Care and Cleaning of Melmac or Melamine Dinnerware

Over time knife marks have cut down into the melamine of the dishes. Often these knife marks are discolored with dirt, grime, and black gunk. This is not sanitary and can be unsightly. There are two options for this.

IF YOU ARE USING THE DISHES:

You can only clean the knife marks to remove the dirt, grime, and bacteria from the deep grooves. Do this first by using a soft to medium toothbrush, and warm soapy water. Scrub the knife marks with Dawn. If the marks are mainly grease, they will come out. If they are more stubborn and have built up over the years, you will want to try a small paste of baking soda and shoving it into the groove--scrub with the toothbrush to make sure you have gotten it down into the knife marks.. Wait 5 to 7 minutes, then scrub under very warm to semi hot water. If they marks still won't disappear, you will then have to use a gel based bleach, making sure to only squirt it in the knife mark areas. It is recommended to find Comet Gel, though it is hard to find. I first prepare the plate under hot water, then squirt the gel only into the knife marks. Scrub gently with the toothbrush, and wait 5 to 7 minutes. The dirty part of the knife marks will be gone. Surprisingly, on white dishes they will come up nicely. On maroon dishes, like the above, they will simply be white now and not black.

IF YOU ONLY DISPLAYING THE DISHES:

Repeat the above steps to clean the knife marks so they are free of dirt and grime build up. Then use a polish like Novus #2 Fine Scratch Remover which is about $5 to $8 per bottle, to fill in the marks. I use a chamois like the kind you buy for drying a car, and keep it on hand for such things. Swiffer pads will work.

If you want more shine, spray a Swiffer cloth with Orange Glo Spray Wood Cleaner and Conditioner and clean up the dish. It will smell orangey and shine like crazy. (I am not talking about the white milky liquid, but the orange cleaner that is orange, Here is what the chemical looks like. Pledge has a similar version. Lemon Furniture Oil will also work. I want to reiterate this is not safe to eat off of at this point, since you have applied chemicals.

There are two ways to combat sticker residue.

HOT WATER METHOD

Running scalding hot water on just the sticker area will loosen it enough for you to rub gently with a fingernail or a scrubbie. If using a scrubbie use only the green side of a 3M or Scotch Brite Sponge- do not use metal Brillo pads! The idea is to loosen the sticker residue so you can scrub or rub it into a ball and remove it. This works best for old stickers.

For more extreme cases, go to Problem #3.

TAPE METHOD

In the scenario that you have a very sticky-sticker residue, often times using a piece of Scotch tape, and sticking it to the sticky residue and removing it, and repeating, will remove the remaining parts of the sticker. I have even used clear packing tape and it works fine.

I really never knew how to get this off before now, but Robin aka Mr. Melmac told me the secret to getting horrid extreme sticky stuff off such as bits of duct tape!

Here is what he said, "PEANUT BUTTER OR MAYONNAISE METHOD works well. I use a small portion of creamy peanut butter or real mayonnaise (about what will fit on the tip of your index finger) and rub it into the sticker residue. The oils in these food products will soften and loosen up the residue. A soft toothbrush rubbed over the residue usually then removes it. For tougher residue you may have to repeat the process several times. The piece should then be washed in hot water and Dawn to remove the peanut butter or mayonnaise. Cooking oil applied with a paper towel can also work. If you don't clean it immediately then you will have a grease stain to deal with!"

For extreme problems, "Use Goo-Gone. It's a clear liquid that comes in a bottle with a dropper top. One or two drops is all it takes to remove the most stubborn sticker residue. However, the peanut butter or mayonnaise method is cheaper and more natural."

Believe it or not, caked on grease is found often when buying melmac and in most cases deters people from buying it. Grease is nothing more than caked up baking oils, and can easily be removed with some elbow grease, hot water, and soaking in Dawn dish detergent. Grease can discolor the entire dish, and is especially noticeable on the edges of the dinnerware. Often times the base will show the grease around the foot of the plate as well. After you soak in hot water for 20 minutes, scrub with the green side of a 3M or Scotch Brite Pad, gently, not hard, and never use metal or Brillo. The idea is to penetrate the grease, and once penetrated it should clean up well. I often defer to my toothbrush when dealing with the small ledges around the underside, or even the backstamp, which often gets grease in it. I would estimate thoroughly cleaning a set like the one above could take 15 minutes or more. The results however are worth it.

There are two types of stains in cups.

BROWN
Brown stains are years of coffee or tea build up. These cups can be cleaned up to 90% by several methods. The quickest and easiest is using Dip-it Cleaner, the same kind shown here, which ironically has been around since the 50's and works well on removing coffee stains. A small box normally can be found for under $4. Or, you may wish to use hot water, fill and scrub with a mixture of Dawn dish soap and baking soda and your toothbrush.

WHITE
White stains aren't coming out. This unfortunately represents years of housewives who have used bleach or harsh chemicals in their cups trying to remove the coffee stains. The white stain is actually bleach.