Yep, I’ve had rusting on the blades of my Lenox knives from early on. It kind of comes and goes. Sometimes I’ll be hitting them with BKF every couple weeks, but I haven’t done it in a while and I just checked but don’t have any worth phographing to post at the moment.

I took them to Lenox when it first happened, but oddly they said they wouldn’t replace them because they were part of a set. How does that make sense?

Anyway, even after cleaning with BKF I’m left with the blades looking minorly pitted. They’re never perfect.

Here’s an example. This knife is clean. The rust spot is small, but you can see tons of pitting from prior rusting.

Is this because the knife blades are a different metal than the handles?

I have never had this happen with my every day SS flatware. It is a simple set of Mikasa 18/10.

They’re all one piece so unless they went out of their way to make a bad design…

The new stainless is not always as good. It has less steel and will rust and pit. It also leaves those gray marks on some didhes.

It's a shame they do not stand behind their product. You should not have to scrub them with BKF to keep the rust away. Phooey on that. I would replace the set.

Thanks Kevin. I couldn't remember the numbers.

In my research today I did see that knivessometimes contain more carbon steel to make them harder.

@foodonastump Your knife may be a good one. Knives are made differently than flatware and use different metallurgy. Good knifes are made of alloy steel and short of tool steel made to be hard to stay sharp. A high end knife will rust, does your knife hold a good edge?

This is flatware, really nosharp edge to hold. I just looked at the box (we had been given two sets, I use the second for replacements) and it’s 18/8. I do see a limited lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. Hmm.

My curiosity took me to the Lenox website. They do give a promise and maybe it's time to take them up on it.

https://www.lenox.com/pages/replacement-promise

I've never had any stainless flatware rust, except miscellaneous pieces that I left outside. Like, odd pieces that I used to scrape yogurt out of the container for the possums. All of my stainless I bought used, and it doesn't all match. My favorite pieces are old from Belgium. I like a certain weight to it. I don't buy any that is lightweight, and I am picky about the tines, on my favorite pieces. I do have a set made in Japan, 1968, that is packed up somewhere, and I plan to eBay it by the sets of knives, forks, spoons, etc. At first I was going to keep it, but have decided that the odd pieces I have picked up over the years in thrifts, I like as well or better. Anyway, when I complained about rust on my stainless steel revolver...due to me not taking good care of it, and I gave it to my brother, he said "It is stain-less. Not stain proof."

My favorite stainless steel set is a setting for 4 that my dad got for opening a new account at bank that was new to our area. Remember when they used to give things away? That was in the late '60's and I have never had any piece rust. I've managed to lose 2 of the larger size forks which bugs me no end. I should look into getting them replaced.

ETA I just found 2 forks on Replacement.com. I am so happy I will have a full set again.

The new stainless is not always as good.

I think you are on to something there. Maybe the grade or mix is different in some newer flatware?

The 2 things that stood out in my present set that has never rusted is that it is older and it was made in Japan. So I found a used set on Ebay that was older, made in Japan, and a similar pattern to what I have now, and going by weight companisons of the set, is a heavier weight than many sold today, and the pictures showed the set to be in excellent condition and no rust. So, I look forward to getting them.

I have newer 18/10 and older (1970's) 18/10 and they are definitely different somehow. The knife blades of the newer set get rust spots that I have to polish off with Barkeeper's Friend. The older set never gets rust marks. I would check eBay, @Lucille, to see if you can find the missing pieces to your older set. I think you will be happier in the long run with the quality.

I've never found rust on my flatware. I have three patterns - one of those are buffet servings kept for a crowd (dinner knife, dinner fork, soup spoon), they are in the built-in in dining room mostly these last two years ;) All of mine are Oneida 18/10, including a set bought more than 50 years ago for $2 and Betty Crocker coupons for each 5-piece place setting. We still use them! The third, or middle set we've had maybe 15 years. My sister had picked out upgraded flatware and I'd been adding to her pattern for her for several years. When it occurred to me I was buying more stylish silverware for her than we had for ourselves - and now often find myself 'over silverwared', my energy for feeding that many people at once not as high as it once was. But no rust and no pieces missing.

Surely like so many things these days - companies or their suppliers cutting corners when they can get away with it!

The latest stainless steel set I bought was about 12 years ago, it was "Reed & Barton Everyday" and no rusting so far.

Fun2BHere, your advice is good and I will keep an eye out for the pieces in my missing Oneida set when I see them at a reasonable price. But I also bought an older set from a different company that is close to my pattern.

Lucille You should post the pattern you are trying to find replacements for here. Since Oneida was a popular brand back in the day maybe some one here would have some pieces they no longer use in your pattern.

If you go to the Oneida website and sign up for emails, they will send out discount codes fairly often.

I had this happen at one house that I lived in, it had to have been the water because it didn't matter how expensive they were, they would come out of the DW with rust on the knives. I had been using an old set and it rusted so I thought it had just worn out so I bought new, they rusted so I took them back and got Oneida and it rusted too. That was when it dawned on me it was the water in our "new" home. I gave the first set to my sister and she is still using them...HAHA! That was 20+ years ago!

So maybe people complaining of rust is just their water or maybe the dish detergent that they were using?

I would be happy to give Lucille some Onieda flatware if mine was a match. I have two incomplete sets that are not in use. No rust :)

I have the Oneida Northland Baton Rouge. But I am waiting until next week until I get the used set I bought today made by Stanley Roberts (I never heard of them) that looks similar to see if I really like it, before hunting down replacements. How kind of y'all to think of me:)

Never, and have bought some pretty thin, cheap stuff over the years.

I’ve never had any rust I don’t put sharp knives in the dishwasher

I put dinner knives in the dishwasher but not steak or chef style knives. They should not rust either way. Hope you have some success with the company replacing them.

I'm not surprised your knife stained. I bet it was a good one that could be sharpened. This may be the reason: There are two classes of stainless steel that are in popular use. These are the the 300 series and 400 series. The 300 series are stainless, but the 400 series, not so much. The 400 series will stain Common stainless alloys are 302 and 303 stainless. The problem is that the 300 series metal does not make good cutting knives. It is impossible to give it a sharp edge with conventional abrasive stones whereas a 400 series can be sharpened.

300 series: You can have a good looking, dull knife.

400 series: You can have a stained sharp knife.

Carbon steel: Gives the sharpest knife, but rusts.

I don't think I will hunt for replacements. I got the set I ordered from a different company on Ebay and the pattern is so close I have to really look to see a difference, and the weights seem the same, so I am happy I hunted down a good used set and didn't get one of the new sets on Amazon that the comments say are rusting.

Update to my case: After not hearing back from Lenox for over two weeks, I wrote back this weekend asking if they were planning to honor the warranty. Today I got their response: The pattern isn’t made anymore, check replacements.com

I contrast this with Calphalon, who recently sent me a $400 set of cookware because they couldn’t replace some 20 year old pieces.

Anyway, eventually I’ll replace the flatware, and I know where I will NOT be shopping!