How to tell if old china is Dishwasher Safe?

If it doesn’t say dishwasher safe on the bottom, which I wouldn’t expect them to since they are pretty old, I wouldn’t risk putting them in the dishwasher. Any designs on the china might come off and the high heat could crack them.

I think I might be the Fluther ‘go to’ guy on collectibles?

If you like them, you should use them. If any don’t survive the dishwasher [they should], throw them away. Only the serving pieces have value, so hand-wash them.

We have had several nice sets of china that at one point or another ended up in the dishwasher. The gold plate is mostly gone on one, and both are pitted in places with part of the pattern worn down. The pitting might have been caused by using too much detergent, but it’s safer to simply hand wash them if you want them to remain as you remember them as a kid.

The thermal stress of a dishwasher will kill many things. Heat melts plastic, and (as I know all too well) cracks some ceramics. Ceramic and glass are generally particularly bad about rapid temperature changes. They can usually handle gradual ones, but dishwashers generally aren’t gradual; they just spray boiling water on cold dishes. The resultant thermal shock will crack/shatter anything many things not specifically made to be dishwasher safe. Maybe not right off, but if you plan to keep the set more than a couple of years, I wouldn’t risk it even if they aren’t great. (Three guesses how I arrived at “couple of years”.)

Even though these dishes may not have a high monetary value, it sounds like they may have sentimental value to you and your family. I wouldn’t put them in the dishwasher if I were you. What may happen is the surface glaze will get minute cracks in it, so instead of looking nice and shiny, it will look like cracked ice. The plate itself may not break, but the glaze will have little hairline cracks in it that, over time, will look bad.

I suggest just hand washing these plates in order to save them.

I have my Mom and Dad’s china. Very old, and I would never risk them in the dishwasher.
It is stressful to eat off them, so we never use them.

I wouldn’t risk it.

Funny revelation! last night my wife said she likes this China better than her Lenox! Probably the Thanksgiving talking.

These dishes are readily available at a reasonable cost. There were a number of green/blue/red-and-white patterns marketed through grocery stores, with Currier and Ives probably being the most popular, followed by Old Curiosity Shop then Colonial Homestead. They are ‘collector’ dishes, but only the serving pieces have much value. If you have service for 14, I’d use them, and clean the plates, cups, saucers, etc. as you see fit. The dishwasher will not remove the pattern (unless, as mentioned, it has gold in it, which these do not), but can cause crazing (tiny cracks in the glaze). Hand wash the serving pieces, particularly things like the covered casserole.

Never, never, never put glassware you treasure in the dishwasher, as that cloudiness can actually be permanent, a chemical reaction that is cost prohibitive to reverse.

Interesting, we just bought a set of clear glass tumblers with green decal at an estate sale last Sunday. I’m uncertain whether they are OCShop or CHstead. I know they are rare, perhaps the first I’ve seen.