Stained Melmac Dinnerware / What the F&%# Clorox?!

[vintagekitchen]

Ok, what have they done to Clorox bleach? Both my grandmothers always bleached the living hell out of their melmac dinnerware when it would get stains and knife marks that regular washing didnt remove. I had 3 plates with stains and knife marks, so I chucked them in a sink of hot water and Clorox. When I pulled them out, the stains were gone, but my plates had gone YELLOW! The only thing I can think of that might correct this is a magic eraser and lots of elbow grease, and I'm not happy...

These plates are from the same set. The one on the left is how they both should look, and the one on the right is all yellowed from the bleach soak. I'm mad, like, Joan Crawford no wire hangers mad.... I've seen gramma pour straight bleach on the plates, no water, and they still didnt yellow like this.

 

[whirlcool]

Maybe try a soak in hot water with an oxygen bleach such as Oxyclean, or try hydrogen peroxide on it. See if those work. I have even heard that "Dip It" may work too. Lemon juice & vinegar has been known to lift stains on melmac too.

 

[arbilab]

There's only so much you can do to sodium hypochlorite. Might google melmac and see how it's changed. You know, nothing made today is like it was made for grandma.

 

[vintagekitchen]

The thing is, my melmac is vintage. Maybe not quite as old as grandma's, but it should be close. I remember my gramma on dad's side refusing to use generic bleach when I was a kid, saying it was harder on fabric, and caused yellowing, that was why she said she always bought Clorox.

 

[jetcone]

Thats interesting

to say the least. How odd and off putting.

I have a friend in the vintage plate business,he has always used clorine bleach to treat old dinnerware. I'll ask him the next time I see him if he has seen the same kind of damage.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Good luck, I am thinking that the aging Melmac has been oxidized by the bleach.

I guess you could throw the whole set in the sink with bleach so at least they would match. (Don't hit me just a thought)

In all honesty, I think the damage has been done and I have little faith it can be reversed.

 

[westingman123]

hmmmmm

Actually, there was a thread over on Vacuumland about a "formula" that one of the members created to lighten plastic. I forget the details, but I know it involved mixing the potion, applying it, and then putting the item in the sun. It worked wonders on the vacuum hoods he used it on. Just a thought.

 

[northwesty]

I had stained melmac that I would coat with soft scrub with bleach, but I would only let it stand for a few minutes before washing it off. sometimes it would take two applications but that got them white. Bleach is strong I would hestitate to leave anything in it too long. Maybe bright sunshine will take the yellow out, just an experiment.

 

[danemodsandy]

Link to "Potion":

Here's a link to the potion Keith was talking about, which is called RetroBright. It's basically a combination of hydrogen peroxide and OxyClean, which removes yellowing on plastics due to oxidation. Great stuff, but be sure to read the site carefully to get best results. Some of the "before and after" pics are mind-boggling:

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

 

[mysteryclock]

How long has it been since these were last bleached? Maybe the surface finish or plate material has aged to the point that the chemistry is ~just~ different enough to react badly with bleach (Clorox or not) this time where it wouldn't have in the past?

 

[circlew]

Did you use regular Clorox or one of the newer versions (scented, no-splash)? If so, maybe one of the additives reacted badly with the plastic. For sanitizing or removing stains on surfaces, I only buy the institutional Clorox which is intended for both laundry and non-laundry uses.

Good luck in returning them to their correct color.

 

[d-jones]

Melamine making a comeback?

We had melamine plates and bowls growing up in the sixties and seventies. Very sturdy stuff. The other day I was shopping at target and saw a large assortment of plates, bowls and cups on display. Without really thinking, I picked one up. As soon as I had it in my hand I knew it was melamine just by the feel of it.(funny how some things stay with you over the years) So I turned it over to read the bottom and confirmed what I already knew. I hadn't seen melamine products for a very long time, so is it making a comeback, or was I just looking in the wrong places?

 

[peterh770]

Wasn't Grandma's Clorox a 4.75% concentration and the new version is 5.0%? Would that matter, or whatever stabilizers now used make a difference?

