Mother’s Day is around the corner. How are you fixing to express gratitude to your Mom? Flowers and chocolates go without saying. Your gift is to be personal and unique. What about a coffee mug or a table set? It is to be top-quality and completely safe. How to test lead in ceramics? Select only FDA-certified products. Your teacup or beautiful mug is to be free of heavy metals like lead or cadmium. Large and reputed online shops and department stores provide quality guarantees. What about antique stores and collectible dealers? You may still wish to buy a unique, vintage or handmade item. What can prove their safety and non-toxic nature? Let’s delve into details.
Does All-Ceramic Contain Lead?
Your personal Mother’s Day gift might be very personal. An antique ceramic vase, china or bowl are inimitable. Additionally, ceramic tiles and artworks are available. If your Mom likes collectibles, it might become her favorite item. You may buy unique tableware in your local antique store. Online purchases are also possible.
What about lead in vintage dishes? Reputed sellers or dealers are responsible. They might be able to verify the collectible’s authenticity. Your beautiful, fine ceramics may contain various types of marks that is:
- impressed;
- incised;
- overglaze;
- underglaze.
So are the decorations. Decorators and painters add them during the sophisticated firing process. So, you may buy authentic bone china, porcelain or stoneware ceramic collectibles.
Meanwhile, hand-crafted glazed tableware that comes from foreign countries might be hazardous. But, you would use it with decorative or ornamental purposes. Your favorite food and drinks should not come into contact with these surfaces. FDA warns you against the possible risks.
How Can You Tell if Ceramics is Food Safe?
If you are fixing to buy traditional ceramic tableware, be careful. Artists that produce it, face various hazards. They shouldn’t inhale clay dust. Toxic compounds available in glaze could cause skin irritation. Leaching metals might still be available in the finished ceramics cups or vases.
What should you know about lead in china dishes? Most importantly, this heavy metal is toxic and dangerous: it affects human brain, nervous and abdominal systems. Besides, your little kids are especially vulnerable. How to avoid their development and behavior problems?
Check your antique ware carefully, before using it. Research proves it may contain lead-alkali glaze. These cups and plates stand out by brilliance and high reflectance. Additionally, avoid eating and drinking from the crockery that is:
- cracked;
- chipped or scratched;
- excessively worn or damaged;
- come with very bright ornaments.
Avoid raised and rough decorations. The surface of a top-quality item is to be durable. It shouldn’t wear away over time. If you rub the glaze, it is to remain intact, smooth and plain.
Which Corelle Dishes Have Lead?
Modern technologies are a whole nother. Thus, Vitrelle material offers long-term durability. It consists of thermally-bonded glass. Three layers of lamination make it unique and completely safe. The famous Corelle Brands LLC Company is reputed and experienced.
Several divisions of the glassmaker produce kitchenware that is:
- heat-resistant;
- non-porous;
- non-reactive;
- stackable;
- dishwasher-safe.
Corelle dinnerware is lightweight and thin. It’s translucent and beautiful as fine china items. Meanwhile, it’s incredibly strong and durable. Low-lead, vitreous enamel protects the surface from damage. It makes your cups and plates ultra-hygienic, easy to clean.
Featuring a white interior finish Corelle bowls and mugs are non-toxic. Most importantly, colorful exterior doesn’t contact your food and beverages. FDA has approved these color pigments. They don’t fade and don’t contaminate food. Nevertheless, be careful with old items produced before 2005. Corelle representatives recommend using them with decorative purposes only.
How to Tell if Dishes Have Lead?
Food safety concerns remain grave. Plenty of wares, especially imported ones, release lead. They may leach them from colorful food contact surfaces. Therefore, FDA conducts leaching tests. It checks all incoming and homemade products.
Actually, lead-free coffee mugs made in USA are not ceramic. They consist of borosilicate glass or stainless steel. Concentration of the toxic elements matter. If it exceeds the limit, the dinnerware doesn’t pass the test. According to the Guidance, it contains a warning label.
These plates and teacups meet only ornamental or decorative needs. Don’t you find any label of this kind on the backside? Try to test the dinnerware by yourself.
- Remove dust from the surface.
- Rub the swab over a decoration;
- Press it firmly for 10-30 seconds;
- Move the swab in a circular motion.
Squeeze it a bit and look at it. You’ll need a special test swab set. It’s small and affordable. So, if the swab turns red or pink, lead content is high. Dark color detects potential risk.
Personalized Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
Special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries are inspirational. Hearty wishes please and motivate your hero of the day. Real-life communication is also essential. So, small private gatherings and celebrations are beneficial. Meanwhile, gift selection tasks might become daunting.
Standard presents, even expensive and luxury ones are trivial. Knowing porcelain dinnerware pros and cons, you easily select a perfect table set. Putting it in your buggy and complete checkout in a trice. Custom gifts are a whole nother.
In Maryland retail shops and service provides are reopening now. The government lifts restrictions, making it possible. So, now, you can customize various ceramic dishes, including:
- serving dishes;
- platters and plates;
- teacups and coffee mugs;
- beakers;
- coffee and teapots.
If your mom is a coffee nerd or a tea drunkard, you easily find a solution. Your cherished lady spends special moments, enjoying her favorite hot beverage. She would love to look at the special inscription or a photo on the cup’s or mug’s surface.
Video Review: How to Test for Lead in Ceramics? How can you protect yourself?
Bottom Line
Are you looking for a personal Mother’s Day gift? Buy a reliable, FDA-certified item. Ceramic dinnerware made in the USA is non-toxic and safe. Low lead content is acceptable. Besides, a plain white surface is preferable. And you can customize it with a logo, hearty inscription or photo printing. It uses water-based fluorescent ink that is not hazardous. Modern tea and table sets with various patterns and decorations are also reliable. As to the traditional and antique products, choose them carefully. Test the surfaces. Inspect it for dents and chatter marks. If you are not completely sure, use your collectibles with decorative purposes only. Eat and drink from safe crockery and keep healthy.
