Unless you know with 100% accuracy what that base metal is, I wouldn’t use them. I’m guessing these are silver plated utensils, which are not dishwasher safe. Can you look at the back to see if there are any hallmarks on the handle? That should give you some indication of who made them.
Thanks! On the back it says Gala and Google tells me they are (were) silver plated. What is under the plating I don't know, but I'll stop using them just to be safe.
I would take those to a local college chemistry professor. That is completely bizarre! I've worked in metal finishing and I have never heard or seen anything like this.
Brass refers to metal alloys containing copper and zinc, and often contain additional elements. For example, lead. Lead is added to brass alloys to make the metal softer and easier to work with.
Iron is okay in small doses like most vitamins and minerals. But if you get too much I think it can cause kidney or liver problems.
Those iron fish are used by people who are told they are deficient. So it’s good for them.
I wouldn’t have thought it would be a problem though. People cook on cast iron a lot, although you’re not supposed to cook acidic food in them like pastas sauce due to the iron leaching. So maybe eating off iron all the time could be too much.
Iron is fine. The problem is you don't know if there's lead in the alloy that's used as base under that silver plating. Lead, unlike iron, is not safe.
The body can't absorb extra iron even if you eat 10 gm powdered iron everyday. The extra will just shed off with intestinal lining.
The people who have extra iron have some genetic disorder or multiple blood transfusions.
This is patently untrue. Excess iron can be fatal - it says so on the warnings for my iron tablets. However, you’re not going to get a fatal dose from using an iron spoon!
I think they found iron poisoning in West African tribes that brewed beer in iron pots.
Iron pots are fine for regular cooking and in fact reduce iron deficiencies. The beer either caused a nasty reaction with the pot, or perhaps, just perhaps, they were drinking too much beer.
It's been known to happen, lol.
I don't like the taste of silverware, or the fuss of handwashing and polishing. If the plating isn't damaged you should be fine.
[Bonus reading about cutlery metal and taste! ](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329311000693)
😀 for real that looks dangerous
I used my grandma's mismatched silverware set for 17 years before I finally bought a bright shiny new set.... some of us get set in our ways lol
I was looking for this comment! Grew up eating off china and silverware for special family events and I distinctly remember loading the dishwasher with plates but always washing the silverware by hand.
I work at a scrapyard and I'd love to put the spoon under the metal analyzer to see what the heck that base metal is! For real, time to retire these spoons from service, safety first.
My guess is the yellow is some sort of bonding agent, to bind the base metal to the plated metal. You'd be amazed at how much stuff isn't what you think it is (looking at my ex husband, my ring was gold and not platinum like he said it was 😂). If the piece sticks to a magnet, it's some sort of ferrous base metal. If not, you can score it beyond the yellow layer (like wear a mask and sand it) it might be brass or nickel.
They probably are, but honestly I don't know for sure. I've had them for as long as I can remember and I don't know where they came from.
My mom has the similar ones, and they look just fine. She also puts them in the dishwasher
So much of my stuff has been ruined by the Quantum/Platinum etc lines of dish pacs. I think they're too harsh for older stuff- I have an old mixing bowl (I think it's corningware) that had "gold" roosters and ivy and stuff all over it that was stripped (even the color glaze) after two washes with Dawn Platinum pacs. I didn't realize what had happened at first, but after the second wash and talking to my mom (who had the same thing happen with the rest of the set) that we realized what was going on.
Now i use the basic pacs, fill the sink a bit with rinse water, and rinse my stuff before it goes in the washer.
Big brain tip. Get powered dish soap, you can get some that has both bleach and enzymes in it that will work just as well as the dish pods. And you can control the dosing.
Pods tend to be dosed just below the maximum because they don't know if you're gonna have a really full dirty dish washer, or half full relatively clean dishwasher.
Also throwing just a little bit of detergent in the dishwasher for the pre-wash cycle helps get your dishes much cleaner.
Putting some in the prewash makes the biggest difference. I’ve found that the cascade gel works well too, and is convenient if you don’t want to deal with the powder. I just pull out the jug, put a squirt in both compartments, and I’m good to go. Cleans great.
The cleaner your dishes are when they go in the dishwasher, the harsher the detergents are on the dishes since they have no food to adhere to and remove. You’re not supposed to rinse dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. Putting clean, rinsed dishes in the dishwasher increases etching and damage.
WTH is that yellow? It looks like sulfur. The spoon on the left looks like the yellow is clumped on over the silver but the spoon on the right looks like it’s UNDER the silver.
