Anyone have an issue with Corelle plates?

[Bob Sacamano]

i've read, similarly to Pyrex, that Corelle is supposedly buy-it-for-life. however, when we first took shipment of the plates one of the dinner plates had a piece cleaved off and now i notice one of the salad plates has the same thing.

they're great with replacements and all (just contact customer support), but i'm curious if anyone else has had a similar experience. probably another case of "they don't make em like they used to".

[GerryL]

I bought my set of Corelleware back in the mid 1970s. Plain white. (Oddly, I later learned that my father, who was setting up housekeeping post-divorce, bought the exact same set.) I am still using that set, which has been expanded with additional pieces bought through the years.

I have had to dispose of a few items that showed wear and tear, particularly nicks and rough spots on the plate edges, but most of the original pieces are still in rotation.

I have noticed that the recently purchased pieces are a slightly different shade of white. I was told that they have changed the composition of the glass. I also read that newer Pyrex is not made of the same magical "forever" glass as the vintage pieces.

[runner3081]

No issues with them, but boy, when they break, it is in a spectacular fashion sending shards halfway across the house. Have broken 3 plates in the 5 years we have used them exclusively.

It is also worth nothing that there is no more lifetime guarantee. It is 3-years now.

[123]

While dating my future spouse I found out that they used Corelle Winter Frost White dinnerware the same as I did. It made combining our kitchens and households much easier. It's been quite a few years now and we're each satisfied with our choice.

[Random Poster]

While dating my future spouse I found out that they used Corelle Winter Frost White dinnerware the same as I did. It made combining our kitchens and households much easier. It's been quite a few years now and we're each satisfied with our choice.

Of marriage partner or of dinnerware?

[p14175]

Nope. I just replaced my hand-me-down clunky grocery store dinnerware with basic frosty white Corelle. My hands were damaged by recent chemo. The Corelle is so much easier for me to handle.

[vbdoug]

I inherited 15-year-old Corelle plates twenty years ago. All still perfect. They will last me until I die.

[SR II]

When I was in college and Corelle first came out in the early 70s, I worked in a big box discount store that sold it. A group of us store associates were standing around as the head of the housewares department extolled the virtues of this fine new product. We examined and passed around a dinner plate. We were all amazed that it looked like some weird form of opaque glass, but was marketed as unbreakable. The department head told the worker that was holding the plate at the time to drop it, it wouldn't break. When the worker refused, because she was afraid it would break, the department head grabbed the plate and threw it down on the hard floor. It shattered into a million and one pieces. We all laughed!

[JediMisty]

I've had some since forever. Lasted thru kids, step-kids, and housemates. They ARE breakable if I am willing to throw one with all my might across the room to the far wall. Dropped from waist height they just clatter about. Of course, I will soon start using my China every day instead. No need to save it....

[iamlucky13]

Nope. We broke a few of my parent's pieces growing up, but only because they were dropped on hard floors. As noted, they break spectacularly.

We've only got a few Corelleware pieces of our own, but they also seem to hold up well.

Not as nice looking or feeling as our fancy Noritake settings, but far more durable.

[shunkman]

I love Corelle because it is durable, thin, and lightweight. We did break a Corelle plate once but I cannot remember how. I can pick up a whole stack of Corelle with one hand. I couldn't do this with standard ceramic dishes.

[Random Poster]

I have two Corelle bowls, cereal size, both white. Had them for decades. Got them from my grandmother’s house.

No chips, no breakage, but I noticed last year that one of them got stained from putting homemade cranberry sauce in it. So now one of them is a spotted, faded reddish-white bowl. Not sure why cranberry sauce would cause the staining and nothing else I’ve ever put in it did, but maybe there was something acidic in the orange juice or zest combined with the red berries that did it.

[Bogle7]

You do know that the manufacturing processes for new and old Corelle dinnerware are completely different?

[dcabler]

Was given a set when I started college in 1979 - back when they still had the lifetime guarantee. Didn't get rid of them until I got married. Kinda wish I'd kept them.

[littlebird]

You do know that the manufacturing processes for new and old Corelle dinnerware are completely different?

The same is true of Corningware and Pyrex.

[iamlucky13]

You do know that the manufacturing processes for new and old Corelle dinnerware are completely different?

The same is true of Corningware and Pyrex.

I'm aware most Pyrex sold in the US has changed, but am not aware of changes to the Corelle vitrelle formula. I'm not finding mention of this except unsourced claims in forums. Articles with citations like this one don't mention it (note that several lines are mentioned. Corelle is near the end):
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abu/y ... bu0337/s05

[CurlyDave]

You do know that the manufacturing processes for new and old Corelle dinnerware are completely different?

The same is true of Corningware and Pyrex.

It is not heavily advertised, but in the US, Pyrex is not a specific composition of glass, but merely a trademark for glass items which are designed to be resistant to thermal shock. In Europe, Pyrex is the original low thermal expansion material.

