Cleaned out mom's home...what to do with all the crystal and china??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it kind of funny that the youngsters are so in favor of reduced consumption but not if it means using old lady China and Crystal. Use it for every day! Who cares if the gold trim will come off in the dishwasher (it’s actually more sturdy that you’d think)? Even if some of it breaks, it’s better than tossing it all. I only have Crystal wine glasses. I got them as a present and I see no point in buying new wine glasses so the Crystal ones can sit in a cupboard. Just use stuff.
If it’s small size jasperware, tween girls love that stuff to put makeup and jewelry on.

They also care about their HEALTH. Did you miss the parts of this thread about the health risks?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone found a place to test old dishes or crystal for lead and/or cadmium?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it kind of funny that the youngsters are so in favor of reduced consumption but not if it means using old lady China and Crystal. Use it for every day! Who cares if the gold trim will come off in the dishwasher (it’s actually more sturdy that you’d think)? Even if some of it breaks, it’s better than tossing it all. I only have Crystal wine glasses. I got them as a present and I see no point in buying new wine glasses so the Crystal ones can sit in a cupboard. Just use stuff.
If it’s small size jasperware, tween girls love that stuff to put makeup and jewelry on.

They also care about their HEALTH. Did you miss the parts of this thread about the health risks?

Do you not eat out at restaurants? Other people's homes? B&Bs? Perhaps we should all eat off paper plates and cardboard containers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dealing with this now. I’m 55 and married for over 25 years. DH and I think were the last generation to actually register for china.

We just did a kitchen renovation that involved emptying and donating our china cabinet (a 1965 huge piece of furniture from my grandmother). DH and I decided that we are ready for a change and displaying china looked old-fashioned and was literally collecting dust.

We hauled the cabinet to a local thrift store where it was tagged for $100 and sold within two days.

I Amazoned zippered china storage protectors and stored our wedding china atop a new kitchen cabinet.

I did use out china at Thanksgiving and Christmas and…unceremoniously ran all thru my dishwasher! Perfectly fine!

My MIL has inherited 2 complete sets of china and wants to give to us. We don’t want these. Neither does our 22DD.

Here’s what I’d do, OP: pack up all and deceiver to a smaller thrift charity shop. Get a tax receipt and claim value of ? $300
and be done with it all.

Replacements route isn’t worth the shipping cost and legwork.
Neither is consigning. Same deal: it either won’t sell or after a great deal of effort on your part you’re going to get a measly check and whatever doesn’t seek will be either have to be returned to you or you’ll agree to have it donated by the consignment shop.

This is really undervaluing the set (probably). With an hour's worth of work printing out prices online, you can increase that tenfold.

PP quoted and I’m certainly not a tax expert. The thrift store will likely NOT sell a huge china collection quickly unless and until it’s marked way down pr eventually sold individually for a few dollars a piece. My random $300 would be a generous, honest estimate of valuation but no thrift store will actually sell an entire collection and/or list and/sell it for $300. Of course, there are rare exceptions.

I’m a thrift store hobbyist and have been for decades. In fact, I’ll be making my second run of a carload of donations in as many days. This thread has inspired me to donate unused/forgotten items that have become clutter. Yes, things I’ve purchased at thrift stores for sentimental reasons (childhood toy, old books) and souvenir items from my grandparents of places I’ve never visited)

You don't have to use the price a thrift store would use. You're entitled to use the FMV of a retail establishment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone found a place to test old dishes or crystal for lead and/or cadmium?

You can buy a test kit for yourself, I think they sell the at Home Depot.

If it's not a dish or glass we use on a daily basis, I don't worry about it so much, at least for adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone found a place to test old dishes or crystal for lead and/or cadmium?

You could try googling the name of your dishes and see if someone has already tested it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it kind of funny that the youngsters are so in favor of reduced consumption but not if it means using old lady China and Crystal. Use it for every day! Who cares if the gold trim will come off in the dishwasher (it’s actually more sturdy that you’d think)? Even if some of it breaks, it’s better than tossing it all. I only have Crystal wine glasses. I got them as a present and I see no point in buying new wine glasses so the Crystal ones can sit in a cupboard. Just use stuff.
If it’s small size jasperware, tween girls love that stuff to put makeup and jewelry on.

