Vintage PYREX Borosilicate Measuring Cup (pre-1998)
by Pyrex
3 endorsements on r/BuyItForLife first recommended in Jan 2025
Older PYREX-branded glass measuring cups (made before Corning sold the consumer cookware line in 1998) were manufactured from borosilicate glass, identified by an all-uppercase "PYREX" logo. These are commonly found secondhand at thrift stores and are prized over modern soda-lime versions for their resistance to sudden temperature changes.
Added Jul 5, 2026, Updated Jul 7, 2026
Why it's buy-it-for-life
Redditors report that pre-1998 PYREX measuring cups were made of borosilicate glass, which handles rapid temperature swings (freezer to oven) far better than the soda-lime glass used in cookware after Corning sold the consumer line in 1998. Thrift-store shoppers seek these out specifically for their durability, though several commenters caution the all-caps-vs-lowercase logo heuristic isn't fully reliable and that borosilicate is more prone to shattering on impact even as it resists thermal shock.
What redditors say
Recommended on reddit as recently as March 2025
Show 1 more mention
- 1r/BuyItForLife comment
So are Pyrex measuring cups.
Buy your PYREX measuring cups from thrift stores if you want them last a lifetime... SO, you want the old ones with PYREX spelled all in caps.
old PYREX and fire king works just as well and you can get it for nothing in great condition
the lowercase pyrex logo was introduced in the 70s and both logos were used interchangeably... so lowercase pyrex borosilicate pieces definitely do exist.
Borosilicate glass... doesn't really suffer from thermal shock. BUT IT IS WEAK TO IMPACT AND SHATTERS INTO INVISIBLE RAZOR SHARDS.
That caps vs. lowercase thing has been debunked. Corning's introduction of soda-lime-glass-based Pyrex in the 1940s predates the introduction of the all lowercase logo by nearly 30 years.
I have probably 40 pieces of soda-lime pyrex and they work just as well.