Kiln questions, answered in batch order.

Write to the batch desk with the SKU, quantity, glaze colour and destination country. We answer within one working day, confirm whether the pieces are on the shelf or waiting on the next firing, and quote freight in USD. If you accept the quote we issue a formal invoice from the seller named on every page, and payment is by bank transfer. Nothing is charged before that invoice exists, and stock leaves Hong Kong about 3 working days after funds clear.

Yes, for 10 working days from the date of our quotation, and longer if a deposit is paid on a bespoke run. Tell us the batch stamp on your existing pieces, which is printed on the carton label and stamped on the underside. If that batch has finished we photograph the next firing and send the images before you commit, so you can see the colour break and speckle density of the run you would receive.

No minimum for retail. You can buy a single side plate. Wholesale pricing starts at 24 pieces mixed across the range, and we ask that mix to come from one or two firings so the colour stays coherent on your shelf. Pallet freight is quoted per destination and single parcels by weight and postcode. We do not add a small-order surcharge, and we do not split a set across two kiln batches unless you ask us to.

Send the invoice number and, if you have it, the batch stamp from the carton label. We keep a batch record for every firing, so we can say whether that glaze lot is still in stock, finished, or scheduled again. If it has finished we describe the difference in plain terms, for example that the celadon breaks a little greyer after the kiln was re-bricked, and we send photographs of the current run before you decide.

Because a reactive glaze is a moving surface, not a printed film. In a cone 6 firing at about 1220 °C, glaze thickness, position on the shelf and cooling rate all change how the colour breaks. A plate near the kiln door cools faster and stays lighter, while one in the middle pools deeper. The speckle is iron in the clay body blooming through the glaze, so it lands differently on every piece. That is the batch behaving normally.

Crazing is a network of fine lines in the glaze layer alone. It can appear from the day the piece leaves the kiln, is normal on some glazes, and does not by itself expose the clay to food. Cracking is a break in the body itself, a single line through the wall or the foot. A piece that crazes through to the body, so the clay is visible and takes in liquid, is a fault and we replace it under the 12-month cover.

Pinholes are tiny craters where a bubble of gas escaped the glaze as it matured. On a reactive glaze they are expected, and ours are normally under about a millimetre across. If a pinhole is deeper, shows raw clay, or sits in the food-contact well where it could trap liquid, that is not acceptable to us. Send a photograph and we replace the piece. A fine scatter on a rim or an underside is the glaze doing its job.

It is the clay. Our stoneware body carries iron-bearing mineral, and at cone 6 that iron blooms through the glaze as dark flecks. Nothing is sprayed, stencilled or printed, so no two pieces carry the same speckle pattern. You can feel the difference: a printed decal sits on the surface, while our speckle sits under it and follows the glaze break. Because it comes from the body, the speckle does not wash off or fade.

Yes. High-fired stoneware at cone 6 is dense enough to take a normal domestic cycle, including the drying phase. Use a mild detergent and a lower temperature program where your machine offers one, because aggressive powder can dull a satin glaze over years. Unglazed feet and rims darken slowly with use, which is the body rather than damage. A spoon rest or a butter dish lid is fine too; just keep the lid away from the hot element.

Yes, every piece is microwave safe. Stoneware with no metallic decoration and no gold or platinum lustre will not arc. Our glazes contain no metal leaf and no conductive trim, so a bowl of oats or a mug of milk reheats normally. One caution: a piece straight out of the freezer can crack in a microwave through thermal shock, so let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes before it goes in.

Yes, to 220 °C, and that is what a platter is for. The rule is temperature change rather than temperature itself: a piece that has come out of a hot oven should not go onto a cold stone counter or into cold water. Put a dry cloth or a board under it. Never use our ware under a grill, on a hob, over a direct flame, or in a microwave with a grill element.

Thermal shock is a sudden temperature difference that makes the body expand faster than the glaze can follow, which can crack a piece. Avoid freezer to hot oven, a hot dish into cold water, and a hot baker onto a wet stone counter. Let frozen ware thaw at room temperature, warm a cold dish with a short low oven cycle, and never pour boiling water into a mug that has just come out of a fridge.

