Fiesta Ware dishes: how do they hold up?

[whiteyswifey]

We've had off white dishes for the past five years. And they haven't held up well with the gray lines from the flatware, and I've broken a bunch.

Overall how solid is fiesta Ware? Do they chip, scratch, break easily? We have four kids five and under (the use ikea plastic plates right now) and they need to be durable.

[sierramist03]

I've had my fiestaware for 5 years and they still look brand new. We don't use them on a daily basis though. They are kind of heavy I would think for children. I haven't broken any pieces and we even had a porcelain sink in our last house.

[munkii]

My neighbor has a full set and accessories from before I was born. She says they're from the original line (whatever that means???). Anyway, they're very sturdy.

[meij]

We've used them as our everyday dishes for seven years now.

I have a rainbow of colors and the yellow (Sunflower) is the only one that shows knife marks. I dropped a platter once and it was fine but we did have our first plate break this year. DD dropped a salad plate and it broke.

[ktzmoh]

I have a suspicion that the newer fiesta is less durable than the incredible old stuff. my sister and my in laws use it as their day to day dishes and I love the look - but I do see scratches. Of course they are used heavily and i mostly just notice them on the navy blue. I've never seen anything chipped and I think they are pretty durable as far as every day dishes go (other than the darker colors showing scratches).

But some of those old pieces - and the old colors - just incredible. Careful though of the vintage red-orange pieces, lead hazard so you don't want to use those for eating if you do wind up mixing some vintage stuff with newer.

[Blueper]

I am boring and have white fw. I have only broken one mug in two years (dropping it on the driveway when it was below freezing). The white does show gray scratch marks.

[whitemerlot]

I have Fiestaware in every color that I started collecting in about 2005. We use them for everyday dishes. My four-year-old uses them, but my two-year-old still uses plastic.

The lighter colors do get some scratches that are light gray. I finally busted out a little bit of barkeepers friend, and they cleaned up really well. I really only saw the scratches in the ivory color, and the sunflower yellow.

I have only broken one dish in nine years. I just broke a salad plate last week when it fell it on the floor off the edge of the counter.

They are heavy but I like the substantial feeling. I have the 4 piece place settings.

[stephm0188]

We use Fiesta. My son has never had a problem with the weight. Some colors do seem to scratch a little more easily, but Barkeepers Friend will get rid of the gray marks from utensils. I've never had any chip or break from normal everyday wear and tear. I have broken two pieces after dropping them on our concrete slab floor, but I'd expect any dinnerware to do that.

[new2this]

I've had my set for about 5 years. They're great! I'm clumsy and drop dishes but have never had one break. I had one get a chip once but it was replaced free of cost since it was within the 5 year warranty. I LOVE them. I don't find them too heavy. My now 4 year old has been taking his dishes to the sink for about a year.

We have sunflower yellow and they don't have marks on them. We also have a very dark navy and that color does show marks. Our middle of the road colors (yellow, green, blue, orange, purple) don't have any marks and we are not gentle.

[darby]

I have place settings in ten different colors & have had them for a little over ten years. I've never broken or chipped a single piece (& think I'm pretty hard on them). I haven't really noticed scratching, but don't have any in white or ivory. I think our mid tone ones look the best, as they don't really show any wear at all. My serving pieces do look a little scratched, but I think that might be because they are heavier & I stack them without any protection between them.

[pumpkin]

Aug 8, 2014 10:51:17 GMT -5 munkii said:

My neighbor has a full set and accessories from before I was born. She says they're from the original line (whatever that means???). Anyway, they're very sturdy.

I've been considering fiestaware too so these answers are helpful.

And I believe the company stopped manufacturing fiestaware for a few years and that may be what people mean when they refer to the original line.

[magdala]

Aug 8, 2014 10:51:17 GMT -5 munkii said:

She says they're from the original line (whatever that means???). 

The original line is valuable as a collectible.  My grandmother is still using the same set that she bought as a newlywed in the 40s.  Collectors have offered her large sums for some of her pieces.  The family has bought her some of the newer pieces, but she says they are not as good. 

[whiteyswifey]

Thanks ladies!
Tough decisions to make!

[TBM]

We had white fiestaware (I know...white?, but we had other dishes that were colorful), and I hated them. They got marks from utensils, marks on the backside, and seemed like they just didn't clean as well as our stoneware. Every few weeks I would soak them in a sink filled with hot water, dish soap and vinegar, to get them clean. It was annoying, so we replaced them after a few years or so.

My sister had some older pieces, and they were much nicer than mine.

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