ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Plated ware

Okay, so let's say you have a cool toy car that you really like to play with. But, over time, it gets scratched up and starts to look old and worn out. You still love playing with it and want it to look shiny and new again, right?

Well, that's kinda what happens with silverware and other metal dishes that people use for fancy dinners and special occasions. Over time, they can get scratched or tarnished (that means they turn brownish or grayish instead of shiny). So, what people sometimes do is they cover the metal with another type of metal that looks really shiny and pretty, like gold or silver.

That's called plated ware. It's like putting a shiny, new coat on your toy car so it looks awesome again. The process of plating starts by cleaning the metal and putting it in a special solution that makes the new shiny metal stick to it. Then, they cover it with a really thin layer of the new metal.

The cool thing about plated ware is that it makes the metal look super fancy and expensive, but it's not as pricey as solid gold or silver. So, for special occasions like weddings or fancy dinners, people can use plated ware to make everything look really elegant and sophisticated.

And that's plated ware, in a nutshell. It's like giving your old metal dishes a fancy makeover so they can be the star of the dinner table.