Post #246848 by VanTiki on Fri, Aug 4, 2006 2:33 PM

On 2006-08-04 13:09, Swanky wrote:
No worries. The only unsafe glazes are red and unless that mug is glazed red inside, there is zero problem. Even if it was red, you have only a slight concern. Why? Because we drink cold beverages out of the mugs. The leeching of the chemicals is really only a concern when you pour hot liquids in. There are unsafe glazes I am sure, just to cover my ass, that are not red. But no one will make a mug or plate using these glazes. It's just a very over-protective thing with that sticker. No worries whatsoever.

If you own one of the very fancy new mugs with a red glaze, you can be sure that either A) that is a very expensive mug (red is the costliest) and you won't ever drink out of it anyway or B) You are drinking anyway, knowing it would take a lot of cold drinks to ever matter at all.

A liitle more in this post by St. Thomas.

Hey there - As a maker of red tiki mugs I just want to chime in here. First off, there are TONS of VERY poisonous glazes in EVERY color! Metallics (and many other neat colors/effects) usually contain lead. I'd say a good 40% of the glazes at the ceramic supply store I shop at are not food safe (which can be very frustrating when you fall in love with a poisonous color!). It is true that high fire red glazes were poisonous way up into the 80's. For a while glaze manufacturers were using "micro bubbles" of poisonous red glaze trapped in a protective bubble. While micro bubble red glazes were certified food safe, all the ceramic artists and schools I knew didn't trust them. In the 90's true food safe high fire red colors became available, and that is what I use on my mugs. The food safe high fire red is expensive and tricky to apply (needs 4 to 5 coats), and it isn't a deep "fire engine red" - but at least it won't kill you!

And that, folks, is my Tiki Two Cents!

VanTiki