topic Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning in Kitchen

FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

novamc1 — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 18:46:11 GMT

From today's Q & A in Washington Post Local Living section........

<< I have a couple of Corelle coffee mugs with deeply ingrained tea stains. I’ve tried soaking them in vinegar and in vinegar mixed with baking powder. Nothing worked. I even tried cleaning with Scotch-Brite without success. Any suggestions?>>

--Chantilly

Most pieces of Corelle dishware are made of Vitrelle, which consists of two types of glass laminated as three layers. Originally introduced by Corning Glass Works in 1970, Corelle is now manufactured and sold by World Kitchen (worldkitchen.com). However, the cups and mugs that come with Corelle sets aren’t glass because the lamination process does not work well for these shapes. The cups and mugs are stoneware or porcelain, depending on the style.

For both materials, the company recommends removing tea stains with a non-abrasive cleaner such as Bon Ami or by filling each cup one-fourth full with vinegar and then rubbing with a paper towel. The company warns not to use chlorine bleach, which it says will lighten the stains but not remove them. A call to the World Kitchen help line yielded a few other suggestions. Katie Stewart, a consumer care representative, suggested using lemon juice and baking soda, or baking soda alone, or Bar Keepers Friend, a powdered cleaner that contains oxalic acid. You’ve already tried vinegar, which is chemically similar to lemon juice, but lemon juice is often more acidic than vinegar, so there’s a chance it would work.

Baking soda is alkaline, so using it alone may make it more effective than mixing it with something acidic. If the stains persist, consider them permanent. Stewart said this could happen for several reasons.

Many people don’t realize that the company warns against leaving stoneware or porcelain soaking in water for a long period. The moisture gets past the glaze and into the clay, and if heat is applied after the cups soak, the glaze can crack. That would allow the tea to stain the clay — a permanent change. Or the clay could be stained because you accidentally scratched the glaze with an inappropriate type of Scotch-Brite pad. Scotch-Brite is a brand for numerous types of cleaning products. Some cleaning pads don’t scratch and are fine to use on porcelain or stoneware. But others, such as the green mesh Heavy Duty Scrub Sponge, are as aggressive as steel wool and do scratch ceramic glaze. Click here for more information!

If the stains are permanent, you might want to buy replacement mugs. Stewart looked at the picture you sent and identified your pattern as Apricot Grove. It is not currently shown on the World Kitchen website, but you can call the World Kitchen Consumer Care Center (800-999-3436) to order it, as item No. 1079909, at $3.99 per mug.

Have a problem in your home? Send questions to localliving@washpost.com . Put “How To” in the subject line, tell us where you live and try to include a photo.

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

tedEbear — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 19:23:06 GMT

I have had Corelle for over 30yrs and both the cups and the mugs, I just use a tiny bit of ajax and VOILA, they are clean. RINSE WELL. I have even used on the plates to brighten to up. I have lost maybe 5 plates and couple of bowls to non-breakage. They don't break, they shatter and splinter into thousands of teeny,weeny little things. HTH----------tedEbear

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

Buck-i-Nana — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:30:07 GMT

@tedEbear wrote:
I have had Corelle for over 30yrs and both the cups and the mugs, I just use a tiny bit of ajax and VOILA, they are clean. RINSE WELL. I have even used on the plates to brighten to up. I have lost maybe 5 plates and couple of bowls to non-breakage. They don't break, they shatter and splinter into thousands of teeny,weeny little things. HTH----------tedEbear

Boy is THAT the truth, and I'll add they seem to explode because I find the little shards everywhere, from one end of the kitchen to the other and even though it broke on the floor, there were shards on the counters! YIKES!

I'm a big believer in Barkeepers friend. That stuff works like magic for me.

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

Zhills — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 22:00:57 GMT

Barkeepers friend keeps mine clean.

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

chickenbutt — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 22:04:02 GMT

Good information!

The only Corelle I have are two large bowls - maybe like a 'pasta bowl' size of bowl or something? They are handy for a few things. Anyway, I've had these two bowls for 20+ years but they have yet to get stains. Maybe that's because I don't put tea in them, eh? hehe

I've been fortunate, so far, as the few times I've dropped one of them they didn't explode on me but I've heard that over the years. Remember when they sold Corelle as 'unbreakable'? I remember thinking 'aw, come on - it can't be totally unbreakable'. But it really is about as close as you can get for that type of material!

I think back in the 70s I had the dishes with those tiny green flowers on them. Clearly, that was before I began to dislike green as I had a few accessory pieces (bakers and such) in that same green pattern. It was good stuff. Don't know what ever happened to them. I think it was back when I lived in Europe so they might not have made it to the States.

I like that they ended up having many more design and shape choices over the years since that beginning where they were one shape and either that gold pattern or the green one. Wasn't there a brown one, also?

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

novamc1 — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:59:07 GMT

@chickenbutt

The Corelle with the "little green flowers" is probably the same thing my parents had. When Dad finally moved to assisted living, I packed those plates and mugs and moved them with him to his new place, and left the fancy china behind. After he passed away, we sold them at an estate sale. They were in excellent condition.

I have a few serving pieces of all-white Corelle, but think an entire set of it is probably a great thing to use for everyday.......very lightweight, looks good for years. Never experienced any breakage. Didn't even see any stains in Dad's coffee mugs that were mentioned here earlier.

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

IamMrsG — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 01:08:14 GMT

Denture tablets remove coffee stains from ceramic mugs. I wonder if they would work on Corelle cups and tea stains.

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

Mothertrucker — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 04:53:08 GMT

@Zhills wrote:
Barkeepers friend keeps mine clean.

Have you tried the new liquid Barkeepers friend? I really like it!

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

tedEbear — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 05:19:06 GMT

My youngest was still in hi-chair when we got them for an anniversary gift from parents. My Mom kept saying they wouldn't break. She took a salad plate and threw it across my kitchen, into the wall and it DID NOT break, it didn't shatter, either, just bounced off the wall onto the floor. It was years later that they took to shattering. So it has been close to 40yrs, I have had same set. Gold flowers, I even found silverware, that matched the design, that I bought.

There are several patterns that are so pretty. They even have different shapes, but I still my gold pattern----------tedEbear

....

debic — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:02:04 GMT

@Mothertrucker wrote:
@Zhills wrote:
Barkeepers friend keeps mine clean.

Have you tried the new liquid Barkeepers friend? I really like it!

I buy the liquid at BB&B for my glass stove.

My son still has my original corelle.

A lot of the newer corelle has stoneware cups, not glass. Maybe that's the kind they are talking about?

Re: FYI about Corelle dinnerware & mugs by Corning

Angie321 — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:25:50 GMT

I remember my Grandparents getting them when i was very young (early 70's). As Grandpa flinged a plate like a frisbee across the kitchen, I couldn't believe it and thought he was crazy, but it was so funny! I've had a set for close to 30 years still in use, still going strong. Thanks for reminding me of that!!