How to care for handmade pottery
Washing your pottery
All of our pieces are dishwasher safe and easy to care for. While we do pay special attention to create rims and feet that can withstand loading and unloading the dishwasher, stacking, etc, the pieces can still chip if bumped hard enough or loaded so that they flop and hit against one another in the wash. The safest option is to handwash your pieces, however, we’ve been putting them through the dishwasher for years without trouble.
Oven recommendations
You may absolutely put our casseroles, pie plates and ramekins in the oven set to “baking” temperatures. Our pieces cannot withstand the shock of going from a refrigerator to a hot oven or being put under the broiler. As long as you use them at 450 degrees F (232 C) or lower, they will be fine. Just remember that clay expands and shrinks but not immediately. Pottery cannot go from one extreme to another (fridge to hot oven or vice versa).
Using the microwave
We use the microwave to reheat drinks and leftovers at our home. Occasionally, you will find a glaze that feels hot after being in certain microwaves (hotter than you’d expect). Our recommendation is to heat the piece (with food or coffee, etc) for no longer than 1 minute the first time you use it in the microwave, and assess if the piece feels too hot to the touch and go from there. Please note that while our pieces are microwave safe, they are not intended to boil water.
Stove top
Our pieces are not to be used over direct flame on the stovetop to cook. While occasionally we will have what is called “flame ware” pieces available in our special collections (and will be labelled as such) all the rest of our pottery is made with clay that cannot withstand the shock and direct heat of a stovetop.
If you have specific questions about caring for your pottery that haven’t been addressed here, please feel free to email us at oxoxpottery@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to help you.