I have a quick question for you.
Yesterday after I had already shared the picture of my bowl of fruit on the blog, I noticed there was a chip on the side of my bowl. It’s been there for a while. Maybe 3 months?
I didn’t really think anything about it until the HH spotted it too and mentioned that I should toss the bowl in the trash.
What? Just because of a little chip? I don’t think so. The bowl is still totally usable. It’s not like it’s got a huge chunk out of it or anything.
Would I choose to serve a guest soup in that bowl? Probably not. I’d probably select another bowl.
But to toss it?
Nah.
But it did make me stop and wonder for a second how many people would toss a chipped bowl in the trash.
Are you one of them? Would it bother you to eat out/off of a chipped piece of dinnerware? I know it bothers my husband, but what about you?
That’s it. That’s all I’ve got for today.
~Mavis
Patty says
I’m with you on this one….I’d keep it!
Tracey says
Goal: Nothing to the landfill if it can be avoided! I use cracked pottery in the bottom of my planters. If you wanted to be bothered, you could tap a little porcelain paint on the raw bit and it would be good as new!
Christy Rose says
Me too, this pretty chipped bowl would be demoted from an eating vessel to a plant saucer to catch drips. Turn the chip to the wall and nobody would ever be the wiser.
JulieP says
Definitely keep it! I have some blue bowls and one got chipped which showed the white china under the glaze I used blue black ink covered it over it was such a small chip and I like having four bowls I’m fairly sure no one else has noticed 🙂
Like you I wouldn’t use it for a guest but still perfectly serviceable
Lana says
I’d keep it. But, no to coffee mugs with chips on the rim.
Linda Sand says
This. Cut lips are not fun.
Tracy says
The chip is on the outside of the bowl, so it won’t affect the food in it. I would keep it.
Richelle says
My thoughts exactly. If it was on the inside (where food could touch it) I’d toss it.
Sue S. says
Totally agree.
Rosaleen says
Agree with. the keep the bowl side. As noted, the chip is on the outside, so it should not affect the food. Also would look at coloring the chipped area with close color and a sealer. That said, if there was a crack, I would not use the bowl for food.
Tammy says
I would keep it if:
There is a good story on how it chipped
It has sentimental value
Is it part of a set, you cant replace
Otherwise
I would chuck it
Chris says
Depends on how sharp the chipped edge is. Also, depends on if it’s a favorite bowl.
Kari says
Keep it. I have donated most of the dishes we received when we got married 25 years ago, but I kept my favorite platter. We chipped it somehow getting it out of the dishwasher. I almost tossed it, but I decided I still loved it and it is still useful. We use it often, even with company!
Marlene Wurtzbacher says
I would have turned the bowl around for the photo. Keep the bowl!
Karen Beth Martin says
I probably would not keep it unless it’s an heirloom. It’s bad feng shui to keep broken bowls and dishes and I generally try to adhere to that. More than likely, I would try to repair the bowl and then repurpose it, maybe as a planter or do something with it in my garden.
Jean C says
I agree! I often use chipped or cracked plates or bowls as plant saucers.
Aunt Diane from Streator says
Out with it! If I wouldn’t use it for a guest, I won’t personally use it.
Dawn says
I’d probably keep it. Especially if it was part of a set.
Brianna says
I always toss anything that is chipped. We have eaten on Lenox China everyday for years since my kids were little and it is fragile, but also dishwasher safe. When I notice a chip, I toss it for safety reasons. A chip can make it more difficult to clean and harbor bacteria, it can cause an injury, it can splinter off more shards as you eat, and the protective glaze is compromised. I have a bunch of extra Lenox China in my pattern from estate sales that I store, so I have more than enough to toss it. My family has broken and chipped plenty. I do let my kids do a little “smash therapy” when something has to be tossed.
Gayle says
I always thought the way you do. Habits bacteria…
Ca says
Unless it has sentimental value I’d toss it. Most likely the chip will get bigger over time. Also, looks like a good edge to get cut on while washing. I do like the idea of using it in the bottom of pots, though.
Carol says
I worked for a dinnerware company. They would recommend not using it due to the possibility of bacteria getting into the cracked part when washing etc.
KC says
I was taught that chips were less hazardous re: bacteria, etc. than hairline cracks, somewhat parallel to puncture wounds being more dangerous than scrapes.
But basically, if the finish is compromised on an area food/beverage will meet with, then out it goes (from food service, and into item storage or display).
As with botulism from unsafe canning practices or giardia from drinking water straight from a river or not making your kids wear seatbelts, you can miss getting the Active Ticket a lot of times, but the costs of getting “lucky” are too high for me relative to the costs, in this case, of an inexpensive used or new replacement for something that has a chip or crack on a surface that will be in contact with food.
