I was told not to put my sterling in the dishwasher if 1) the interior of the washer is stainless steel (mine is), or 2) if stainless steel flatware is in the dishwasher with the sterling--a chemical reaction can occur that may ruin the finish of your sterling. Additionally, the high heat in a dishwasher can damage sterling knives that have hollow handles with inset blades, which can loosen the resin that hold them together. I was also told to avoid dishwasher detergent with any lemon in it, as that can pit the sterling.

Using your silver daily, and washing it by hand, can keep silver from tarnishing--and it acquires a nice patina. We don't reserve our silver for special events, but use it often.

I use our sterling everyday. It gets washed in the dishwasher which has a stainless tub...

I do try to make sure its loaded so that the sterling does not come in contact with stainless items. But now I wonder why I am so careful, I often let sterling items soak in our stainless sink with no problems.

We never use the heated dry feature so the hollow handle knife issue is a no-issue.

Use and enjoy it!

I use both silver plate and sterling in my ss tub dishwasher and have for years. Like maddielee, I was told just to keep it from touching stainless, so I load it so the knife blades and other stainless pieces don't touch any of the silver. No problems ever with heat and the handles.

If you don't use the sterling anyway, why wouldn't you just risk it? (Although I don't believe it is a risk, because I've had no problems at all). I love my mom's silverplate and used it only for special occasions, then inherited an aunt's sterling. I realized that when I die, the pristine sets will probably go to the goodwill, so why not just use them? I figured if I ruined them, better me than some stranger who gets them when I die.

Thank you all so much. This is exactly the information I was looking for. This is my grandmothers sterling that I inherited. I am downsizing and offered it to the wives of all three sons and they have no desire for it. I'm going to do it. Olychick-I like your reasoning. It makes perfect sense to me. Thanks again. I am actually going to enjoy using it and I will be able to think of my darling grandmother when I do.

We always used sterling every day when I was a kid, and always put in the DW. Never a problem. I hope you use it and enjoy it. As a plus, the more you use it the less you have to polish it.

When I got sterling for my wedding, my Mom advised me to use it (and some Wedgwood I bought on vacation) every day.

And I have, for about 14 years now. The Wedgwood has held up very very well (white countryware, cabbage leaf pattern) and I am so glad I use it.

The sterling has been another story. I have paid not attention to any rules about washing it, it just goes in the d/w. Here are the pros and cons

Pro:
1. I like the warm color. Never-used silver is too silver to me.
2. I enjoy looking at it and the feel/weight of it.

Cons
1. This may be different if you don't have young kids, but several pieces are MIA (and one or two down the disposal). Spoons especially disappear, a pie fork or two. This is painful when, the last time i bought iced tea spoons, IIRC, one was $250. ouch
2. They can get some black spots here and there
3. They can get misshapen, bent back spoons from ice cream scooping, bent fork tines from who knows what.
4. If you do decide to use silver polish on them, it is very hard to get rid of the taste of it, IMHO

As a result, I have the odd situation of using my sterling everyday, and then buying a less expensive set for formal occasions! Bizarre.

I sent my sterling off to get melted down not so long ago. I have too much stuff and besides, I'm a jeweler's wife. The pattern wasn't desirable so it brought more in melt than by selling it. (I know. Shame on me.) I am not a fussy person but couldn't bring myself to put it in the dishwasher, so I designated it for reincarnation.

Now what to do with my various sets of china I never use? I have four sets. One chosen, three inherited. Does anyone really use that gold rimmed stuff? One of my patterns seems more valuable than the rest. It's 'Barclay' by Lenox. Chose it under diress. I've never used it. I wash it annually and it scares me.

I agree with the practice of using things regularly. If something is too precious to be used, then I really don't want it. Growing up, all we had was sterling silver flatware. It was a wedding gift to my parents and my family didn't have the money to buy a stainless steel set. I'm sure a few pieces went missing, but my parents still use that same sterling today. I love using mixing china patterns and I use the metal rimmed pieces and put them in the dishwasher. Why not? Who am I saving them for?

There were no sets of sterling coming to me either by inheritance or gift, but I discovered the European sized pieces at a time when I was practicing good portion control, and between the beautiful artistry and the feeling of heavy fork with light food, and the look of long flatware next to the plate, I had to have some.

So I bought some at auction. It's the nice big size I love, but it's nicked up and it has someone else's monogram on it. I

If it's true that the poor knives will get no worse by being placed in the dishwasher, I'm going to start using it more often!!

P.S. I also bought a dremel tool to grind out the engravings.. Maybe that'll get done when I retire. And learn to play bridge. And sew.

I have 3 sets of sterling plate that I never use as I don't want to polish it and was afraid to put it in the DW.....but given your comments, maybe I need to rethink that....

is plate less durable than the solid stuff??

I have a nice sterling set and while I could use it everyday, maybe, I'm a little like Golddust, I like having something wonderful to pull out for special occasions. That makes those special meals even more so.

Now that I have made the decision to use my sterling flatware I am thinking of going one step further and using the china too. I have one set that is silver banded and one that is gold banded. What will the dishwasher do to them? My casual dishes are Wm Sonoma and they are very heavy and my 12 place settings take up a lot of cabinet space. I never use the mugs or the cups and saucers so I think I could part with them easily.

My only sets of flatware are all sterling. It's sterling or wooden chopsitcks in my house.

I use my sterling every day, although I don't put it in the DW. (But then I don't use a DW, anyway.)

My current fave set has been in daily use in our home, or my inlaws, or their parents or their grandaunts since 1895, or nearly 120 years.

I think more-modern sterling is more vulnerable to DW damage, say that made from 1920-1970 or so. Many of those knives have hollow handles and are essentially glued together. The high heat of a DW may damage them. Sterling flatware made after the 1970's (when DW became ubiquitous) is more likely to be DW safe.

Eating from heavy silver is a wonderful sensory experience.

Even if your silver (the knives) can't be run through the DW, how hard would it be to just hand wash those?- Unless you're a member of the Duggar family, it's only a handful of items everyday.

Use your sterling, even if you wash the knives by hand!

HTH

L.

The DW will likely wear the banding...but I used my wedding china for everyday for years and it took a while for the banding to look worn, after being in the DW every day. Again, I didn't know what I thought I was saving it for, so I used it and just didn't care if the banding was compromised a bit. I rotated the plates and bowls regularly so the all wore evenly.

One thing to remember about the china with gold or silver banding is that thay are not microwave safe.

ML

Probably the newer the china, the safer it is to put it in the dishwasher. You may have a china or fragile setting on your dishwasher if you want to be a little more careful. Since I wash my pots and pans in the sink, I often use the china cycle on the dishwasher because it is a shorter, more energy-efficient cycle.

>is plate less durable than the solid stuff??

In my experience, yes. I put sterling in the DW but hand wash plated pieces.

Oh, incidentally, in my previous post I should have mentioned that I believe it's supposed to be better not to put sterling knives into the DW, although we always did, because of the possibility of the heat affecting the join between the sliver handle and stainless blade.

Yes, silver plate is less durable than sterling and yes, the gold band or silver band will be worn off by the dishwasher.