By simply taking a few simple precautions, your foodservice china will provide years of attractive durable service.

PROPER HANDLING

If you seem to be losing a lot of china through breakages, perhaps the first place to look is your handling techniques. Always separate your china, glass and metal items when bussing. This stops a lot of chipping and breakage.

Certain food acids can stain china, making it imperative to thoroughly scrape ware before stacking. Likewise, tea and coffee left standing in cups can create stains that are very hard to clean later. Needless to say, scraping food before it hardens saves time and effort.

Never try to remove stains with powders, metal utensils, scrapers or scouring pads. You’ll permanently scratch the surface, making future staining easier.

LOADING OF WARE

Automatic dishwashers don’t usually contribute to breakage. It is however, important to load it to avoid any vibration of plates against each other, and baskets should be protected with a plastic coating over the metal frame to avoid metal marking.

It is very important to have your dishwasher properly set up by your dealer and maintained regularly. If your machine is not working properly, it may return stained and soiled ware back to the food preparation area.

TEMPERATURES

Temperatures of water during the wash cycle are very important, as a temperature that is too high will reduce the efficiency of the wash. Never exceed manufacturers recommended dishwasher temperatures.

DETERGENTS

Choosing the right detergent is essential if glaze attack is to be minimised, as high alkalinity will increase the rate of damage to the glaze surface.

THERMAL SHOCK

Equally, taking the tableware straight from the fridge to a hot oven.

What’s more, tableware should never be exposed to any naked flame. Thermal shock ultimately weakens your tableware, making chipping and breakages a lot more likely.
*Melamine cannot be microwaved.

STORAGE

Adequate storage space must be provided for china. This is critical in the soiled dish area especially during peak periods. Recent surveys have revealed that over 70% of china breakage occur in this area. China needs to air dry before being stored away, and stored beneath food preparation areas on high-grade stainless steel.

Not surprisingly, China stored in overhead areas tend to be dropped easily, and lower grade Stainless steel shelves can often leave dark, unsightly metal marks.