Materials
Six materials, and what each one will not tolerate.
Every piece in the catalog is made from one of these. The useful part of knowing which is not the romance of it — it is knowing what goes in the dishwasher, what cracks if you pour tea into it, and what needs oiling. All of that is below, per material.
Speckled Stoneware
A buff clay body flecked with iron, which bursts into dark speckle in the firing. No two pieces speckle identically. Fired to 1240°C, vitrified, food-safe and dishwasher-safe.
11 pieces in this material — Vega Dinner Plate, Vega Side Plate, Vega Pasta Bowl, Vega Cereal Bowl, Meseta Serving Platter, Meseta Serving Bowl, Vega Mug, Solano Candle Holder, Solano Bud Vase, Table for Two, First Table.
- Dishwasher
- Yes, any normal cycle
- Microwave
- Yes
- Oven
- To 180°C, from a cold start
- What destroys it
- Thermal shock — a hot piece onto a cold surface, or the broiler
Porcelain
A whiter, denser body fired to 1280°C. Thinner walls and a cooler, harder surface than stoneware, with a faint translucency at the rim.
1 piece in this material — Luma Dinner Plate.
- Dishwasher
- Yes, any normal cycle
- Microwave
- Yes
- Oven
- To 180°C, from a cold start
- What destroys it
- A knock to the thin rim, and thermal shock
Hand-Blown Glass
Free-blown soda-lime glass. Wall thickness, height and the number of trapped bubbles vary piece to piece — that variation is the evidence it was blown rather than pressed.
3 pieces in this material — Ambra Water Carafe, Ambra Tumbler, Ambra Wine Glass.
- Dishwasher
- No — hand-wash only
- Microwave
- No
- Oven
- No
- What destroys it
- Hot liquid. Soda-lime glass is not borosilicate and it will crack
Stonewashed Linen
European flax, woven and then stonewashed so it arrives already soft. It creases readily, and is meant to. Grows softer and paler with washing.
2 pieces in this material — Campo Napkins, Set of Four, Campo Table Runner.
- Dishwasher
- —
- Microwave
- —
- Oven
- —
- What destroys it
- Fabric softener, bleach, and washing above 40°C
Olive Wood
Dense, close-grained wood with a strong figure that differs in every board. Finished with food-safe oil, never lacquered. Wants oiling, never a dishwasher.
- Dishwasher
- No — never
- Microwave
- No
- Oven
- No
- What destroys it
- Soaking and dishwashers. Both split the grain
Unglazed Terracotta
Low-fired red earthenware, left unglazed outside so it stays porous and cool to the touch. Glazed inside, where it meets food.
1 piece in this material — Solano Salt Cellar.
- Dishwasher
- No — the body is porous
- Microwave
- No
- Oven
- No
- What destroys it
- Water absorption, oil staining and thermal shock
The one that catches people out
Hand-blown glass is soda-lime, not borosilicate. It is not heat-resistant: a hot drink, a dishwasher cycle or a freezer will crack it, and that is not a manufacturing fault. The stoneware, meanwhile, is genuinely fine with boiling water and a dishwasher. If you remember one thing from this page, that is the one.
Full care instructions per piece are on the care page and in the record on every product page. Questions: hello@oroviatable.com.