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I’ve got some (partially glazed) clay dishes, the kind that are used often for Spanish tapas or as containers for some soft French goat cheese:

clay dish

The problem: the clay draws in a lot of moisture when cleaning and they are continually damp. As a consequence, they mould very easily (both on the glazed and the unglazed surfaces). I’m already storing them on an open shelf and stack them shifted to let air enter but that doesn’t prevent the mould.

Surely there must be a way to store them safely – after all, they are used quite commonly in some kitchens.

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  • Even though the countries where are mostly used are much drier than the UK, I can keep these in Germany (where mildewed bathrooms are common) without any mold or dampness. I can even store the unglazed ones, or one-side-glazed, without any problems. Not sure what the difference in handling them might be, maybe you are putting them through a dishwasher?
    – rumtscho ♦
    Jan 20, 2014 at 19:38
  • @rumtscho Handwash only, and my parents, who live in a dry place in southern France, actually have the same problem.
    – Konrad Rudolph
    Jan 20, 2014 at 22:44

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The trick is not storage, but washing. These types of dishes soak up loads of water if you dip them in. I wash these types of dishes in an empty sink and then try them right away. I would also never put them into the dishwasher.

If they get too damp you need to dry them our, the best way I've found is to warm an oven, turn it off, and then to put the dishes in leaving the door cracked open. The heat will drive the moisture out and the open door will allow the moisture to escape.

As for storage a dry cupboard should do just fine.

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