Eli5: Why shouldn’t you put home made ceramics (a mug, for example) through the dishwasher? If they can withstand the heat of a kiln, surely a dishwasher is fine?

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I mean, I put them through the dishwasher sometimes anyway, but I’m told I shouldn’t? 🤷🏻‍♀️

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27 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I think one of the concerns besides it possibly breaking is that if it has any unsealed areas, like those that tend to be at the bottom, it can absorb too much water. If you then go to use that ceramic piece in a hot oven or the microwave before that water has had enough time to really dry out (which can take longer than expected with glazed items) that water will quickly expand into steam which can shatter the item. I don’t know if this is true for everything, but I think I read this as a warning on my Corning-ware set I got a while back.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Chemist here. You can. If you care about it, bad things might happen, but if you have lots of mugs and don’t care about losing a few an evolutionary process will take place where only the strong survive.

If it can’t survive the dishwasher, it just didn’t want to live anymore. So sad.

Disclaimer: none of my chemistry knowledge was used to make this statement. I’m just lazy and don’t like handwashing.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Never know. I was given 4 coffee mugs as a wedding present many years ago. Marriage ended 55 ago but I have used those mugs every day in the microwave and they go through the dishwasher almost as often. My big fear is dropping one.

Anonymous 0 Comments

This is the 21st century! WHY am I washing a mug by hand? Into the dishwasher you go.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Its not the heat. The ceramic is hard but brittle. The concentrated jet spray hitting the wrong spot where there’s a micro-crack or any imperfection could break pieces off.

Anonymous 0 Comments

My mother was a potter. She passed away 13 years ago (RIP).

She always insisted that her stuff was made to be used , not hung on a wall! All of our set dishes is going on 18 years old of regular use and dishwasher washing.

Admittedly, over that span, a few (10-ish%) have cracked for various reasons. But I’d imagine you’d have a similar rate from commercial stuff.

Well made ceramic dish ware should be able to run through the dishwasher. If it can’t, it’s wall art.

Anonymous 0 Comments

After moving to an old house without a dishwasher, I’ve never broken more ceramic dishes as they bang or slip out of my hands entirely and are chipped, smashed, dead.