[Tamarind]

I had no idea my Corelle winter white was the Bogleheads Dishware of Choice TM!

Wife and I settled on it when we were ready to donate our mismatched and banged up collections of dishes that survived college. So far, the only issue I've had is that it can acquire rust stains from my elderly dishwasher's prongs. No breakage yet.

[Ping Pong]

How often do yo they guys break plates that you need indestructible ones? Is there something pleasing about the Corelle material that you guys like? We buy ceramic plates and bowls and mugs at the restaurant supply store. If you need to replace them, they’re like $2. And the design is classic plain (what you guys call winter white) so we should be able to always get a match. And they still make them like they used to.

[Colorado13]

I've had mine since the 1990s. None have ever broke or been chipped. They're lightweight and stain proof...I believe they are indestructible.

[msi]

Ours have held up pretty well.

[Spirit Rider]

I've had some since forever. Lasted thru kids, step-kids, and housemates. They ARE breakable if I am willing to throw one with all my might across the room to the far wall. Dropped from waist height they just clatter about.

That may be true if the floor is vinyl or possibly laminate. However, if you drop them on ceramic tile or similar hard surfaces, as pointed out they will shatter in a spectacularly explosive manner.

Ask me how I know. Maybe > 50% attrition of an 8 piece (well technically two 4 piece) set from a wedding gift 4 decades ago.

[ThatGuy]

So far, the only issue I've had is that it can acquire rust stains from my elderly dishwasher's prongs. No breakage yet.

Have you tried scrubbing them with Bar Keep's Friend?

[JediMisty]

I've had some since forever. Lasted thru kids, step-kids, and housemates. They ARE breakable if I am willing to throw one with all my might across the room to the far wall. Dropped from waist height they just clatter about.

That may be true if the floor is vinyl or possibly laminate. However, if you drop them on ceramic tile or similar hard surfaces, as pointed out they will shatter in a spectacularly explosive manner.

Ask me how I know. Maybe > 50% attrition of an 8 piece (well technically two 4 piece) set from a wedding gift 4 decades ago.

Ah, yes. I had laminate flooring in the kitchen 20 years ago. Now I have the also relatively soft oak kitchen flooring. That explains it. SpiritRider, is there ANYTHING you're not expert on?

[Spirit Rider]

[quote="Spirit Rider" post_id=4814227
Ah, yes. I had laminate flooring in the kitchen 20 years ago. Now I have the also relatively soft oak kitchen flooring. That explains it. SpiritRider, is there ANYTHING you're not expert on?

That wasn't expertise, just anecdotal experience.

Actually, most of the other topics I post on here at least started in a similar manner. I personally had to deal with a confusing mess and had to research the answers. Now I just have way too much time on my hands for research. From my days many decades ago teaching technology. I learned, "You really don't understand something until you have to explain it to someone else."

I don't like the term expert anyway. I can and have been wrong in the many years I have been here. Sometimes, I post something wrong that I know better. Luckily, there are many very knowledgeable people hear on Bogleheads.

I knew someone who had Subject Matter RKI on his business card instead of the company title Subject Matter Expert (SME). I asked what it stood for and he said; "Reasonably Knowledgeable Individual, I might know more than some people, but there are people who know more than I do and they don't know everything."

[Ybsybs]

I inherited my Corelle plates. Apparently I'm hard on them. A couple break every move and we break about one dish every other month with the kids. The shattering is excessive.

I'm window shopping for a replacement. The number of place settings left is not yet quite below four.

[GerryL]

How often do yo they guys break plates that you need indestructible ones? Is there something pleasing about the Corelle material that you guys like? We buy ceramic plates and bowls and mugs at the restaurant supply store. If you need to replace them, they’re like $2. And the design is classic plain (what you guys call winter white) so we should be able to always get a match. And they still make them like they used to.

I like them because they are lightweight. Thin but durable. Also, I moved a lot over the years, and they were easy to pack and ship.
I bought the white ones because at the time the only other choices were the (now vintage) gold or cornflower blue trims. I have often thought of getting a set in one of the new, modern patterns. But then I think, "Why spend the money when I have a perfectly serviceable set of white ones?"

[Phineas J. Whoopee]

I bought a Corelle four-setting package in the mid 1980s. All the pieces that didn't break are still useful.

They've only broken when I've knocked one over onto a very hard floor surface.

I agree with upthread posters, when they break Oh, Man! do they break.

In the thirty five years since the purchase I've bought an informal set but not so silly-looking as my Corelle (they have a repeated graphic around the edge that looks like a nose and mustache), and a nice china set during the financial crisis when there were thousands of packages on their way here on cargo ships that departed before the bottom fell out of the wedding gift business.

In practice I seldom use the china.

PJW

[fru-gal]

So far, the only issue I've had is that it can acquire rust stains from my elderly dishwasher's prongs. No breakage yet.

Have you tried scrubbing them with Bar Keep's Friend?

