Care and safety

Almost everything we make is stated dishwasher and microwave safe, and the glaze is what makes that possible. Fired glass over dense clay does not soak up coffee, tomato or detergent. The advice below is the ordinary kind, and the parts that matter for health or for keeping a piece intact are quoted from the bodies that publish on it.

Everyday care

• Let it come to temperature. Fill a cold mug with boiling water often enough and you are asking a fired body to expand faster on the inside than the outside. A rinse in warm water first costs nothing.
• Stack with something between. Glaze is glass, and glass scratches glass. A cloth or a paper towel between stacked plates is the cheapest insurance there is.
• Check a knock. A piece that has taken a hard knock can carry a crack you cannot see. There is an old test for it, and it works.
• Skip the scouring pad. A green pad will dull a glossy glaze in a week. A cloth and warm water take off everything a mug picks up.

A gentle tap with a fingernail should make a “ping” sound; a dull-sounding tap is an indication of a crack or fracture that may not be obvious to the naked eye.

the Canadian Conservation Institute

Do not store or display ceramics or glass where there are extreme or rapid changes in temperature and humidity.

the Canadian Conservation Institute

Lead, cadmium, and what we can honestly say

Glaze chemistry is a health question, so this section quotes national bodies rather than our own marketing. Our range states lead-free and cadmium-free stoneware, and that statement belongs to the pieces themselves. What follows is the background that makes it meaningful, read from the sources listed at the foot of this site.

Ceramic, enamel or glass cookware can cause health concerns when the pigments used in making, glazing or decorating the cookware contain lead or cadmium.

Health Canada

The short version: the risk that regulators write about sits with hand-made and traditional wares fired in uncertain conditions, with damaged or antique pieces, and with brightly pigmented decoration, rather than with factory tableware made for daily use. It is not a claim we are making about ourselves. It is what the regulators say, and it is the reason we say nothing further.

Pottery not listed above that was made in commercial factories for everyday use is much less likely to have problems related to lead.

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

When the pottery is fired at the proper temperature for the proper amount of time, essentially all the lead is bound into the glaze.

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

The one line worth remembering if you have an old or unknown piece at home:

Be aware that no amount of washing, boiling, or other process can remove lead from pottery.

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Sources

Every quotation above comes from a page we opened and read on 14 August 2026. They are listed with their addresses on the sources page.