Suggestions needed - how to add non-slip to melamine plates?

[josrulz]

Hi all,
There have been other threads on dinnerware, but I couldn't find an answer to this question when I searched. This weekend we finally started buying boat gear for our new boat. This was fun! Anyway, we decided to buy our dinnerware at Target--bought melamine that was about 25% of the cost from the standard marine outlets, and we like the look of them. We might just use non-skid placemats, but if we want to add something directly to the plates to keep them from sliding around, what do you suggest?

Should we use a bead of silicone, or some kind of pre-made "feet" (from Home Depot or something) that can be stuck on? This isn't the most important thing on my list of stuff to do for the boat, but I'm thinking it's likely that someone on the board has done this before.

Thanks as always!
-J

[hartb]

My wife bought some plates at target or something for the boat a while back. I haven't done it yet but my plan is to run a bead of silicone caulk around the bottom and then press it onto wax paper (on a flat surface of course) to flatten it out. I read that somewhere (maybe here on sailnet) once. I guess I'd better add that to the growing honey do list.

[US27inKS]

I was going to suggest doing exactly what hartb recommended. Bathtub silicone seems to work really well. It maintains a slightly tacky feel without being wet. The plates won't slide at all.

[josrulz]

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try. I hope it holds up to washing in the sink, though I suppose if it even holds up OK, we can re-silicone the dishes from time-to-time.
Thanks!
-J

[bljones]

rather than modifying the plates, I'd go with non-skid placemats. Get a roll of non-skid shelf liner, cut it into mats, and you're done. easy to do, easy to clean up, no worries about it coming off the plates due to overzealous scrubbing.

[camaraderie]

Ditto that blj...we had standard "china" plates and the mats worked great for us.

[sailingdog]

I'd recommend placemats instead of applying anything to the plates. Some of the silicone caulks have some really nasty—read cyanide-based—components that I'd rather keep as far from food serving surfaces as possible. You could use a kitchen/bath silicone though, since most of those aren't going to be having the nasty cyanates in them.

The advantage of the placemats is that they work for any cups, bottles, plates you may end up using.

[mgmhead]

China plates, plastic plates, mugs and bowls of all kinds, everything works well with non-skid place mats and non-skid shelf liner. That and quick reflexes should keep food and drink off the cabin and cockpit sole.

Works for me...MGM

[RanAweigh]

Yup! Don't make extra work for yourself. Get the rubbery woven shelf and draw lined (like the stuff for tool boxes but more colorful) Cut some into place mats and use the rest for shelves.

Silicone stuck on the bottom of the plate will leave nooks and crannies that bacteria will just LOVE. If the cyanide doesn't get you the bugs will

[josrulz]

Ha ha! All good points everyone. No reason why we can't try the placemats (which are usefull anyway), and then if we're just DYING for non-skid on the plates themselves, we can either add some bath/kitchen silicone then, or buy some non-skid plates. Our plates and bowls probably cost us a total of $30, so it's no huge deal if we change our minds later.

Thanks again!
-J