Durability. Did you know that quality porcelain and bone china are actually the strongest ceramic dinnerware materials? It's true. They are fired at the highest temperatures and are made of the strongest ingredients. So you can use your finest china as often as you wish with as much confidence, or more, as your "everyday" set of dishes.

Dishwasher safe. Noritake recently conducted extensive tests on several of its porcelain and bone china patterns and found that they are every bit as dishwasher safe as our everyday dinnerware. So feel free to use your "good china" whenever you want to make an occasion special, or any time at all.

But keep this in mind about all of your dinnerware, glassware and tableware: treat them with the respect that high quality, beautifully crafted products of any kind deserve. Although very strong, porcelain and bone china are still breakable if abused.

• Don't overload your dishwasher with anything. Not only will you risk chipping or breakage, but your dinnerware won't get clean either because the water and detergent won't reach everything!
• Never use too much detergent.
• After the drying cycle, let your tableware cool down to room temperature before handling. The heat temporarily softens metal such as gold or platinum.
• Never put anything with metal (gold or platinum in the pattern or on the rim) in the microwave oven.

Most Noritake casual dinnerware is oven and microwave-safe; detergent, refrigerator and freezer-safe. However, certain precautions should be taken.

• Avoid any sudden temperature change, such as putting a hot item into cool wash water.
• Never expose your casual dinnerware to direct flame, such as the top burners of a gas stove.
• Always be sure that food or liquid is in every piece before it is exposed to heat.

Detergent safe means Noritake technology has protected the delicate decorations from the effects of harsh detergent chemicals.

And follow the same basic logic for loading and washing casual dinnerware in a dishwasher as for formal china.

Tip: Soak the pieces in hot soapy water for about one hour. This should loosen the adhesive and make it easier to remove.