Rust spots on Cutlery, Rusty Flatware, Tarnish on Silverware

OK, I’ve finally had to sit down and write this post because of the number of complaints about some amazing products that don’t make sense to me. Many consumers are complaining about rust spots on cutlery, rusty flatware and tarnish on silverware. Cheap carbon steel and running it through the dishwasher I can see that happening, and I can’t help you there. But for most “stainless” (a topic for another day) you shouldn’t have a problem.

So here are some tips:

Don’t leave cutlery in stacked the sink every so slightly wet. Like spoon in the bowl with water in it that is “soaking”!

Don’t leave dirty wet utensils stacked against each other in the dishwasher.

Don’t let the spoons “spoon” each other, spread them out to the let them air out and dry.

Don’t leave washed and wet utensils in the dishwasher. Open the dishwasher door, let them dry out and put them away.

Use a good rinse agent in your dishwasher and see the previous step.

Maybe check your water quality, it might be too hard?

Try a more friendly dishwasher detergent. Don’t use bleach, oxy or citrus based if you can.

If you paid good money and love the cutlery, then hand wash it lazy pants.

TL;DR – Rust comes from moisture, salt and contact with other metals. Separate and keep dry.

Flying cutlery from Air France

I spent a lot of my childhood on trains and the conductor would always give us cool cardboard trains to assemble. I never flew on an airline until I was an adult and was disappointed I didn’t get a set of pilot wings (which I hear they don’t give to children anymore). But now Air France has had the idea to make cutlery that can be assembled into toy planes. I can see a whole mess of problems with this. Child won’t eat because they want to play with cutlery plane. Child eats and then has food soiled toy plane. And the best one is that it’s all fun and games till someone loses an eye because of a flying fork.

Read the full article at The Verge

Good Grips Weighted Utensils for extra help

I had blogged about this item in the past but the link went stale so it was lost. This type of cutlery item seems to get the most attention when I write about it. There are many people that are or have family members affected by strokes, Parkinson’s or even Alzheimer’s as well as other conditions that affect motor function. The Good Grips product has at least 6 ounces of weight in the large easy to grasp handle that provides stability required. The ambidextrous fork and spoon can be bent left or right depending on the user, this makes direction to the mouth easier. The bowl size and depth of the spoons reduces spilling and the knife is used in a rocking fashion making it require less strength. I’ve handled some of the fancy “auto stabilizing” utensils and the result is expensive and ineffective. These are priced right and dishwasher safe of course.

Good Grips Weighted Utensils Set of 4

Steel Spoon Straws

The steel spoon straws from Danesco have a plethora of uses. I’ve seen them used by bartenders for mixing and serving drinks. I’ve seen them used with that cool South American Mate drink. I’ve seen them used in Ice Cream parlors to get the last little bit of delicious out of the bottom of the metal milk shake cup. And best of all, it’s a straw that you didn’t know you had when you don’t have any. Cause really, who keeps straws in the house?

Danesco Stainless Steel Spoon Straws Set of 4