New everyday dishes - Corelle? Porcelain?

[SumDay]

Over a decade ago, I bought some stoneware dishes from QVC (Temptations). I love them, but their weight is bothering my arthritic hands when loading and unloading the dishwasher. Plus the dinner plates are horribly chipped.

The bowls and salad plates are in great shape. I'm thinking of buying some white/cream plates to just replace the dinner plates and keep all the serving pieces I have.

So, I know I don't want more stoneware. I need something lighter and more durable. Research tells me porcelain is much sturdier, but I've also seen complaints about how badly Corelle scratches from knives.

Anyway have any dishes they love? Or hate? And why?

 

[vince]

DW bought a Corelle set about a year ago. We use them everyday. The are light. Haven't noticed any damage to finish. I drop them all the time, so they don't break easily. She also bought them directly from Corelle.

 

[CaptTom]

Corelle for everyday use.

Pros: Light, durable, looks decent, cheap, easy to replace or add more that match.

Cons: They can shatter. It's rare, but little shards go EVERYwhere. They can chip. But overall they're far more durable than anything else.

I don't really see them getting scratched by knives any more than any other material.

Anyway, pick up a few at WalMart. Use them for a while, then decide. You're only out a few bucks if you don't like them.

 

[CRLLS]

We had Corelle for many years as our everyday dishes and liked them. Last year we decided to treat ourselves to new Corelle Vitrelle dishes/plates with a fancy pattern silk screened across about 1/2 of the plates and fired (?) on them. These seem to be lighter weight than the older ones. While I like the dishes and would buy them again, I do not like the way a knife of fork don't slide nicely across the printed surface. It feels gritty. Not like the other areas. They haven't scratched yet, either in the plain white area or the pattern. I would recommend a plain surface if you go with Corelle.

 

[wmc1000]

Our corelle dishes are probably 30 years old now and still look and perform like new.

 

[6miths]

Same on the original Frost White Corelle. 30 years and still going. Have added more over the years. Very happy with them. No scratching at all that I can see.

 

[KB]

I replaced my stoneware dishes with a set of Corelle dishes last year. The stoneware was too heavy and the Corelle is nice and light. I got the white dishes, I ordered a set from Corelle. My local Walmart carries them but didn't have the mugs and serving dishes also, so I ordered exactly what I wanted from Corelle.

 

[Gumby]

We have used this Dansk china every day for almost 36 years. If a piece gets broken or chipped, we buy a new one from replacements.com We also keep our eye out for stray pieces when we are at Goodwill.

 

[Jerry1]

During the clearing of my mother in laws house, DW obtained some white (no pattern) Corelle and I like them a lot. We have some the we got 30+ years ago but they have a pattern that give away their age. Kind of like a green refrigerator. The white have a simple class to them that I really like.

As CaptTom points out, they are terrible if you do drop them. Of course dropping anything on our tile floor is going to create a mess, but the way Corelle shatters is shocking when it happens.

If I were younger and starting out, I’d go to an estate sale and find some white china and just use it as my every day. I’d just make sure it didn’t have any pattern that would prevent it from going in the dishwasher. Not sure if that would be any lighter than the stoneware though.

 

[Bamaman]

I'm not a Corelle fan, however we use them in our RV because they're so unbreakable. But if you have a physical need for lighter weight dishes, Corelle would be a good option.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Corelle. The set we bought 15 years ago is less durable than the one we inherited. They do chip easily, but replacing is cheap.

 

[4legsgood]

I vote for Corelle. I gave away my fiestaware which is heavy and takes up a lot of space.

The corelle is light and compact and I like the way food looks on plain bright white. I successfully heat food on it in a moderate temp oven.

 

[calmloki]

We went to Corelle as well. Plain white by preference. They take up way less room and weigh a fraction of the other dishes we've had. I do see black lines from knives on some of the plates, but have had some success with Barkeeper's Friend scrubbing powder removing it.

 

[momoftwo]

We LOVE our 35 yr old set of Pfalsgraf (sp) Yorktown stoneware and still pull it out for big family dinners.
But they are heavy and fat and dont fit well in the newer DW slots.

