Handmade stoneware is tougher than it looks, but it does have a few quirks that factory ceramics don't. After years of selling hand-thrown pieces and fielding questions from customers about chips, glaze changes, and dishwasher safety, we've put together the things that actually matter.

The dishwasher question ¶

Most stoneware is technically dishwasher safe, and most makers will tell you so. But 'technically safe' and 'ideal' aren't the same thing. The repeated thermal cycling of a dishwasher. Hot wash, hot dry, cool down. Can stress the glaze over time, particularly on pieces with a thinner glaze layer or a more textured surface.

For mugs and bowls you use every day, hand-washing with warm soapy water takes about thirty seconds and keeps the glaze looking better for longer. For pieces you use less often, the dishwasher is probably fine. The ash-glazed pieces we stock are particularly worth hand-washing, since the glaze surface is part of what makes them interesting.

What to do if a piece chips ¶

A small chip on the rim of a mug doesn't mean the piece is ruined. If the chip is on a non-food-contact surface, you can leave it. If it's on the rim or inside the vessel, the safest option is to stop using it for food and drink and repurpose it as a plant pot or a pen holder.

Some people use food-safe epoxy to repair chips, and this works reasonably well on the outside of a piece. We wouldn't recommend it on any surface that comes into contact with food or hot liquid.

Storing stoneware properly ¶

Stack mugs and bowls carefully. Stoneware is dense and heavy, and a stack that topples can chip several pieces at once. If you're storing pieces long-term, a layer of cloth or kitchen paper between them helps.

Unglazed bases can leave marks on wooden surfaces over time. A small felt pad on the base of a vase or candle holder is worth the effort.

The short version: hand-wash the pieces you love, don't stack them carelessly, and don't panic about small surface variations in the glaze. Those are features of the process, not defects.