, both of which can be too strong for old china.

Pad the hard surfaces of your sink area to prevent accidental knocks. Immerse each piece separately and rub gently with a soft cloth. I would not use a scrubbing pad or brush as this could cause scratching or worse. Rinse with warm water and air dry.

Often a gentle wash is all that is needed. However, there are times when even hot soapy water will be powerless against the grease monster.

I have seen a product called Spray 9 recommended, but this is a professional product and cannot be bought at your local store. If you have a large amount of china to clean up it may be worth a try. There are many other products out there, such as Formula 409, which are also known to work against grease and grime, although they are not recommended for food preparation surfaces, which makes me hesitant to use them.

So far the best product I have found for cleaning vintage china is our old helper Bar Keepers Friend . I first saw this recommended on Pyrex Love for cleaning Pyrex dishes (it has proved very helpful for removing metal marks!) and decided to try it on some particularly grubby dinnerware. You can plainly see the results in the photo below.

Bar Keepers Friend is non-toxic and safe to use on objects and areas which will come into contact with food, and this is why I feel most confident recommending it. You should be able to find it at your local supermarket or DIY store, if not it is available online. The outcome can be spectacular, but as always, use your common sense and do not use on areas where there is gilt or decoration over the glaze.

Troubleshooting and Repairing Major Appliances

The popular encyclopedia, being a general dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, biography, history, and political economy

The popular encyclopedia, being a general dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, biography, history, and political economy, reprinted from the American edition of the 'Conversations lexicon' ... with dissertations on the rise and progress of literature

Design

Journal of the American Ceramic Society