How to Care for Hand-Painted Chinese Porcelain | CI Porcelain

Every CI Porcelain piece begins in Jingdezhen, the Chinese city that has fired porcelain for over 1,700 years and earned the nickname "China's Porcelain Capital." After the clay is shaped and glazed, it's fired a second time at around 1300°C — the step that gives porcelain its strength and glass-like density. Many of our pieces are then hand-painted by artisans once the firing is complete, which is why no two plates are ever quite identical.

That heritage doesn't mean the pieces belong in a display cabinet. CI Porcelain is made for daily use — weeknight dinners, Sunday brunches, dinner parties. A little care just helps it stay that way for years. Here's what to know.

Daily Washing: Hand Wash vs Dishwasher

Most of our porcelain is dense, non-porous and dishwasher-safe on a gentle cycle. A few habits will extend its life either way:

• Use warm, not hot, water. Porcelain is sensitive to sudden temperature swings — going from a hot dishwasher cycle to a cold benchtop, or vice versa, is when hairline cracks happen.
• Mild detergent only. Skip anything abrasive or bleach-based, which dulls the glaze over time.
• Don't overcrowd. Whether in the sink or the dishwasher, give each piece room — chips usually happen from contact with other dishes, not from the wash itself.
• Top rack, gentle cycle, no heated dry. If you do use a dishwasher, this combination is the safest setting for fine glazes.

When in doubt, hand washing in lukewarm soapy water with a soft sponge is always the lower-risk option, especially for pieces you've had a while.

Hand-Painted and Gold-Rim Pieces Need Extra Care

This is the one rule worth remembering: anything with a gold or platinum rim, or a hand-painted overglaze design, should be hand-washed, never machine-washed. Dishwasher heat and detergent will gradually dull or strip metallic trim, and repeated washing can fade painted details that sit on top of the glaze rather than underneath it.

For these pieces:

• Wash by hand in lukewarm water with a soft cloth or sponge.
• Avoid the microwave entirely — metallic trim can spark and scorch.
• Dry by hand rather than air-drying, to avoid water spots settling on painted detail.

Removing Tea, Coffee and Food Stains

Porcelain resists staining far better than earthenware, but tea and coffee can still leave a film over time. A few options, mildest first:

1. Baking soda paste — mix with a little water, apply gently with a soft sponge, rinse.
2. Soak in warm water with a spoon of bicarb or oxygen bleach for 15–20 minutes for cups and teapots.
3. A few drops of white vinegar in warm water works well on cloudy water-spot residue.

Avoid steel wool, scouring pads or anything abrasive — porcelain glaze is hard, but it can still be scratched, and scratches are what eventually let stains take hold permanently.

Avoiding Thermal Shock

Porcelain can usually go from fridge to microwave or oven to bench, but the key is gradual change, not extremes. Let a chilled piece come to room temperature before microwaving it, and avoid placing anything straight from the oven onto a cold or wet surface. This single habit prevents the majority of cracks we hear about.

Storage Tips

• Stack plates with a soft layer — a tea towel, felt pad or paper towel — between each one to prevent rim chips.
• Store cups and bowls the right way up where possible; stacking cups inside one another is the most common cause of hairline rim cracks.
• Keep hand-painted or gold-trim pieces in a dedicated spot away from daily-use stacks, so they're not jostled by heavier dishware.

Quick Reference

With a bit of routine care, a piece from our collection should easily outlast the meal it was bought for — which is really the point of buying something made properly in the first place.