all for the crack!

[Urban Ayisha]

... in my ceramic mixing bowl that is! my favourite pink ceramic bowl has a large crack down the side; it shows on both sides. is it fixable? and how?!

[suziq]

sadly i'd say prolly not, but you could put a plant in it lol

[Urban Ayisha]

just did a little research... what about epoxy? but then theres the whole issue of getting into the crack, as the whole thing hasnt split in half yet (yet!!!). i'm gonna see what my dad says if no one knows - he loves this sort of thing! although a planter would look nice, suziq, if all else fails...

[suziq]

i've always felt that cracked items are vunerable to breaking at just the wrong moment and the old germs in the crack issue, also hot/cold expansion makes them weak or liable to break in a slightly explosive way.
i have a cracked oven dish i'm growing chillies in lol
i would like a ceramic mixing bowl, where did u get it?

[Urban Ayisha]

i think you're right, i tend not to use it for hot items though, just mixing batters etc. looks like this! i think its ceramic anyway... i thought they all were! it would look nice with a plant in if all else fails, i'd hate to chuck it. and i got it in tk max for £3, bargain!

[Urban Ayisha]

i've got a beautiful blue ceramic dish from poland that is like nothing ive ever seen... a bit like the one below imho but im so petrified of breaking it i dont let anyone else touch it or wash it up. wish in a sense means its bound to be me who breaks it, which will be worse in a way, but perhaps i can grow chillies in it......!

[Millymollymandy]

Don't grow anything in it! If you do place a plant in there then put a plant saucer under the pot as well, because otherwise you will get water marks and stains eventually that you just can't remove, and that's far too nice a bowl to ruin like that. Personally I'd just have it on display empty, or perhaps use for fruit. (I'm talking about the blue dish btw!)

[homegrown]

Great dish UA, why don't you make some home made pot-pouri and put that in it, or on special night fill with water and float candles in it

[suziq]

i've got plastic mixing bowls one i bought and one i gained, along with a hubby and 2 kids lol

next time dd1 drags me shopping..................

[grahamhobbs]

Several approaches to dealing with the crack

1. Ignore and make use of the bowl for something else, or if it doesn't leak, carry using it for mixing.

2. Open out the crack with a tiny drill and then use a suitable epoxy. Visually this is going to emphasise the crack.

3. Pull the bowl apart so it breaks and then glue the parts back.

None of the above are very satisfactory because cracks habour bacteria and (except for 3) the crack will continue to grow.

There is another trick which is to put the bowl in a saucepan of milk, slowly bring to simmer and then let cool. The crack, in terms of leaking, will be fixed. It is visually unobtrusive, but not sure about the hygeine aspect. But if you wash it before use and are only using for quick mixing jobs - would it be alright?

[MKG]

As far as kitchen use goes, your bowl is defunct ... it has passed away ... gone to the great bowl home in the sky - even if you get it repaired. But you can continue to use it for decorative purposes as is, just like many, many bits of antique pottery. Eventually, that crack will expand and the bowl will fall into two (if you're lucky) halves which can then be very neatly glued together. But I still wouldn't use it for food.

Mike

[Urban Ayisha]

thanks dudes!!