We bought a lovely set of Corelle for everyday use.
After 5 years, they are like new. The surfaces show no marks at all. They are so thin and light and load into DW great.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Another vote foe Corelle. Besides all the other advantages listed I would add that they stack efficiently in your cupboard taking up less storage space.

 

[4legsgood]

...Barkeeper's Friend scrubbing powder removing it.

Pardon the tangent, I removed many-year-old stains from my glass cook top with this stuff!

 

[cathy63]

I prefer porcelain to Corelle. I just like the way it feels and looks. We replaced our stoneware about 5 years ago with this set, and I just love it! It's so much lighter and it's got a happy casual feel that fits well in our home. The pattern is Twist Alea by Villeroy & Boch and our plates have white and green rims rather than yellow.

Macy's is having a huge sale on dinnerware right now, with extra savings if you order online. So whatever you choose, you should be able to get a bargain.

 

[Chuckanut]

I like my Corelle dishes. They are thin and I can stack over a dozen on a shelf that can only hold 6-8 stoneware dishes.

 

[Boho]

My parents got two or three sets of Corelle Spring Blossom dishes 40+ years ago from opening a bank account or cigar bands or something. I still use them. Replacements are available but I intend to replace them with something modern just in case there's a health hazard from whatever scratches there are and from 1970s manufacturing methods (maybe lead).

My left trap is larger than my right even though I'm a righty, to the point where it's noticeable in my sleeve length. I think that's from holding my "light" Corelle plates (and other pots/pans/dishes) in my left hand while pressing against them with my right when I'm washing them. I was going to replace them with stoneware but now I'm not sure.

 

[f35phixer]

we use our wedding gift China for every day. For a while yup was in china cabinet, we both thought why not use every day. Dishwasher has taken of some of the gold gilding off, Oh well !!!!!!!!

 

[Amethyst]

I love Corelle, but our home has Mexican tile floors, and a dropped vitreous plate could make a mess - of the plate and the tile.

I sympathize with the need for lighter-weight dishes. I've been visiting local thrift stores and picking up a pretty dish here, a pretty dish there (different patterns, of course). There are always stacks of various dinner plates for 50 cents or a dollar apiece. Some are much lighter than others - one can have one's pick.

If having a matched set isn't important, this could be an inexpensive solution.

 

[W2R]

I have used the same set of Corelle every day for probably 20 years, and have no complaints. They are my only set of dishes. They look fine, no scratches, and they are much, much lighter than my previous (stoneware) dishes. None have broken or even chipped during all this time, despite my extreme clumsiness and tendency to drop them often or even hurl them by accident. However I have used them in the usual vinyl or wood floored kitchens, not Mexican tile like Amethyst has.

If you get Corelle, my suggestion is to find a pattern that you really, REALLY like because they seem to last forever. Be choosy. I can't imagine going this long with a pattern that I thought was just "so so". This is my pattern and I am glad that I bought two sets of it at Walmart way back when, since it is discontinued. I still love it after 20 years.

 

[Sunset]

I like my Corelle dishes. They are thin and I can stack over a dozen on a shelf that can only hold 6-8 stoneware dishes.

+++
They take up so little room.
We have 13 dinner plates stacked in the cupboard and the pile is only 2 inches high.

As everyone has said they are great, light, thin, do shatter a lot if you drop them, and cheap.

Ours are about 12 yrs old or more

 

[pacergal]

We had the plain White Frost corelle set for years when the kids were little, pretty indestructible, unless dropped and shattered. I only had that happen a couple of times.
About 5 years ago, I replaced them with Fiesta ware. They are noticeably heavier, but more colorful!

Definitely go with Corelle if you are looking for lightweight and durable.

 

[MBAustin]

We have used this Dansk china every day for almost 36 years. If a piece gets broken or chipped, we buy a new one from replacements.com We also keep our eye out for stray pieces when we are at Goodwill.

We also use this Dansk pattern (for about 20 years, it replaced our Mikasa that developed lots of scratches and chips) and get extra pieces from Replacements just as Gumby suggests. However I’m considering replacing them for the sane reason as the OP - the dinner plates and soup plates are a bit heavy.

We use Corelle (found a nice set at Goodwill) in the RV and while it’s great for that purpose, I personally wouldn’t enjoy it as my everyday dinnerware.