Most chips on domestic dinnerware happen in the cupboard rather than in the sink, and the causes are straightforward.
The Unglazed Foot
Almost all ceramics have an unglazed ring on the base, because the piece has to stand on something during firing without fusing to it.
That ring is bare fired clay, and it is abrasive. Stacked directly onto the face of the plate below, it grinds a circular mark into the glaze over years.
Stacking glazed face to glazed face, or putting something between, prevents it entirely.
What Damages Stored Ceramics
- Stacks too tall, where the weight below is substantial
- Sliding plates out from under others rather than lifting
- Mugs hung on hooks by the handle, which stresses the join
- Mugs nested inside one another, which chips rims
- Anything stored where a cupboard door can catch it
Ranges designed so full sets stack in a single column, of the kind described at https://famiware.net/, are addressing cupboard space; the separation between pieces is still worth adding.
Separators Cost Nothing
Felt pads, paper plates, kitchen paper or cut-down cloth between plates.
It sounds excessive and it is what keeps a set looking new after five years. It matters most for matte and reactive glazes, which mark more readily.
Shorter Stacks
Two stacks of six rather than one of twelve.
The weight at the bottom of a tall stack is what presses foot rings into faces, and a tall stack is also harder to lift from safely.
Heavy Things Low
Stoneware is heavy, and a full stack of dinner plates lifted down from above shoulder height is how sets get dropped and backs get hurt.
Everyday crockery between hip and shoulder height. Serving pieces used occasionally can go higher, but not the heavy ones.
Mug Storage
Standing upright rather than nested. Hooks look good and hang the whole weight from the handle join, which is the weakest part.
A shelf or a rack is kinder.
Long-Term Storage
Wrapped individually, upright rather than flat, in a box that will not be stacked on.
Keep a Spare Boxed
Glazes vary between production runs.
Lift, Do Not Slide
The single most useful habit.
Check the Cupboard Depth
A stack that overhangs a shelf edge is a stack that eventually gets caught by a door.