Review on Oneida 2750045H Colonial 45 Piece Flatware by Aaron Ward

After endless shopping to find a flatware set to complement my 20 year old Oneida I settled on this simple pattern. I have to admit that all the negative reviews worry me; However, I took a leap of faith because I wanted an 8 service at a reasonable price. Before using the cutlery, I hand washed and dried each piece with regular dishwashing liquid (Dawn). Since then (I've had the set for about a month now) I've been running it through the dishwasher daily, alternating Finish Powerball Tabs and Ecover (all natural) with Finish Rinse. I live in a very hard water area and my dishwasher is just over a year old. I've never had a problem with rust or stains, and only occasionally do I see dirty stains on the dishes; I do, however, chalk it up to overcrowded baskets or foods that are too sticky like dried mustard, tomato sauce, etc. I don't soak cutlery for long, but if I have a few they don't end up in the dishwasher, so just hand wash them and let them dry. Based on my experience with this set, I can recommend it unreservedly. I love its simple yet very attractive design, how it feels (not heavy at all, it's comfortable and light), how it looks when I set the table and how it works with my existing set. 7-28-12 *** Well, my first rave review went awry. Every knife is now rusty and almost every part has water stains that don't move even when these parts are hand dried. I use Finish Powerball tablets all the time after reading that many eco-friendly cleaning products contain citrus oils which can actually cause problems, but to no avail. The set rusted before I switched and now they're just ugly. I keep them for outdoor use, picnics, hikes and the like; However, I can't recommend them as highly as I used to. One star for comfort and weight; no for durability.