*But* that is also my “I had a serious bout of food poisoning over 15 years ago and my body hasn’t fully recovered yet” perspective. I’d had food poisoning in multiple countries dozens of times prior to that and always just had a few days of unpleasantness and then back to more or less normal, but that particular bug got out of control and caused intestinal bleeding and set off some garbage that just *hasn’t* gone away, and it has cost me a whole lot! So that has shifted how I look at probabilities and their consequences (well, also the whole “aging into realizing you’re not invincible *AND* that bad outcomes may be a beginning of a more-restricted life instead of just an end” – teens who think “eh, if I die in a motorcycle accident, sure, that’s not a bad way to go” are 1. underestimating death, but also 2. not yet aware of the panoply of non-life-ending bad-outcome options).
Marianne says
Having worked in food service my whole life I am trained by the ServSafe requirements. That offers a way for bacteria to get in – but in a household setting I believe you have nothing to worry about. In a restaurant or commercial food operation it is required by food safety laws to be thrown out.
Sue says
I have a large Bordallo Pinheiro (cabbage leaf) bowl that I use for fruit. Sadly, it got a little chip on the rim. I still use it because it’s so pretty. Bacteria would not pose a problem.
I should try to fix it with a bit of putty and porcelain paint, as Tracy mentions.
maureen detmer says
every dish i own has a crack or chip, i’m of the old yankee mentality of thritiness and making do with what i have.
Carla says
Like you, I would keep it as it is still useful. I also would probably not give it to guests, but make sure that one is at my plate. I do that with one glass we have. It has a dark spot etched in the glass on the bottom, so it looks like it’s dirty. I just make sure that one is used by me.
I grew up with parents that felt the after-effects of the depression and we did not have much disposable income, so if something could still be used, it was saved and used. I’m surprised at how many people are willing to toss, just because it isn’t perfect anymore or doesn’t match. I would consider this bowl still useful.
Tamara says
Agreed! And the atmosphere in our home doesn’t require perfect furnishings.
Christie says
I agree. I’m surprised how many people would not use it or toss it.
Kim says
Depends on if I should be decluttering in my kitchen. If so, it’s an easy sacrifice.
andrea d says
Keep! I only toss if a crack or chip is bad enough that the item can no longer function- leaking, shattered, etc. And I would probably still serve a guest in it, and would have no qualms eating from a friend’s chipped dish. I’ve even occasionally purchased some antique bowls with cracks and chips in them from the 2nd hand shop (mixing bowl/serving bowls, not smaller ones).
Vicki L Spurling says
You also have to worry about heavy metals depending on the glaze…
Judi Y. says
I would totally keep it.
Rebecca Briscoe says
My favorite coffee mug has a chip in it. I use it everyday.
tc says
Don’t toss it and add to the already overflowing landfills, I have eaten of chipped plates, bowls, drank out of chipped cups all my life and I am still alive, no cut lips. We as a society, worry too much and waste too much. Like many say I would not serve a guest out of it except my very closest friends who like me don’t care.
Linda B says
Cracks and chips can harbor bacteria so I wouldn’t use for serving meals. I WOULD use it for art projects, mixing paint, plaster, etc..
Joyce says
I tend to have vintage pieces, and chips can leak lead. If the chip is on the outside as yours is, I don’t worry, but I use my chipped bowls and mugs for plants. They look cute and original!
Deborah says
I vote to keep it! The bowl is still usable and I like it! Chip and all. I have chipped bowls I still use. Some of my favorites. Oh, and tell your husband I didn’t notice the chip yesterday, only the beautiful fruit! My favorite food!
Katherine says
I would stop eating from the chipped bowl, but I would use it for other purposes. A saucer for a potted plant, a candy dish, a place to put small easily lost items, etc.
Marilyn Y Yamada says
I would toss it because of where it’s located. Anymore banging around the rim might cause a small chip to fall into the bowl and end up in your gut. I’m already paranoid about egg shells in my food, which is why I always crack it somewhere else away from the bowl I’m using. Passing an egg shell can be painful.
Mary says
I wouldn’t toss it. Put it under a plant. Not only will it cut your lip, but bacteria could
form in the crack.
Lori says
I wouldn’t toss it, but I wouldn’t eat out of it either. We have become a throw away society. I would try to repurpose it. It could me made into a succulent bowl, add some stones and little bit of water and you could grow paper whites, smash it up a little more and make a pottery type mosaic stepping stone. There is so many things you could do with it, just keep it out of the landfill.
Zadu says
The bowl now has character. Why would you toss it?
Besides, if I tossed a bowl every time it got a chip, I’d be buying nothing bowls (and plates and cups, etc.).
Apologies but HH should be made to replace any bowls he tosses out of his allowance.
Mandi says
I keep chipped dinnerware but use them for something else unrelated to eating. Most of my chipped plates and bowls become planters or saucers for said planters.
Heidiho says
Ugh!… I hate when there’s a chip in my favorite cups or bowls etc. But no I don’t have the heart to just toss!!
I wish we could fix them!!
Ashley says
If the crack showed more progression I would let it go, especially with kids in the house.