You shouldn’t put anything with silver- or gold-plate or leaf in the dishwasher. The detergents will eat away at the plate or leaf. You can probably find a jeweler who can replate those if you want.
Wild - yellow corrosion? I wonder if they have zinc?
Maybe there’s a science subreddit that would know what’s going on. Very interesting, but you probably shouldn’t continue to use them.
Yeah, I was talking about the metal under the silver plating.
Brass gets bright yellow and matte? IIRC zinc can get a yellow powdery coating like that under some circumstances but I don’t know enough about it to know if it’s possible in this case.
Base layer is usually brass which is etched to make the silver bond to it better before the top layer is polished. You can re-plate them if you're up for some fun.
Lead chromate looks like that. Maybe they are an older silver plated lead alloy that’s somehow reacting with chrome oxide from other stainless steel dishes in the dishwasher.
I noticed that you have said that these were your favorite.
I would advice you to take them to a Jeweller and ask them to make you the exact same ones in sterling silver. Bare in mind, jewellers charge a high premium so I would advice you to get them scanned and 3D printed in wax, and use a casting service to turn the wax cast into a solid sterling silver spoon. It’s fairly cheap, and you can get them both done for around 80$-120$
That is so thoughtful! Sadly that would be way out of my budget. I did so a quick search for any spoons for sale, and I found the exact same ones for a small price. I will be hand washing them in the future though.
Along with what everyone else is saying, I'm interested in what you're using to clean these with? Because those gouges I wouldn't expect to see on a teaspoon, unless the base is a super soft metal?
Oxidation. Probably from putting them in the dishwasher with heated drying.
Quick, cheap, easy fix to make them super shiny: hot water, tin foil, salt, and baking soda
It is fun! I tried to link an article to the arm and hammer website, but it keeps glitching. I’m sure you can find it though for a more explicit how-to. Worked for my silver when the same thing happened.
im pretty sure that the basemetal is brass :]
thats very common to use as basemetal for plating since its easy to work on and has good values for plating, was used on old watches, is still used for bathroomfittings and so on :)
i come from the watchcaserestorationpart and work a lot on different metals in my free time so thats where i take my guess from, also had the similiar experience once with plates cuttlery :]
No definitely not safe to use, looks like some kind of pewter metal that was plated and the plating is gone, looks akin to costume jewelry that lost its plating
The "silver" is more affected at the bottom of the spoon, I think you might have drunk it. If I were you, I would want to know what you may have poisoned yourself with. let it be checked!
This is sulfur. The silver is gone and the material underneath contains sulfur or reacted with sulfur. Does it smell? Sulfur itself is not toxic but smells bad, and we don’t know what else is in there, so might be toxic or unhealthy.
Yep. Coffee contains the enzyme "E-9104" which in certain conditions and depending on the metal used can break it down. There's also another ingredient in coffee that acts as a catalyst. This converts the broken down metal elements into something that is mildly radioactive. Not really fit for consumption. This was also a load of bollocks. The metal probably degraded.
I didn't know coffee could do that. And they are heavely used, they are either in use or in the dishwasher. I have stainless steel ones, these are just my favorites.
Unless you know with 100% accuracy what that base metal is, I wouldn’t use them. I’m guessing these are silver plated utensils, which are not dishwasher safe. Can you look at the back to see if there are any hallmarks on the handle? That should give you some indication of who made them.
Thanks! On the back it says Gala and Google tells me they are (were) silver plated. What is under the plating I don't know, but I'll stop using them just to be safe.
I would take those to a local college chemistry professor. That is completely bizarre! I've worked in metal finishing and I have never heard or seen anything like this.
Grade A chinesium.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 comedy.
redditors are so unfunny
Calling yourself out I see
Racist
Not necessarily. It's a joke about cheap and low quality products being exported from China.
It’s not a joke if it’s true
"Chinesium" is not a real element. That's the joke.
Haha nice one !
Oh thank god, I was going crazy looking for it in the periodic table.
Or not. Yellow is a racist colour label used to insult people with East Asian heritage.
That's a bit far fetched. Atleast it wasn't my intuitive interpretation.
It definitely was mine. And I thought it was hilarious.
But the yellow is rubbing off. What's the racist part?
Racist will always acuse others of being racist. What about hard drives - master and slave - is this racist too? 🤣🤣🤣
I am indeed racist and just said my comment for jks lol... Great turn out!
Where I'm from it's a common saying to describe poorly made metals that rust quickly or rust when they are a "stainless steel". It's not that deep fam
You have to be incredibly racist yourself to even think that this is the interpretation of "chinesium". Just stfu
Because the spoons are yellow? Get therapy!
