TL;DR
Stoneware and earthenware absorb what you soak them in, including soap. Scrape first, wash quickly in hot water with minimal or no detergent, and dry the piece completely before it goes back in the cabinet. Never soak an unglazed baker, and never move a cold piece into a hot oven.
Why These Materials Behave Differently
Stoneware is clay fired at high temperature, dense enough to hold liquid but not fully glass-like the way porcelain is. Earthenware is fired lower and is genuinely porous, which is why it is almost always glazed.
Glaze seals the surface, but it rarely covers everything. Foot rings are usually left unglazed, chips expose raw clay, and old glaze develops a fine crack network called crazing that lets liquid through.
Anywhere clay is exposed, the piece works like a sponge. It takes in water, soap, food liquid, and odor, and it gives them back slowly. General material rules for the rest of the cabinet are in the guide to cookware and glassware care by material.
Why Should You Not Soak Stoneware?
Because a porous body absorbs the soak. Water swells the clay, soap gets drawn in and later leaches into food, and trapped moisture causes a musty smell that no surface cleaning removes. In an unglazed baker, absorbed water turns to steam in the oven and can crack the piece outright.
A short rinse is fine. Leaving a piece submerged overnight is what causes trouble.
If a dish is heavily crusted, sit it with an inch of hot water in the bottom for twenty minutes rather than filling a sink and dropping it in.
How Do You Clean Glazed Stoneware Dinnerware?
Scrape with a rubber or nylon scraper, then wash in hot water with a small amount of dish soap and a non-scratch sponge. Rinse, dry with a cloth, and let the piece air dry fully before stacking. Skip long soaks and avoid abrasive powders, which dull matte glazes very quickly.
Matte and satin glazes need more care than glossy ones. They are microscopically rougher, so they hold stains and metal marks more readily.
Most glazed stoneware dinnerware is dishwasher safe. Check the underside, since handmade and imported pottery often is not.
Cleaning Unglazed Bakers and Pizza Stones
Do not use soap on unglazed stoneware. The clay absorbs detergent and releases it into your next batch of food, and that flavor does not wash out.
Let the piece cool completely, scrape the residue off with a plastic pan scraper or a stiff nylon brush, then rinse with hot water only. For stubborn spots, make a paste of baking soda and water, scrub gently, and rinse very thoroughly.
Dark patches on an unglazed baker are seasoning, not dirt. They build with use, improve the surface, and should be left alone.
Dry the piece completely before storing, which can take a full day. A stone put away damp smells musty and can crack the next time it is heated.
What About Thermal Shock?
Stoneware cracks from sudden temperature change. Put a cold dish into a preheated oven, or run cold water on a hot baker, and the two sides of the wall expand at different rates until something gives.
Bring a refrigerated stoneware casserole to room temperature before it goes in the oven, or start it in a cold oven and let both heat together. Let a hot dish cool on a rack before it goes anywhere near the sink.
This is the same failure mode that ruins glass bakeware and enameled cast iron, and it shows up again in a casserole dish with baked on cheese.
Removing Stains and Odors
For tannin and food staining on glazed pieces, a paste of baking soda and water on a soft cloth handles most of it, and the approach is the same one used in lifting a tannin ring out of a mug.
For odor in a porous piece, a paste of baking soda spread over the interior and left for an hour, then rinsed and dried fully, pulls out a surprising amount. Baking in a low oven can help drive off absorbed moisture, but bring the piece up with the oven rather than putting it into heat.
Do not use chlorine bleach on porous or crazed ceramics. It soaks in and never rinses fully out. Never combine bleach with vinegar, a descaler, or an ammonia-based cleaner, since those mixtures release toxic gas.
Crazing and What It Means
Crazing is the fine crack network you see in old glaze, caused by age and heat cycling. It is not a break in the body, but it does let liquid past the glaze, which is why crazed pieces develop brown lines from the inside.
Once tannin is inside a craze line, nothing removes it. The piece is still usable for dry service, and many people retire heavily crazed pieces from food use.
Hand washing in warm rather than hot water slows crazing considerably, which is the same logic behind how to wash fine china by hand.
When the kitchen and dining surfaces around your pottery need the same steady attention, scheduled house cleaning services cover them on a regular rotation.
FAQ
Why should you not soak stoneware?
Because the clay body absorbs the water and any soap in it. Absorbed detergent leaches into food later, trapped moisture causes a musty smell, and in an unglazed baker that water turns to steam in the oven and can crack the piece. Rinse quickly instead of soaking.
Can you use soap on unglazed stoneware?
No. Unglazed clay absorbs detergent and releases it into the next food you cook, and the taste does not wash out. Let the piece cool, scrape it with a plastic scraper or a stiff nylon brush, rinse with hot water only, and use a baking soda paste for stubborn spots.
Is stoneware dishwasher safe?
Most glazed stoneware dinnerware is, though the underside of the piece is the authority. Handmade, imported, and vintage pottery often is not, and unglazed bakers and pizza stones never are. Repeated hot cycles also accelerate crazing in glazes over the years.
How do you clean a pizza stone?
Let it cool completely, scrape residue off with a plastic pan scraper, and rinse with hot water only. Never use soap, since the stone absorbs it. Dark patches are seasoning rather than dirt and should be left alone. Dry the stone fully, which can take a day, before storing.
What is crazing on pottery?
Crazing is a network of very fine cracks in the glaze caused by age and heat cycling. The body underneath is intact, but liquid gets past the glaze and stains from within, which is why old pieces develop brown lines. It cannot be reversed, and hot dishwasher cycles accelerate it.
How do you get a musty smell out of stoneware?
Spread a paste of baking soda and water over the interior, leave it for an hour, rinse thoroughly, and dry the piece completely, which may take a full day. The smell is usually trapped moisture in the clay, so the drying step matters more than the cleaning step.
Can stoneware go from the refrigerator into the oven?
Not into a preheated one. Sudden temperature change cracks stoneware, so either bring the dish to room temperature first or place it in a cold oven and let the two heat together. The same rule applies in reverse: let a hot dish cool on a rack before it touches water.
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