They also care about their HEALTH. Did you miss the parts of this thread about the health risks?

Um, gold is inert -- that means it's non-reactive. That's why dentists use it to make tooth crowns. That's also why it never tarnishes, like most other metals.

[Anonymous]

like most other metals do.

[Anonymous]

PP and yo all freaking out about lead poisoning and what have you, think outside the (storage) box; pieces can be used as wall display, for holding jewelry, vases, and or even smashed and broken and made into mosaic art.

I just can’t with the lead poisoning screamers.

My sister is now trying to offload a set of mismatched blue (kind of like Spode) she got from Facebook marketplace! Hundreds of pieces! No large plates though - teacups, saucers, bread and lunch size plates only. She used some pieces for thanksgiving entertaining.She got these for something like $250. Well. She gave a box of plates to her MIL (who wanted these) and is now giving away and selling the rest.

Turns out these were originally FB-marketplace sourced for a wedding during Covid when it was easier to buy up old china than to go through a rental service.

Huge mess and TL; DR = no one wants the china!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it kind of funny that the youngsters are so in favor of reduced consumption but not if it means using old lady China and Crystal. Use it for every day! Who cares if the gold trim will come off in the dishwasher (it’s actually more sturdy that you’d think)? Even if some of it breaks, it’s better than tossing it all. I only have Crystal wine glasses. I got them as a present and I see no point in buying new wine glasses so the Crystal ones can sit in a cupboard. Just use stuff.
If it’s small size jasperware, tween girls love that stuff to put makeup and jewelry on.

They also care about their HEALTH. Did you miss the parts of this thread about the health risks?

Um, gold is inert -- that means it's non-reactive. That's why dentists use it to make tooth crowns. That's also why it never tarnishes, like most other metals.

Dentists stopped using mercury and I don't recall them using lead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP and yo all freaking out about lead poisoning and what have you, think outside the (storage) box; pieces can be used as wall display, for holding jewelry, vases, and or even smashed and broken and made into mosaic art.

I just can’t with the lead poisoning screamers.

My sister is now trying to offload a set of mismatched blue (kind of like Spode) she got from Facebook marketplace! Hundreds of pieces! No large plates though - teacups, saucers, bread and lunch size plates only. She used some pieces for thanksgiving entertaining.She got these for something like $250. Well. She gave a box of plates to her MIL (who wanted these) and is now giving away and selling the rest.

Turns out these were originally FB-marketplace sourced for a wedding during Covid when it was easier to buy up old china than to go through a rental service.

Huge mess and TL; DR = no one wants the china!

There's only so much wall space and DIY craft projects you can do, especially if you've inherited multiple dinner sets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP and yo all freaking out about lead poisoning and what have you, think outside the (storage) box; pieces can be used as wall display, for holding jewelry, vases, and or even smashed and broken and made into mosaic art.

I just can’t with the lead poisoning screamers.

My sister is now trying to offload a set of mismatched blue (kind of like Spode) she got from Facebook marketplace! Hundreds of pieces! No large plates though - teacups, saucers, bread and lunch size plates only. She used some pieces for thanksgiving entertaining.She got these for something like $250. Well. She gave a box of plates to her MIL (who wanted these) and is now giving away and selling the rest.

Turns out these were originally FB-marketplace sourced for a wedding during Covid when it was easier to buy up old china than to go through a rental service.

Huge mess and TL; DR = no one wants the china!

Let me guess. You also think people freak out too much about landfills, polutions, GMOs. It's a real concern and a lot of people don't want to hang jewelry on it or put it on the wall. You can decorate your walls with China and eat off it to your delight, but a lot of people care about safety. It's not just in the decor I think lead is sometimes in the glaze and in the dishwasher as mentioned it can leach off and get onto other stuff. No thanks.