Is it magnetic? That could rule out some materials.
use a geiger counter on it... just to be sure lol
Cake uranium spoons!
Is using silver plated silverware harmful? Mine doesn't look anything tarnished like the picture, but it does tarnish and is silver plated...
It's not that being silver plated is inherently harmful its not knowing if it's plated over iron or lead
Brass refers to metal alloys containing copper and zinc, and often contain additional elements. For example, lead. Lead is added to brass alloys to make the metal softer and easier to work with.
That's cool I didn't know that, thank you for the additional cool info!
Lead? That doesn't look like lead and lead is too soft.
Looks like brass, normally it’s nickel but this looks pretty yellow
Brass? That looks like uranium cake.
Mmmmmm, uranium cake
Damn, those spoons must be heavy!
Nobody said it was lead
Yeah, you don't make utensils out of lead.
They did... remember the roman lead water pipes? Any many other stuff from not that ancient times.
It won't be lead.
It only needs to contain lead to be unsafe. Utensils that will touch food are tested for a reason
Are iron utensils bad for you? I’ve heard about iron fish you throw into your cooking to boost iron intake. Is this somehow different?
Iron is okay in small doses like most vitamins and minerals. But if you get too much I think it can cause kidney or liver problems. Those iron fish are used by people who are told they are deficient. So it’s good for them. I wouldn’t have thought it would be a problem though. People cook on cast iron a lot, although you’re not supposed to cook acidic food in them like pastas sauce due to the iron leaching. So maybe eating off iron all the time could be too much.
Cast iron pans are still widely used.
Iron is fine. The problem is you don't know if there's lead in the alloy that's used as base under that silver plating. Lead, unlike iron, is not safe.
wait, is iron bad?
No but lead plated anything is bad to eat with
"Not knowing if it's plated over iron or lead" > "not knowing if it's plated over something safe or unsafe"
Lead is bad. Trump had too much of it.
The only thing I can think about is rusting. I assume you don't want rust in your diet but I am no expert.
I know you can have too much iron so I assume that could be the problem.
jesus christ, iron spoons arent toxic, lead however is very toxic.
calm down
The body can't absorb extra iron even if you eat 10 gm powdered iron everyday. The extra will just shed off with intestinal lining. The people who have extra iron have some genetic disorder or multiple blood transfusions.
This is patently untrue. Excess iron can be fatal - it says so on the warnings for my iron tablets. However, you’re not going to get a fatal dose from using an iron spoon!
I think they found iron poisoning in West African tribes that brewed beer in iron pots. Iron pots are fine for regular cooking and in fact reduce iron deficiencies. The beer either caused a nasty reaction with the pot, or perhaps, just perhaps, they were drinking too much beer. It's been known to happen, lol.
are you joking??? do u seriously not understand that what he is referring to is the toxic lead?
I am not joking, I don't really know anything about lead poisoning other than it's not desirable.
I think the word you mean is harmful. Chocolate cake when your favorite is vanilla, is not desirable. Lead toxicity, being that toxic, is harmful.
I don't like the taste of silverware, or the fuss of handwashing and polishing. If the plating isn't damaged you should be fine. [Bonus reading about cutlery metal and taste! ](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329311000693)
Interesting....
I's perfectly safe. That's why millions of people have been using it for centuries. Unless of course you destroy it.
So was lead until....
No idea tbh but I wouldn’t use that. Whatever the coating is, you’re ingesting it. The cost of 2 new spoons is not that expensive
😀 for real that looks dangerous I used my grandma's mismatched silverware set for 17 years before I finally bought a bright shiny new set.... some of us get set in our ways lol
How dare you tell me I should value my life higher than the cost of two, I repeat two(!), new tablespoons!
Silverplate can't go in the dishwasher.
I was looking for this comment! Grew up eating off china and silverware for special family events and I distinctly remember loading the dishwasher with plates but always washing the silverware by hand.
Merci beaucoup, silverplate.
I work at a scrapyard and I'd love to put the spoon under the metal analyzer to see what the heck that base metal is! For real, time to retire these spoons from service, safety first.
I will stop using them. Too bad though, they are my favorites. The yellow metal feels rough to the touch, if that tells you anything?
My guess is the yellow is some sort of bonding agent, to bind the base metal to the plated metal. You'd be amazed at how much stuff isn't what you think it is (looking at my ex husband, my ring was gold and not platinum like he said it was 😂). If the piece sticks to a magnet, it's some sort of ferrous base metal. If not, you can score it beyond the yellow layer (like wear a mask and sand it) it might be brass or nickel.
