After about two months of use, the dinner and salad plates get black marks. I have to use Bar Keepers Friend to remove the marks. I did not have this problem with bone china. There was nothing in the care instructions about this tendency and had to contact you to learn that this is NORMAL. If I knew this, I probably would have bought bone. I do like the way ithe set looks when the black marks are removed (every two monts or so). I will not use plates for guests that have the black marks.