 

[moparwash]

...used to be a planet!

The name of the planet 'Alf' is from !

http://aliens.wikia.com/wiki/Melmac

 

[whirlcool]

I think Melamime dishware went into decline just about the time microwaves hit the market. The stuff wasn't designed to be used in microwave ovens. The same with the original Corning Correlle dishware.
Corning reformulated Correlle so it could be used in micrwave ovens and I am not sure about Memamine.
I know my parents had Melamime dishware for everyday use. Personally, I couldn't stand the stuff. It would stain when you served something like spaghetti on it.
Back then we didn't have Dawn, so if you didn't wash it well it would retain grease on it. When they got their first microwave my parents migrated to stoneware for their dishes.

BTW, there are a few websites dedicated to the care of Melmac. They all say bleach should never be used on Melmac dishware.

http://www.squidoo.com/cleaning-melmac-or-melamine-dinnerware

 

[vintagekitchen]

Corelle

Actally all corelle, even the oldest peices are microwave safe to my knowledge. We always used our set of spring blossom green corelle in the microwave, and the plates never got hot or anything.

I believe I now know what may have cause my issue. Gramma used regular Clorox. I used Clorox Ultra. Didnt even think about it at the time.

 

[maytagbear]

It was Centura

that was not microwave safe, not Corelle. My Amana Radarange cookbook says not to use Centura.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[vintagekitchen]

Forgot about Centura

I always forget that line. I have never actually seen a piece in life, it must not have been popular in my area.

 

[chuffle]

Branchell Color-Flyte...

...was what I grew up with. My parents got their set in the mid 1950s, and save for holidays and special occasions, was used daily through 2006, when my father died. I still have the set, and use it occasionally. It is good, heavy Melmac, that while heavily used, is stain free (though surfaces that saw utensil use are no longer shiny). My mother always gave the pieces a bleach soak when they began to stain. When I was going through the estate, I gave the entire set a bleaching in the summer of 2006, and they suffered no ill effect.

Did lose one plate, though, as I recall - when my parents bought their massive Litton microwave in the later 1970s - my father cracked a plate while heating up leftovers.

While it does not see everyday use here, I do use pieces occasionally, and am comforted by the "thunky twap" sound as pieces are placed on the table.

I sure hope that you can cure that yellowing issue.

Joe

 

[tomturbomatic]

Melamine dishes started losing favor when stainless steel flatware with serrated knife blades came more into general use. The serrated blades gouged the plastic which created more opportunities for staining. Add to that the hot drying elements of dishwashers like both styles of Frigidaire machines and the wash arm GEs which would scorch the edges of plates & sometimes saucers in the lower rack. Plates were not racked right over the heating element in the bow tie impleller GEs so there was no scorching. I would have customers come in to the housewares dept where I worked with a scorched plate from one of the sets we were selling and when they got to the register, I would look at the plate and then up at them and ask, "Do you have a GE or a Frigidaire dishwasher?" They would look amazed and state one brand or the other. Then I explained about the heating element. I felt sorry that they had ruined new plates, but it was not our fault that their dishwasher allowed such intense heat under the dishes. We had long ago stopped selling open stock Melamine dishes and would only get in boxed sets for special sales. Some were right pretty. Also during the 70s, I think it was Oneida along with some European brand that started offering Melamine dishes in bright primary colors in very straight line shapes. The plates had a vertical edge and the bowls were straight sided. The dishes were sort of an outgrowth of their line of baby & youth dishes, but the colors and shapes made them look modern and stylish. I still have Melamine cooking utensils from Denmark that I bought in the 70s. The original and best was the Mepalware brand and the purple color was my favorite, but different colors combined to make a colorful display arranged in a small pitcher on the counter.

KitchenAid had an ad in the 60s showing a Rubbermaid dish drainer sitting over a surface unit on a stove with text that said something like this is the way some dishwashers dry your dishes.

The Corning Corelle sets at first featured mugs made of Centura which could not go in the microwave oven. As soon as they developed the open-handle cups the whole set was microwave safe.