I collect Spode in the greek pattern, which was made for many years. Spode reissued the pattern in the early 90s.The newer greek is well marked and dishwasher safe, I use that all the time. The older pieces depends on how rare they are. I have a greek soup turen that never comes out of china cabinet.

Mine's not all that rare, but it is old....late 1800s to early 1900s. It's the Princess pattern. I can get pieces pretty easily on Ebay. I think I will go ahead and use it. There are plenty of extra hands around on the big holiday meals (including my daughter and daughter-in-law who will inherit it someday) so I can get help cleaning it up. It would be kind of sad to have this gorgeous china just sitting there and never use it.

Mine is from the 1930's onward & mainly bought on ebay so not that valuable & fairly easy to replace. I use it for special occasions & it's not that big of a deal to hand wash along with my sterling flatware.

Now if I had that Spode Greek tureen.........probably not.

Yes.....I have stacks of white Ranson plates, both Haviland and Hirtschenruther (sp?)....and I put it in the dishwasher!!!!!
I also have a set of Bavarian with a heavy gold rim, and sometimes that goes into the dishwasher too....It wasn't family stuff....and if it gets worn? So be it.
But actually it's really not a lot of work to hand wash the china from a big dinner......if you put everything else into the dishwasher. Think about it....you would hand wash any serving bowls....take up too much room in the dishwasher. and to do a stack of plates and cups and saucers is really not a lot.
Use it.....that's what it's for!!
Linda C

Yep it's not too bad to clean up, and if it breaks, well, that's why you have 16. Set up an eBay alert and pick up extra pieces of the most-used pieces so there's really no stress. If someone breaks one and feels awful just say, oh, no worries--that one was from eBay!".

Just have a plastic dishrack and dishpan ready to make it as worry-free as possible.

I have my grandmother's china and it comes out on all the special occasions. I don't own a dishwasher anyway as I don't mind hand washing and would rather use the room a dishwasher would take up for something else. Even washing eveything it only took about half an hour at Christmas to wash the china, serving dishes, tableware and cooking pans for twelve people. My SILs helped and it was all over in a flash and a nice chance to chat as well.

My really good service is only for twelve. It took forty years to find one replacement cup. So I bought two when I found them and two extra saucers. I shall always buy any I find to hedge against future breakage. Yes, I do use them and only for adults, and only on very special occasions. I will not 'put things away' for later. The only dinnerware I do not use are some depressionware glass. Yes, it's still common, but the delicate nature of it begs 'break me'.

All great responses. I will not put these away for later.....I am going to use them. Some of them are not original to the set anyway, so if I break one I'll just pretend it was an ebay one. I think I'll add to the set as I find them so I can pass along a full set to my daughter and my daughter-in-law. It's nice that I can find so much of it on Ebay!

I use mine all the time. They are to use IMO. If something gets broken, then it can be replaced.

And the pleasure I feel when I see the table set with some of my beautiful dishes and the washing and drying those same dishes prior to putting them away.

I have 2 colors of the depression ware,cherry blossom [pattern,in pink & green and another pattern yellow,makes for a beautiful easter table setting.

Use it, enjoy it, don't save it for only company. I have been putting Lenox China with a platinum band in the DW for 30+ yrs when I use it. There is no sign of wear yet.

My husband bought me an old set of Haviland Limoges with 12 place settings from a PBS TV auction in Chicago in the late 1970s. I wanted it, sight unseen, because it would remind me of my grandmother's old sets of Haviland Limoges. I use it for our holiday and special occasion dinners, but I don't use it for little children. I keep it stored in quilted, zippered china storage containers, so the dishes stay clean between uses.

I just wanted to add that my father and step-mother use their china quite regularly (it's the set that belonged to my grandmother.. something Royal Doulton I believe). It was a wide band of gold around the edge and after countless tours through the dishwasher, it's still perfectly intact.

I think the industry has come a long way with detergents now. I remember when I was kid and everything came out of the dishwasher etched, cloudy and ruined... You just don't see that happening anymore.

Having said that... I don't use my china regularly (only for something special)... and only recently got a dishwasher and I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to put my china in it.

I agree with the 'use it' crowd. For the most part, mine is not that rare and it gets used. Replacement pieces are out there and every year, something else becomes an antique. Antiques of today are for us to use and enjoy. I have countless orphan pieces of Haviland that I use on a regular basis and they do occasionally break. Most of those, though, are Goodwill finds that already have a chip or crack, but I use them anyway. I hope when I am old, chipped and cracked that there will still be a use for me, as well......

cre8tivman-----I also agree with the "use it" crowd---and I love what you said about still being useful even when you are old, chipped and cracked----because I'm already "there"-----LOL
Florence

We have a complete service for 16 in Heisey Rose including service pieces, which my wife inherited from her mother. We do use this service on occasion and in my wildest immagnation, we would not put this or any other fine crystal in a dishwasher.