Side grumble. What is this with dishwasher prongs rusting through their coatings? Another aspect of the decline and fall of Western civilization that I only encountered a few years ago. I forked out for replacement racks, priced at 50% of the cost of the entire dishwasher, because it seemed simpler than the mess of a complete new installation, and I just noticed recently that the new ones are rusting.

[gtaylor]

Side grumble. What is this with dishwasher prongs rusting through their coatings? Another aspect of the decline and fall of Western civilization that I only encountered a few years ago. I forked out for replacement racks, priced at 50% of the cost of the entire dishwasher, because it seemed simpler than the mess of a complete new installation, and I just noticed recently that the new ones are rusting.

You can grind off the rust and repaint the rusty bits, I do this every year or so to our 20yr old dishwasher. The dishwasher rack "paint" I used also comes with rubber caps for unsalvageable prongs you saw off. The stuff is on amazon, called "Uber Goop" dishwasher rack coating.

Even if you buy 100 bottles of goop and a dremel to go with it, still way cheaper than a new rack.

[LittleMaggieMae]

I've got Corelle pattern "Enhancement" - the plates look like white paper plates. The large dinner plates are probably 15 years old. I have "salad" plates and little desert bowls that are less than 10yo. I think I bought a 4 piece set (dinner plate, soup bowl, coffee cup) and then the rest are all purchased as needed/wanted. I'm pretty sure I gave away the coffee cups.

So far, only one dinner plate has a chip on the under side of the rim. It's not sharp so I'm still using the plate. I'm not sure how that happened. Probably bumped the plate just right while it was in the sink.

I did have one plate "explode" when I dropped it and it bounced off the sink and then exploded when it hit the linoleum floor. What a mess.

I have no complaints though. The plates and bowls are holding up to daily use.

[runner3081]

How often do yo they guys break plates that you need indestructible ones? Is there something pleasing about the Corelle material that you guys like? We buy ceramic plates and bowls and mugs at the restaurant supply store. If you need to replace them, they’re like $2. And the design is classic plain (what you guys call winter white) so we should be able to always get a match. And they still make them like they used to.

My wife has carpal tunnel. The lighter plates allow her to rinse and put them away easier.

[AnonJohn]

I grew up with Corelle. My parents still have the same two sets, coming up on 50 years later. They're great. Patterns are faded, a few chips, but great.

When I got married I agonized long and hard about Corelle or Fiestaware. Both are American made. We went with Fiesta, random color assortment. It's bright and colorful, and we enjoy it. The extra heat it absorbs in dishwashing let's it dry more easily. No problems breaking.

OTOH, Corelle is lighter, stacks much more efficiently, and is less breakable.

Both are great choices.

[TBillT]

Complete hearsay, but I thought I heard Corelle was changed formulation and there was some problem if you take hot out of oven and place say on a wet surface may crack. we have the old stuff.

[rterickson]

Our original set is from 1983, upgraded with the same pattern ~2006.

I prefer the original matching cups, but the newer heavy mugs are more practical.

A couple of the bowls have developed a ring, perhaps even a crack all the way 'round -- possibly from repeated microwaving single serving oatmeal. I'm guessing they'll only last 20 more years.

[Abe]

I love Corelle. I have Corelle plates, cereal bowls, coffee cups and mixing bowls. Just the other day, I was making coleslaw and when I looked in the cabinet for my favorite Corelle mixing bowl it was not there. Come to find out my wife had sold it on Ebay. Everything turned out well though because we found 3 more that were packed away.

[Traveler]

My parents bought me a set of Corelle dishes (and Oneida silverware) when I graduated college (1994). I may have broken a bowl but otherwise I think I have the entire set along with some accessory pieces. And the Oneida silverware still looks nearly new. I love the Corelle because I don't have a lot of cupboard space so it fits well.

[6miths]

When I was in college and Corelle first came out in the early 70s, I worked in a big box discount store that sold it. A group of us store associates were standing around as the head of the housewares department extolled the virtues of this fine new product. We examined and passed around a dinner plate. We were all amazed that it looked like some weird form of opaque glass, but was marketed as unbreakable. The department head told the worker that was holding the plate at the time to drop it, it wouldn't break. When the worker refused, because she was afraid it would break, the department head grabbed the plate and threw it down on the hard floor. It shattered into a million and one pieces. We all laughed!

When I was a kid we had a pantry and there were a few big jars of Kraft peanut butter (likely purchased on sale). The jars had 'Shatterproof' written on them in bold type. So I said to myself...

Yes love my Corelle, the family of the girl I didn't marry used it and I liked the simplicity of it. So I bought my own. The girl I did marry (being British) sometimes complains about it but it has served us well for many years and we have only lost a few items along the way. The collection has greatly expanded over the years.

[Finridge]

We also love our Corelle plates and bowls. They are the only kind we would buy now. They hold up incredibly well. So much more convenient to deal with than China or ceramic. Yes, it is possible to break them but it's relatively hard to do...