Brown stained edges on Corelle ware - DW the cause?

[ken]

So the family got together last night for our weekly Thursday night "dinner night". As I was clearing the table for dessert my sister comments that our mother needs new dishes because some (most?) have brown stains on the edge. They are the green "Spring Blossom" Corelle purchased when the pattern was introduced in the early 70s.

I questioned that my sister purchased her "Golden Butterfly" set of Corelle at the same time so what about hers? She said her plates did not have stained edges and that putting them in the DW is what causes it. You could probably count on one hand the number of times her GE 940 Potscrubber has been used since it was installed new in 1984.

Anyone else ever heard of this? I seem to remember reading once, maybe it was on the Corelle site, about DW washing causing this to happen to Corelle.

 

[joe_in_philly]

It could be rust if the dishwasher rack coating is damaged.

 

[circlew]

Yes, my Corelle (which my mom bought not long after its intro) got brown stains on the edges several years after their purchase. The dishwasher, a KitchenAid KDI-16, had racks that the coating had began to deteriorate. This was causing the rust stains.

I used Bar Keepers Friend to remove the stains. Mix it with water to make a paste, then dip a paper towel in this, and rub the stained areas until clean. I've been washing them by hand since I've had no dishwasher for several years, and they still look new.

By the way, the edges of Corelle tend to be a little sharp compared to most dinnerware. This cuts into the rack coating after time.

 

[danemodsandy]

I Second....

....CircleW, both as to the cause and the cure.

It takes only a very small area of breached coating on your dishwasher racks to cause this. Getting a rack repair kit from your local appliance parts place would be a good idea. If you don't have a parts house nearby, some clear silicone sealant will make a good repair as well. It helps to clean the rust off before you seal; some Naval Jelly is a good way to do this without enlarging the breach in the coating.

CircleW also mentions another important consideration: Care when loading. Placing dishes into the racks gently helps a lot to extend the life of both dishes and rack coatings. Dishwashers are such a commonplace in our lives that we tend to be a little rough with them - toss in the dishes and turn the dial. Going easier is better for everything concerned.

Bar Keeper's Friend works miracles. If you have something it won't remove, try Zud, but go easy - Zud is rough stuff.

 

[tomturbomatic]

That sharp edge is just rough enough in texture to trap the iron oxide in the water that runs off the other parts; it sort of gives the particles a place to land and build up.

 

[sudsmaster]

Zud probably will also get the rust stains out, but it might also eat at the surface.

My "Endless Thyme" Corelle ware has smooth edges and there's no damage to the dishwasher tines either. So no brown spots. I wash the stuff in the DW several times a week, no problem.

I still have a few plates and maybe one bowl of 1970's Corelle plain white. I remember the cups with a horror: those awful bent handles that truly did have sharp edges. The plates mainly just sit at the bottom of the stack in the spare kitchen cupboard.

 

[danemodsandy]

Suds:

I've never had any damage from Zud on Corelle. I use it once on a stubborn rust stain, using no more Zud and rubbing no harder than necessary, and then don't use it any more. It's a restoration tactic, not routine care.

Tom:

Corelle's edges are supposed to be smooth. If they're rough, it's because the piece has been roughly handled in a dishwasher. Corelle is light in weight, and some dishwashers cause it to bounce slightly when being sprayed. That causes a kind of tiny chip at the edge.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I know; I have it in white. I was just thinking about why the edges got discolored.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tom:

Actually, in collecting my eight places of Corelle Snowflake Blue, I found quite a number of pieces with rust stains at the edge, when the edges were still pristinely smooth.

I'm not sure that the "mini-chip" phenomenon has to be present for rust to sublimate onto Corelle.

Fortunately, edges that are still smooth make it easy to get the rust stain off, of course.