Testing Vintage Dishes for Lead

 Hello Readers. I love vintage dishes. I have some that are family pieces and some that I just thought were pretty. They can have lead paint and glaze which is very dangerous. It can cause brain damage, That is why the water contamination in Flint Michigan is so horrible. They whole water system is dangerous. I always test my old dishes to see if they are actually safe to eat and drink from. I do not want to destroy what is left of my brain and I don't want to poison my family.

Are these dishes safe to use or are they hiding secret poison in their designs?

Did my grandma unknowingly give me toxic tea cups?

Are these dishes dangerous?

I bought a testing kit from Amazon. This kit had dozens of cotton swabs that can detect lead. There were many different kits. This one is just the one I choose.

I started testing all my dished and cups. I used a new swab dipped in clean water for each dish because that seemed more scientific and accurate. I am no chemist and barely got through the required class in high school but I tried.

I tested a set of old blue dishes.

 

I tested my mothers old dishes.
 

This tea cup was the strongest reaction I got. I wanted to show how dark red the swab got.

 

The kit said that the more dark red the reaction the more lead in the dish. I know that no lead amount is safe so I am not going to eat or drink out of these dishes. I think they can hold jewelry or something like that on my dresser. Thanks for reading along, go check your dishes.

*Year End Note From Chickie- I am really glad I did this.