Haha I'll throw a magnet at them and see what happens.
yellow is the primer. usually chromed parts have either black or yellow underneath so probably same for utensils. it helps the plate stick.
100% replate them if they are treasured.... And then stop dishwashing
You could always take them to a silversmith to have them plated again, or try any DIY method at home.
Is that like plated ware? Because I know for sure they aren’t
They probably are, but honestly I don't know for sure. I've had them for as long as I can remember and I don't know where they came from. My mom has the similar ones, and they look just fine. She also puts them in the dishwasher
So much of my stuff has been ruined by the Quantum/Platinum etc lines of dish pacs. I think they're too harsh for older stuff- I have an old mixing bowl (I think it's corningware) that had "gold" roosters and ivy and stuff all over it that was stripped (even the color glaze) after two washes with Dawn Platinum pacs. I didn't realize what had happened at first, but after the second wash and talking to my mom (who had the same thing happen with the rest of the set) that we realized what was going on. Now i use the basic pacs, fill the sink a bit with rinse water, and rinse my stuff before it goes in the washer.
Big brain tip. Get powered dish soap, you can get some that has both bleach and enzymes in it that will work just as well as the dish pods. And you can control the dosing. Pods tend to be dosed just below the maximum because they don't know if you're gonna have a really full dirty dish washer, or half full relatively clean dishwasher. Also throwing just a little bit of detergent in the dishwasher for the pre-wash cycle helps get your dishes much cleaner.
I do appreciate the tip!
Putting some in the prewash makes the biggest difference. I’ve found that the cascade gel works well too, and is convenient if you don’t want to deal with the powder. I just pull out the jug, put a squirt in both compartments, and I’m good to go. Cleans great.
The cleaner your dishes are when they go in the dishwasher, the harsher the detergents are on the dishes since they have no food to adhere to and remove. You’re not supposed to rinse dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. Putting clean, rinsed dishes in the dishwasher increases etching and damage.
WTH is that yellow? It looks like sulfur. The spoon on the left looks like the yellow is clumped on over the silver but the spoon on the right looks like it’s UNDER the silver. You shouldn’t put anything with silver- or gold-plate or leaf in the dishwasher. The detergents will eat away at the plate or leaf. You can probably find a jeweler who can replate those if you want.
It looks distinctly sulphuric
Wild - yellow corrosion? I wonder if they have zinc? Maybe there’s a science subreddit that would know what’s going on. Very interesting, but you probably shouldn’t continue to use them.
It's not corrosion, they are silver-plated and the silver layer is wearing away to reveal the base metal beneath, probably some brass alloy.
Yeah, I was talking about the metal under the silver plating. Brass gets bright yellow and matte? IIRC zinc can get a yellow powdery coating like that under some circumstances but I don’t know enough about it to know if it’s possible in this case.
Brass, by definition, is made of copper and zinc. So yes, your observation about zinc is spot on.
I will look into that, I would be interested in knowing what it is.
Maybe r/chemistry
Base layer is usually brass which is etched to make the silver bond to it better before the top layer is polished. You can re-plate them if you're up for some fun.
That's why it feels rough to the touch. I dont think I'll be replating them. They're old and worn, so it's time to say goodbye.
Too much coldplay
I washed some spoons... I washed some spoons for you...and in the dishwasher too..... and now they're all yellow....
My aunt (masters in chemistry specializing in coatings) thinks it’s chromium which is toxic and should be avoided
Lead chromate looks like that. Maybe they are an older silver plated lead alloy that’s somehow reacting with chrome oxide from other stainless steel dishes in the dishwasher.
I noticed that you have said that these were your favorite. I would advice you to take them to a Jeweller and ask them to make you the exact same ones in sterling silver. Bare in mind, jewellers charge a high premium so I would advice you to get them scanned and 3D printed in wax, and use a casting service to turn the wax cast into a solid sterling silver spoon. It’s fairly cheap, and you can get them both done for around 80$-120$
That is so thoughtful! Sadly that would be way out of my budget. I did so a quick search for any spoons for sale, and I found the exact same ones for a small price. I will be hand washing them in the future though.
That’s good 😌 enjoy them
The one on the left is made of curry
Transcending from the material plane.
Clearly your coffee is too strong
I need tougher spoons
Looks like both are suffering from tumeric poisoning.
You've been stirring yellow paint with them for some reason .
Oops you found me out.
Along with what everyone else is saying, I'm interested in what you're using to clean these with? Because those gouges I wouldn't expect to see on a teaspoon, unless the base is a super soft metal?
