DP has just broke my dryer

As you wish.

Nope, not buying that.

My house/home, ok. But "my dryer" definitely indicates ownership of the laundry duties.

I now own my household appliances because I live alone, use them alone and pay for them. But when I was married it was "The" washer, dryer, whatever. Because it was simply a household item.

I call my home my home, even though two of us live here and I didn't buy it. It's a figure of speech.

@Pinkdreams have to say that my biggest issue is that you called it "my" dryer.

I assumed you meant hair dryer. But a tumble dryer is co-owned surely? If its yours then how so? Doesnt he do laundry?
If it needs cleaning under, why is it just you doing the cleaning?

I guess that you have been brought up with "blue" jobs and "pink" jobs? YOur name being a bit of a giveaway.

ETA that the only time I clean under any kitchen appliance is when the knackered one goes out of the house and I do a quick scrub before the next one goes in!

Thank you.

@goingroundthebendatthisrate fascinating, I had no idea!

Glad you got some good advice OP. Its the same as most things - only easy if you know. Don't let other people's rudeness put you off

That makes a huge difference historically, as it was pretty much only the UK who ever had appliances sold without plugs as standard. There were two reasons for this, one being a consequence of another.

Initially, the UK had no standardization of plugs and wall sockets - until the 1940s, there were 2 different types of 2-pin plug and 3 different types of 3-pin plug, all of them round-pin, unfused, and each requiring their own size of socket. There was also another type of plug which allowed appliances to be connected to a light socket. Most homes had a mixture of all types of socket, but not always in the same room.

Therefore, any plug fitted to a new appliance by the manufacturer had a very good chance of not fitting into the socket of the customer, and added to which, even if it worked in one room, it may not have fitted the socket in another. Adaptors to overcome this (and to allow multiple appliances to be plugged in all at once) were everywhere.

In the 1940s, standardization began, with the arrival of the 3-pin fused plug, which had rectangular pins and a range of standards within the design which made it safer than ever. However, the plug itself was not inexpensive, and the culture of selling appliances without plugs continued, as it saved a lot of money on the cost of the plug and the labour fitting it, reducing the retail price of the appliance.

During the 1970s, it became increasingly popular for large appliances (such as kitchen appliances) to be supplied with plugs attached, similarly for high-end appliances such as vacuum cleaners from Miele and Vax (who initially sold a very expensive carpet cleaning system, unlike the cheap crap they peddle today). Also appliances that were exclusive to the Electricity Board showrooms had plugs, and some retailers who thought they were a cut above would too - I know Marks & Spencer table lamps had plugs fitted to them while British Home Stores didn't (although like so many retailers, they'd cheerfully sell you a new plug).

All this changed in 1995, after it was considered too many people were blowing themselves up when fitting plugs in a haphazard way, and from thereon in, all new appliances had to have factory fitted plugs as standard.

It used to be taught in school, but for decades now every new appliance has been sold with a plug attached after they changed the law to make it so. It's not surprising people don't know how to change a plug or even that it's possible.

That made me laugh! I’m in NI and we always insulted each other as kids with ‘ya tube’🤣🤣 Haven’t heard it in years.

Wow why so rude and snotty especially @StMarie4me @PashaMinaMio @KatieDidIt @ContraryNoodle ?

Other pp have managed to reply and help op without being so condescending and downright rude.

How were you taught to change a plug but never taught manners?

I'm embarrassed for you

You can cut the plug off and strip a bit of the wire. You just need to make sure you use the right fuse in the new plug.

I'd be the same as you don't worry, and as you mentioned, it is a much larger electrical item that will be using lot of power to run. So, of course you will want to know how to go about this safely (good on you!)

Me being me, and because of its size, i would just pay an electrician for peace of mind 😆 even if others said I could do it myself.

Be sure to check the sockets also, incase it was plugged in at the time.

I'm with you OP, I have never ever heard of anyone rewiring their own plugs, and i would've thought it was an electrician job.
I'm not in the UK though, if that makes a difference.

And how often do you find that you need to change/fit a plug?

I remember needing to do so frequently 25+ years ago; recently, not so much. We also didn't have smartphones with YouTube on them back then, so we could instantly find a reliable guide if we didn't know how to do it anyway.

Actually, I think, with the internet, people's worlds have become much, much bigger. We know that there is so much specialist information out there, and so many specialist skills, that there's no point in any one individual trying (and failing miserably) to learn everything.

What on earth would be the point nowadays in investing your time trying to learn 1,000 different little skills that you might possibly end up needing three of in any given decade, when you can grab something from your pocket, press a few buttons and have an expert guiding you through it within half a minute?

If older people criticise younger people for not knowing how to do something that has been largely obsolete for decades, surely they could just as easily counter that and mock the older folk for not even knowing how to do something as simple as using an internet search engine!

I am in my 70s and I was never taught at school how to change a plug

And thankfully I now have no need to do it

I genuinely do not understand what difference the type of dryer is in respect of putting a new plug on it. Please educate me.

I've gone all health and safety 🤣

@Pinkdreams

Is your tumble dryer a condenser (see I'm old but never had a tumble!) or a... Hose?

If there is any chance of condensation build up then don't be changing plugs or plates regardless of knowledge.

I think us old folk (!) sometimes forget that the most electrical use was given to a kettle or a 3 bar electric heater with a dodgy frayed brown wire surround, some red electrical tape and everyone steered clear knowing it was a death trap. My word - don't try and dry your polyester suits too closely!

Wall socket plate safer to replace than a plug probably but whatever you do,
switch electric off at mains first!

Before January 1995, factory fitted plugs were entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer. Unless you started buying appliances in your teens, at 50 you wouldn't remember anything different, unless the absence of plugs on appliances had caused dramas in your childhood household...it did in mine, as my father was useless at wiring plugs safely, so plugs often went with a bang after being used for a while. Also, many a mother would go berserk when removing an infrequently used appliance from a cupboard, only to find someone had robbed the plug off it for something else.

Well I read this as a Scottish person where “tube” is an insult 😅

“Just change the plug, you tube!”

I could never write a cheque properly, and avoided them at all costs. For everyone who is saying that wiring a plug is easy, then why the f* did the law change to ensure all new appliances had plugs fitted to them? I'll tell you why - it was because a hell of a lot of people were incapable of wiring a plug properly and safely. It may have been a skill that we all depended on, but a lot of people were poor at it.

How to wire a plug was the only - and I mean the ONLY - thing I found interesting or remembered in Physics at school😆 And I must admit it has come in useful, unlike calculating the speed of a marble rolling down a slope and suchlike. My 16yo knows how to wire a plug.

By law, plugs have been factory fitted to new appliances since January 1995. However, many manufacturers started the process around two or more years earlier, as it was well known for years in advance that the day would come.

If you are 28, there is no way I would have expected you to have needed to change a plug, let alone know how to do it off the top of your head. Ignore anyone who thinks differently.

Yep it always popped up in a GCSE science exam.

Not that we had physics, chemistry or biology separately. I have GCSEs in Science 1 and... Science 2!