hfcoorsdinnerware.com has $12 flat shipping, their stuff is pretty reasonable, and they have a broad range of patterns.

Not all dishes made in China or elsewhere have lead in them - you can get an inexpensive kit to test for lead - I did that with some very old inexpensive made-in-China dishes that I had. It's certainly fine if you want to buy American, but not all foreign products are bad or dangerous.

Villeroy & Boch. From their web site: Villeroy & Boch is represented in 125 countries around the world and has 15 production facilities in Europe, Mexico and Thailand.

I have a set of V&B as our everyday. It is porcelain and prone to chipping badly. It is not ovenproof (ask me how I know.... breaks if reheating something on it in toaster oven) but safe in microwave. If I didn't like the look of it so much, I would toss it.

For a beach house, perhaps Corelle if you can find a design you like? I'm not sure where it is currently made now that World Kitchens owns it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Villeroy & Boch

weissman...where do you get the kit? HD or similar? A few years ago Pfaltzgraff was sold and now everything is made in China. I called them to query them about testing for lead and got a vague answer - along the lines of, "they know our standards and they are required to occasionally test the products and send the reports to the USA, but no testing is done in the USA." We all know just how good China is at following our safety standards/regulations (not!)...so I don't have a lot of faith in testing done in China!

I would really like to test some of the dishes I have that were made in China - I try not use them as much as the older ones that were made in the USA...

BTW...you can definitely tell the difference b/w the newer ones from China and the older ones from the USA! The Chinese-made ones are smaller, have smaller rims, have fewer & less detailed designs on them, and are obviously stamped. The USA-made ones look much nicer! I can tell at a glance which are from the USA and which are from China!

Cavimum - Corelle uses "low-lead" glaze, but it is not lead-free.

My issue with Fiesta dishes is that they don't fit in the DW that well, they're so thick. Love them though - I just have Fiesta bowls for soup and stews, rather than an entire set.

I copied the info below from somewhere else a while back (sorry I don't remember where!) from someone who went on a search for lead-free dinnerware:

Apilco: I couldn't find anything on the William & Sonoma website but I checked out a few of the descriptions for various Apilco products on Amazon.com and they list "It's also lead-, arsenic-, and cadmium-free" or something to that effect. (Amazon.com)

Bennington Potters: Their site highlights a quote "Thank you, thank you, thank you for still making dinnerware proudly made in the USA and without lead or cadmium." and under their Everyday Dinnerware section it states "Choose from 10 beautiful shades. All lead-free and microwave safe!"

Denby USA: "Feel at ease when using Denby as we have provided a safe product for you and your family. NO LEAD or cadmium is used during the manufacturing process of any Denby product." (From their Why Choose Denby page)

Hartstone Pottery: "All body, glaze, and paint raw materials are lead and cadmium free. Our product is California Proposition 65 compliant." (From their About Hartstone page)

HF Coors: "HF Coors dishes are lead free, microwave, oven, broiler, freezer, dishwasher and even BUSBOY safe!" (From their About page)

Homer Laughlin China Company: "Specializing in high-fired, lead- free glazes with an Alpha Alumina body, Homer Laughlin remains the largest domestic pottery employing over 1100 skilled workers in a 37 acre facility. As a leader in the china design and manufacturing market, Homer Laughlin has pursued the issues that matter most: lead-free dinnerware, durability, contemporary design and timely delivery." (From their Company Information) They are probably most well known for their Fiesta line of dishes (note this is for their newer line so if buying older dishes from flea markets, Goodwills, etc it's not guaranteed they are lead free).

Buehl - Consumer Reports, FWIW, tested home lead test kits, but they added that the home tests are "useful though limiting" since they can only test lead at the surface, and cannot detect lead that might be under the surface. With that caveat, they liked best Homax LeadCheck and Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit

Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Reports - Home Lead Tests

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I have already checked the internet for several of these companies. I like the HF Coors dinnerware, Hartstone and Homer Laughlin. Yes, AKChicago, I also need something that will fit well in the dishwasher - good point about the Fiesta plates.

