Caring for your pottery

Everyday use

All our glazed pieces are food safe, microwave safe and dishwasher safe on a gentle cycle. Hand washing keeps glazes bright for longer. Unglazed terracotta will absorb water, so keep those pieces for dry use or plants.

Heat and cold

Stoneware minds sudden changes in temperature more than heat itself. Warm a mug with a little hot water before you pour boiling tea into it, and let a dish come up to room temperature before it goes into a hot oven. A piece taken from the fridge to the oven can crack straight through.

Tea and coffee stains

The brown ring inside a well-used mug is tannin, not damage. Leave a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water in the mug for an hour, then wipe it out with a soft sponge. Scouring powder and steel wool will take the stain off and the shine with it.

Crazing is not a fault

Fine lines across the glaze, like a cracked eggshell, are crazing: the glaze and the clay beneath it settle at slightly different rates as they cool. The piece is still sound and still holds water, and some glazes are made to do it. Tell us only if a crazed piece starts to weep or hold a smell.

Wood-fired pieces

Ash lands on these in the kiln, so one side is usually darker and rougher than the other and the foot feels like stone. Wash them by hand and keep them off the dishwasher's hot cycle. They are happiest serving food and sitting out on a shelf.

Storing

Do not hang mugs by the handle or stack them inside one another. Between stacked bowls, put a cloth or a paper napkin so the unglazed foot ring does not score the piece below. Planters go on a saucer, never straight onto wood.

What to avoid

Abrasive scrubbers

Steel wool scratches glaze. A soft sponge is enough.

Open flame

None of our pieces are made for the stovetop or an induction plate.

Long soaking

Leaving a piece in the sink overnight lets water into the unglazed foot. Wash it and dry it.