How To Make Your Scratched Dishes Look New Again, According to an Expert

Use this easy method to restore your dishes to their former glory.

We’ve all been there: after a few weeks or months of use, you notice your dinner dishes look scratched and scraped up. While annoying, this is normal. “Like a new car, plates and bowls are meant to be lived in and well-loved,” says Catherine Campbell, East Fork Pottery’s former director of marketing. 

Cutlery marks can happen on cheap and expensive dinnerware alike. And while scuff marks are (unsurprisingly) more prominent on white dishes, they can appear on dinnerware of any color. This is just an unavoidable hazard of actually using your dishes. “It’s all about maintenance,” says Campbell, who suggests using two inexpensive products to restore scratched dinnerware: an abrasive sponge and Bar Keeper’s Friend.

How To Get Cutlery Marks Off Plates With Bar Keeper's Friend

To get the cutlery marks off your dishes, you’ll need a canister of scouring powder or soft cleanser (Bar Keeper’s Friend) and an abrasive scrubber. “The back of your regular sponge will do,” says Campbell. 

Here’s the process they recommend: 

1. Set your plate or bowl on a stable surface, like your kitchen counter.
2. Sprinkle the Bar Keeper’s Friend evenly across the surface. It should be covered, but not too thick.
3. Add a splash of water (1-3 ounces, depending on the size of your dish). If using the soft cleanser, there's no need to add water, as the product is already a paste.
4. Wearing gloves, scrub in small, brisk circles all over the surface with your abrasive scrubber. Add more powder or cleanser if needed. “A paste might thicken and form, that's fine!,” says Campbell. Continue for one minute.
5. Rinse well, then wash with soap or run it through the dishwasher before using.

Very deep cutlery marks may require more vigorous scrubbing or a little extra time. Admire your hard work, and use those dishes. Eventually, your good-as-new dishes will look scratched and scuffed again. That’s the cycle of dinnerware! You can refresh them as often as needed, although most cooks find this chore doesn’t have to be done more than once every few months.

What Is Bar Keeper's Friend?

Bar Keeper’s Friend has a full line of products, but its best-known is an inexpensive powder that activates with water. This simple cleaning solution can handle just about any cleaning task. It works on non-porous surfaces (not wood!), like stainless steel and aluminum. 

Bar Keeper’s Friend is an efficient grease cutter, and can remove water spots and mineral deposits from surfaces. It’s great at lifting rust from metal, and it can restore shine on even the dingiest appliances or sinks. It's truly a multipurpose cleaner that can be used for daily tasks, like wiping down a sink, as well as deeper cleaning, like scouring years of patina from cookware.

The main active ingredient in Bar Keeper’s Friend is oxalic acid, a naturally occurring compound found in some produce (in the late 1800s, a chemist actually discovered oxalic acid while cooking rhubarb!). The acidic nature of this compound is what makes it tops at lifting rust, stains, and other imperfections from surfaces.

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