I do think all that hype about lead-painted toys from China was over-blown. Find dishes you like and buy them.

Thanks for this, dorry2.

We have to worry about chemicals and heavy metals and I use plain glass plates and bowls everyday, but I hadn't given much thought to the Pfaltzgraff that we use occasionally.

Seems half of it is made in Mexico and half is from China. I can definitely tell a difference in the intensity of the color between the two. Makes me nervous. I'll be checking into the same lines for some new dishes.

Jumpilotmdm - I wish it was that easy. For some that aren't sensitive, it may seem that way. But this stuff DOES affect people and I think we will find out more and more in decades to come just how much.

Thanks!

I have tag dishes and their bubble glasses...love them all!!! They are beautiful but the bowls do take up lots of room in the dishwasher.
From a website: 'These TAG dishes are dishwasher safe, lead-free Ironstone, may get hot in the microwave. Hand painted with tonal swirling brush strokes.'

Here is a link that might be useful: TAG dishes

Check out this site
http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/kitchen.html#Dinnerware. The website lists American made items and dates if they moved out and used to be made in us
Too bad about pgraff moving to china :(
I hav VB and no chipped dishes in 18 years except for one that DH creased years ago and then I finished turning into 2 pieces recently when I dropped 3 into the drawer- fortunately only the creased one ended up breaking. (it is MW but not oven safe) and I do wash in DW
Better knock on wood so I don't chip any dishes!

Heath is on the list. I ogled their backsplash tile but being so far away. Just never matched the perfect color.

Let us know what you decide

Usual iPhone text errors

I've been giving this a lot of thought. I am definitely ditching the Pfaltzgraff but I have a dilemma...

I have a big collection of Polish pottery. We haven't used it in years, since we PCSd back to the states, but I have kept it.

It's primarily blue and what I've read about lead is that it's higher concentration in orange, red or yellows. Everything I find online about Polish pottery states that it's lead-free, but I have my doubts - especially since I bought it about 15 years ago and can't remember which factory.

Anyone have any insight into this or how I could go about testing it?

Thanks so much! (sorry if I'm hijacking!)

There have been Federal standards for lead in dishes for a very long time.

Nothing you should find should be above the allowed level.

Sengware - made in Seattle. Perfect for a beach house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sengware

Know what? Scratch that - Sengware company is Seattle based but dishes are made in China.

I recently bought a large set from HF Coors (plates, bowls, and mugs), and I've been really happy with them. They are very substantial...no complaints at all.

You can look at Sweese. It is porcelain; comes in many colors and shapes... I know this post is from 8 years ago; but if you want to give Sweese a quick look, go to Amazon. They have their own site as well. Hard core, lead and cadmium free (only thing I buy now and I already threw out most of my family heirloom dinnerware.... : ( boo hoo....) https://sweese.com/?utm_source=google.com&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=lg0424&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhvf6BRCkARIsAGl1GGjVlBa0iiYBwoTf8Qc9VmA0aW9ueJQdLN49_9CUiQZmj2UNASMOu4UaAoqBEALw_wcB

Interesting that Dlapson resurrected an 8-year-old post to provide a link. The Sweese products are made in China. And they are not lead-free.

Article “Why is Sweese selling these products as “Lead-free” when they clearly contain Lead?”

Yes Shannon - I discovered they are Lead Safe - not lead free. You went to the same source I did -- Tamara's Lead Free Mama to get the latest. At this point, with the exploding glass of companies that claim they are now lead free - but use soda lime instead of borosilicate glass for baking, etc. it's becoming impossible. I wound up with Fiestaware - which I'm not crazy about. (I like porcelain more than stoneware.) and Some items from Certified International which claims they are lead and cadmium free but I have to test myself to see if that is true. I might delete my original post post if I can after this is read.