How to look after it
We sell objects meant to be used every day for decades, which only works if you know how each material behaves. None of this is complicated, and most of it is about what not to do.
Hand-thrown stoneware
Dishwasher safe on a normal cycle, and it will not fade — the glaze is fired to 1,260°C and is harder than the detergent. Avoid moving a piece straight from a hot oven to a cold surface; stoneware dislikes shock more than it dislikes heat. Tea and coffee will build a faint amber bloom inside a cup over a few years, which lifts out with bicarbonate of soda and a soft cloth.
Mouth-blown glass
Wash by hand in warm water with very little detergent, and dry with a linen cloth rather than leaving it to drain — the marks left by hard London water are the single most common complaint we get, and they are almost impossible to remove once they have etched. Never stack glasses; the weight is enough to crack a rim over time.
Linen
Wash at 40°C on a gentle cycle with a mild, enzyme-free detergent. It will soften for the first thirty washes and then stop changing. Line dry if you can, or tumble on low and take it out slightly damp. Do not use fabric conditioner: it coats the fibre and stops linen doing the one thing it is good at, which is moving water.
Brass & bronze
We supply brass unlacquered, which means it will darken. Left alone it settles into a soft brown within about eighteen months and stays there. If you would rather keep it bright, a little lemon juice and salt on a cloth will take it back in a minute, and you can repeat that indefinitely without damaging the metal.
Oiled wood
Wipe with a damp cloth and dry immediately — never soak, and never put wood in a dishwasher. Once or twice a year, or whenever the surface looks thirsty, rub in a food-safe hardwax oil with a lint-free cloth and leave it overnight. A board treated this way outlives the person who bought it.
Wool & mohair
Air it rather than washing it; wool is self-cleaning to a degree that surprises people. When it does need washing, use a wool cycle at 30°C or hand wash cool, then dry flat and away from direct sun. Pilling in the first season is normal and stops once the loose fibres have gone — a comb takes them off in a minute.
We would rather mend it than replace it.
If a piece breaks, tell us what happened before you throw it away. Lighting is rewireable and we hold spare shades, cords and ceiling roses for every lamp we have ever sold. Linen can be re-hemmed by the mill that wove it. Wooden boards can be resurfaced. Brass can always be brought back.
Ceramics and glass are the honest exception: a clean break can be joined but never made food-safe again, so we will normally offer you a replacement at cost rather than pretend otherwise. Email hello@formegoods.co.uk with a photograph and we will tell you truthfully which of those two you are looking at.
Made to be
used hard.
Every piece in the range is chosen because it survives the way people actually live. Browse the full edit.
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