How To Remove Scratches From Your Ceramic Dinner Plates

Ceramic dishware is among the unsung heroes of the kitchen, especially in regards to sustainability and budget. Simultaneously durable and beautiful, there are also thousands of styles to choose from, making it easy to choose a set sturdy enough for daily use, yet elegant enough to proudly display homemade beef Wellington at a dinner party. Though most of these sets are also distressingly prone to scratches, there's a simple way to get your dishes looking like new again without breaking the bank.

Generally speaking, a soft abrasive such as Bar Keeper's Friend or Bon Ami is enough to buff away those little black scratches that every plate and bowl seems to develop over time. That's because those marks aren't actually scratches – they're scuffs. Scuffs are most frequently caused by silverware scraping against the surface of the dishes. This means there's no actual chips or abrasions on your dishware; they're just very badly stained. Since the "damage" is merely cosmetic, it means these scuff marks are pretty easy to remove once you know how it's done. Though regular washing doesn't do the trick, soft abrasives are designed to remove stains, tarnish, and even scuffs from tricky surfaces, making them the best way to give your ceramic plates new life – soft scrubs are also an amazing cleaning hack for your glass stovetop. If you don't happen to have these products on hand, don't worry; there are also some pantry staples that get the job done.

If you're getting your dishes ready to showcase an amazing Costco food platter for your next celebration and are fresh out of brand name products, don't worry — baking soda and cream of tartar both work just as well. Both dissolve slightly when mixed with water, giving them the perfect amount of gentled grit to scour away those pesky scuff marks and even leave your dishes a little shinier than they were before. 

Regardless of the cleaning agent you decide to use, the method is the same. Moisten each dish with a sponge or pass them briefly under the faucet, then sprinkle on a little of your chosen cleaning agent. Add a little more water and let it sit until you see a paste start to form (minutes, at most). After that, use a lint-free microfiber cloth to polish the dish until the scuffs are completely gone. The microfiber cloth is important, here, as it's soft, absorbent, and doesn't leave additional scuffs behind. Once your dishes are completely scuff-free, give them a quick hand wash or stick them in the dishwasher to remove any remaining cleaning residue, especially if you used a commercial abrasive since they can be toxic if consumed. To prevent scuffs in the future, try to avoid roughly scraping your cutlery along your ceramic dishes, and for storage, stack the dishes with soft cloths in between.