Hand washing and drying is always the best method for washing fiestaware, especially vintage fiestaware. All the pottery pieces can be washed using mild dish soap with warm water. Be sure the water isn’t too hot. Dish soaps that have citrus ingredients should not be used. If you don’t eat or serve food on your fiestaware regularly, take the fiestaware out of the cabinets and wash it anyway to keep it in the best shape. Never put vintage fiestaware in the dishwasher. If you aren’t sure if your plates are dishwasher safe or not, hand wash them. (Don’t put it in the microwave either).
If you notice utensil marks on your Fiestware while you are washing it, all is not lost. Utensil marks can be removed using Wenol Metal Polish. Wenol will remove marks on your Fiestaware and other pottery and china. Wenol doesn’t hurt the glaze and has been used by Fiestaware collectors for years.
I have a ton of ’30s and ’40s Fiesta pieces and use them every day—and am getting tired of washing by hand for all these years. We were hoping to be able to finally buy a dishwasher… but it sounds like it’s a no-go with the older pieces. Is there a ‘china’ or ‘delicate’ setting on any machines that would allow it? Can you explain what ‘not dishwasher safe’ actually means? Many thanks for any thoughts and details you can offer.