Probably not. Surface crazing that stays within the glaze layer is common on stoneware and does not affect food safety while the clay underneath is still sealed. What matters is whether the lines reach the body: if the surface feels rough, the clay darkens when wet, or the piece weeps, that is crazing-through and we replace it under the 12-month cover. Send a close photograph and we will tell you which one you have.

Stack no more than four plates on each other, and put a felt pad or a thin cloth between the top plate and the shelf. Bowls nest better than they stack, so alternate them if the cupboard is tight. Never wedge a platter upright against a hard edge, because that is how rims chip. If you travel with the ware, wrap each piece in cloth and keep the foam cradle it arrived in.

No. Those are metal marks, not exposed clay. A knife blade leaves a smear of steel on a satin glaze, and a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water, rubbed gently with a cloth, usually lifts it. We do not recommend abrasive cream cleaners or steel wool, which will dull a satin glaze permanently. Marks from ordinary daily use are not a defect and are not covered by the warranty.

Let the piece cool fully before you put butter or sugar in it, and dry the lid seat after washing. A ceramic lid on a ceramic body is a close fit by design, and a warm seal can draw tight as it cools. If a lid does stick, warm the outside of the dish briefly in a sink of warm, not hot, water and it will release. Never lever a lid with a knife; you will chip the seat.

Photograph the carton before you unpack it fully, including the outside, the label and the damage as you find it, and keep all the packaging. Write to us the same day with the order number and the photographs. We replace broken pieces and cover the freight on the replacement, so you pay nothing and you do not need to ship the broken ware back. Claims are usually approved within 2 working days.

You have 14 calendar days from delivery to change your mind on stock ware. Write first for a return number, send the piece back unused in its original wrap, and once it reaches our registered office and passes inspection we refund within 10 working days to the original payment method. Faulty or transit-damaged pieces are replaced or refunded with freight covered by us. Return freight on a change of mind is yours.

Glaze variation, speckling, fine pinholes, a size difference of a few millimetres inside a batch, surface crazing that does not reach the body, cutlery marks and a darkening unglazed foot are all normal for reactive-glaze stoneware. We do replace a piece that leaks, crazes through to the clay, has a chipped food-contact surface, wobbles on a flat counter, or loses a pulled handle. Those are faults, and the 12-month cover applies.

Unless we agree DDP in writing, you are the importer and you pay import duty, VAT or GST, customs clearance and local handling. We declare the true value on the commercial invoice and will not under-declare for any buyer. If a parcel is refused at customs because duty was not paid, we can re-consign it at your cost or refund the ware less the outbound freight and any charges the carrier billed us.

From the company named in the seller block on every page of this site, registered in Hong Kong. That entity holds the stock, issues the invoice, receives payment and handles your claim. It is also the data user for your enquiry details under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. Kilnvale is the ware line; the Hong Kong trading company is the seller, and its registered address is our returns address.

Yes. Our food-contact glazes are formulated and tested to be lead-free and cadmium-free, to the limits required for tableware in the United States and the European Union, and we keep a batch record for each firing. We do not use metallic lustre, gold or platinum decoration on any food-contact surface. If you need a written statement for a retailer or a compliance file, ask and we will send the current batch record and glaze declaration.

Proposition 65 requires a warning if a product exposes a user to a listed chemical above a threshold. Our tableware is made to be lead-free and cadmium-free at food-contact limits, and we do not add those metals to our glazes or decoration. We supply the glaze declaration and batch record with wholesale orders so you can complete your own compliance review. If your market needs specific wording, tell us before we pack.

The ware is thrown, trimmed, glazed and fired in Hong Kong at cone 6, around 1220 °C, and packed from our bench in Cheung Sha Wan. The seller named on every page is a Hong Kong trading company that owns the stock and the batch records. We are not a reseller of imported catalogue ware: the same hands that shape a plate check it before it goes into a carton.