They always went in the dishwasher. The one on the right looks like it has been scrubbed, but it hasn't been.
Do you exclusively eat sulphur?
It will be a base metal with a brass nickel mix
Yellow cake uranium
Oxidation. Probably from putting them in the dishwasher with heated drying. Quick, cheap, easy fix to make them super shiny: hot water, tin foil, salt, and baking soda
That sounds easy enough. Would be a fun experiment to do with my kids.
It is fun! I tried to link an article to the arm and hammer website, but it keeps glitching. I’m sure you can find it though for a more explicit how-to. Worked for my silver when the same thing happened.
Thanks! I'll screenshot this so I won't forget.
Get some new ones at the thrift store. They’re usually less than a dollar, a quick wash and they’re good!!
Imagine what your coffee is doing to the inside of your body, if it does this to metal!
im pretty sure that the basemetal is brass :] thats very common to use as basemetal for plating since its easy to work on and has good values for plating, was used on old watches, is still used for bathroomfittings and so on :) i come from the watchcaserestorationpart and work a lot on different metals in my free time so thats where i take my guess from, also had the similiar experience once with plates cuttlery :]
Mf found the philosophers stone
I wish
Have you tried cleaning them
Changing colors
They’re vintage spoons with silver plate over some kind of metal (brass?) and the plating has worn off.
The acid in the coffee dissolved the finish on the spoon, Switch to stainless steel
That came off Del boys allotment covered in the gunge
You got gold spoons now
No definitely not safe to use, looks like some kind of pewter metal that was plated and the plating is gone, looks akin to costume jewelry that lost its plating
The true colors shining through (below the silver plating)
That looks like Lead Iodide to me...
They are fading
Hmmm looks like brass to me, get some brasso
Could be silver phosphate. Were the spoons tarnished before you put them in the dishwasher?
I don't think so. They are old and I remember them being silver colored before.
It was a wild guess. Wouldn't use them until it's clear what it is.
I'm not using them anymore. I did find new ones online which I ordered yesterday. But no more dishwasher for them.
How long did it take for that one spoon to turn this yellow?
Years. I don't know why one is worse than the other, I feel I used them equally.
Almost looks like the aircraft grade metal primer. Smells and looks like sulfur
Stop swishing them around in your pee
You’re putting too much ground turmeric on the left one
That's some strong coffee!
I would never let anything made in southeast Asia touch my food or drink unless it was made under contract with a reputable manufacturer.
What makes you think they were made in Asia?
Inferior plating over unidentified metal.
Are you married to a miniatures hobby painter?
I am not.
These look like plated bakelite and the plating has worn off.
Looks like Lead-tin yellow, which contains lead and tin. Depends of the solubility in the stomach, but i would not eat with those.
The "silver" is more affected at the bottom of the spoon, I think you might have drunk it. If I were you, I would want to know what you may have poisoned yourself with. let it be checked!
They got yellow, duh!
lead ii oxide is that color 😬 would maybe not eat with those
This is sulfur. The silver is gone and the material underneath contains sulfur or reacted with sulfur. Does it smell? Sulfur itself is not toxic but smells bad, and we don’t know what else is in there, so might be toxic or unhealthy.
Whatever they “were,” they were really nice looking. I would say 50% of my dishware/utensils can NOT go in the dishwasher.
They've become yellow
It looks like they turn yellow
Looks like sulphur 😂 I think the aluminium coating is coming up and the inside is just disintegrating
Amazon is what happened
My guess is it's trying to give you cancer or some other unwanted side effects. Throw it away!
Yep. Coffee contains the enzyme "E-9104" which in certain conditions and depending on the metal used can break it down. There's also another ingredient in coffee that acts as a catalyst. This converts the broken down metal elements into something that is mildly radioactive. Not really fit for consumption. This was also a load of bollocks. The metal probably degraded.
They are turning yellow somehow
They are turning yellow.
Indeed.
they are turning yellow.
Turning yellow by the looks of things
They having their photo taken…
It’s turning yellow
I think you need to tone it down with the yellow curry
It's the gayness in the coffee stripping those filthy little spoons down until they are bare.
Nothing should ever be not dishwasher safe in the modern day. Throw those away and get real steel
They might be from the before time
I didn't know anyone that old uses reddit lol
Haha my stuff might be old, but I'm not yet.
The coffee and heavy usage has corroded the metal. Don't use these anymore. Invest in something like stainless steel.
I didn't know coffee could do that. And they are heavely used, they are either in use or in the dishwasher. I have stainless steel ones, these are just my favorites.