I put a paper towel between mine. I've been doing this for years with no problems.

I have an assortment of of stainless and nonstick pans.I put pieces of bubblewrap between my Allclad nonstick. The others are a mixture of Allclad, Cuisinart and other stainless. I don't bother putting protection between those. I forgot, I do protect my Le Creuset though. I turn the covers over and stack them with papertowels between. When my get my kitchen redone I'll hang the nonstick at least. If I have room I'll hang some of the stainless too. but my island will be small so the pot rack will have to be also. The bubble wrap works great though.

I used to put small paper plates between my nonstick pans then one day I realized there was no need for that as the bottoms of all my pans are smooth :).

The 9" cast iron skillet and the carbon steel omelet pan and wok hang on the wall over the range. The 12" SS sauté pan, 11-1/4" cast iron skillet and 9" SS sauté pan are stacked on top of each other in that order in the cabinet. No non-stick, no separators, no scratches, no worries.

I use paper plates.

I use squares of bubble wrap between the stacked pans.
Linda C

When I bought my new set of Calphalon I was concerned about scratching them by nesting them together. I stopped at a fabric store and purchased some black felt. I cut large circles and use them between the pots and pans. Really works great. Will last forever.

I bought those round black silicone potholders to place between my pots and pans. They're inexpensive, look nice, wipe clean, and actually serve several purposes.

I use leftover pieces of cushioned shelf liner, cut to fit. You can purchase it at WalMart or KMart (Duck brand). It has a rather spongy texture, doesn't stick and is easy to clean/wipe down.

to pan-nester: for your nonstick pans you can get a panjacket (available online). they are like cloth envelopes that completely cover your pans so you can store them without worrying about scratches. you can get them with pockets so you can store the lid with its pan. slick!

If I used non-stick stuff I might be concerned. But I don't. All other cookware merely gets stacked. Been doing it that way since I was a kid, with no ill effects.

I have found that using a washcloth between them works great.

I'm with gardenlad. I protect my china, but not my pots and pans. No ill effects as far as I can tell.

I use a stainless steel rack that I found at TJMaxx. It is for organizing 6 to 8 frying pans vertically-on their edge. It makes accessing them easier than nesting them.

I had this same problem, especially after I renovated my kitchen and put in pot/pan drawers. No matter how careful I was when I closed the drawer, the cookware clinked!! I saw the solution to this problem on HGTV's I Want That-Kitchen. It is called Protect A Pan. It slips easily over the top or bottom of the pan and gives me much needed extra storage space by stacking/nesting. All my pans are scratch free. I also saw it on QVC. Hope this helps.