Inventions that may be utter bollocks...

Poobs2022 · 20/10/2025 15:58

Arlanymor · 19/10/2025 18:49

... Salad spinners - I mean, why? Wash your leaves, blot them. Why the need to take them on a 60-second merry-go-round?

Am I missing something? Are there other examples?

I grew up using the lid as a steering wheel while playing bus driver with my grandad so it was useful 😂

PistachioTiramisu · 20/10/2025 14:06

Chiseltip · 20/10/2025 11:02

See, I thought this until I remarked to a friend how fluffy her rice was (mine was always sticky) and she told me about her rice cooker.

Never going back to the stove top method.

Show quote history

I don't eat rice often but have never used a rice cooker because my mother gave me the best method of cooking it. Obviously rinse before putting rice into water for boiling, when it's finished absorbing water rinse the whole lot through again in a sieve and allow to drain. Put into serving dish with a knob of butter and heat through in the oven. Lovely - not sticky but fluffy! Anyone else do this?

HelpMeGetThrough · 20/10/2025 14:02

LillyPJ · 20/10/2025 13:36

I do wash lettuce and other fruits and veg, just because it tells me to on the packet (I've always been obedient!) But I do wonder what I'm supposed to be washing off. I'm slmost sure they can't sell stuff covered in pesticides etc and I doubt if a quick rinse in cold water is enough to remove some deadly bacteria or germ.

Show quote history

I’m immunosuppressed and haven’t died from a rogue lettuce leaf yet.

Plenty of other things have had a try, but not old Liz the Lettuce.

LillyPJ · 20/10/2025 13:36

HelpMeGetThrough · 20/10/2025 12:59

Oh well, that’s me screwed. I don’t bother washing lettuce. Just whack, wang, chuck, toss, throw (delete where applicable) on a plate and eat it.

I do wash lettuce and other fruits and veg, just because it tells me to on the packet (I've always been obedient!) But I do wonder what I'm supposed to be washing off. I'm slmost sure they can't sell stuff covered in pesticides etc and I doubt if a quick rinse in cold water is enough to remove some deadly bacteria or germ.

IHateEmptyPockets · 20/10/2025 13:26

soupyspoon · 19/10/2025 19:37

What? How big is this salad spinner for gods sake?

Show quote history

Have you got a mental image of one the size of a washing machine with a giant crank handle on it? 'Cause I have...

ThisGentleRaven · 20/10/2025 13:19

I am still confused anyone would "blot" their salad leaves and think it's an improvement 😂

Avie29 · 20/10/2025 13:19

TwinklyStork · 19/10/2025 20:03

Non-touch soap dispensers. You’re literally about to wash your hands.

literally just came on here to say this haha xx

BreadstickBurglar · 20/10/2025 13:11

TwinklyStork · 19/10/2025 20:03

Non-touch soap dispensers. You’re literally about to wash your hands.

I think this every single time.

At work we have a lot of doors that only open properly if you press a button. Yes I’m sure that is a good facility for people in wheelchairs (albeit not if the button is halfway across the room and behind you) but for those who aren’t what was wrong with the traditional method of door opening? It couldn’t have been more user friendly. Shove.

HelpMeGetThrough · 20/10/2025 12:59

Oh well, that’s me screwed. I don’t bother washing lettuce. Just whack, wang, chuck, toss, throw (delete where applicable) on a plate and eat it.

comeondover · 20/10/2025 12:40

Rozendantz · 19/10/2025 19:46

Crimpit. The 1st time I used it I broke a rib granted I'm clumsy and accident prone, but still

Juicers - those things where you chuck random fruit in and it extracts the liquid from the pulp to produce fruit juice. Fine in theory, but almost impossible to clean the fruit from the fine mesh, no matter how much you scrub it.

You can line the mesh with filter paper. I can't remember where I got it from, sorry, but it saved so much hassle. I haven't had a juicer for years now though, and am hoping it was unbleached paper, otherwise I'd have been knocking back traces of bleach alongside my ultra healthy juices!

Doingtheboxerbeat · 20/10/2025 12:10

whenallthesconesaregone · 20/10/2025 11:24

Ok, so I know millions of people disagree, but I can’t see the draw for rice cookers. My stove top rice is great, and my kitchen’s tiny and already rammed with gadgets I don’t use much, but just enough to keep. Are Asia and Mumsnet wrong?? 😱

I'm the same, but I guess I don't eat rice all that much to justify the need and I quite like the way I make it myself.

whenallthesconesaregone · 20/10/2025 11:24

Ok, so I know millions of people disagree, but I can’t see the draw for rice cookers. My stove top rice is great, and my kitchen’s tiny and already rammed with gadgets I don’t use much, but just enough to keep. Are Asia and Mumsnet wrong?? 😱

60andcounting · 20/10/2025 11:13

Nourishinghandcream · 19/10/2025 19:30

Salad spinner is great.

When we chop & wash a whole iceberg lettuce, it tends to go brown after 1-2 days but drying it in the spinner makes it last 3-days (or longer).

An iceberg lettuce will last for weeks if you just take the leaves you need as and when.

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 20/10/2025 11:10

I grow my own lettuces and just used to give them a cursory rinse, shake them dry in my hand and pop them on the plate.

That was until the recent Night of the Slug. Now I was them very, very thoroughly (but still shake them dry in my hand).

didntlikeanyofthesuggestions · 20/10/2025 11:04

Team ricer cooker. Utterly essential.

Chiseltip · 20/10/2025 11:04

NeedAnyHelpWithThatPaperBag · 19/10/2025 19:08

I remember the Innovations Catalogue was a thing for a while and as interesting to me to flick through, as the Ikea and Argos catalogues 😁

That was my TicTok back in the day.

Chiseltip · 20/10/2025 11:02

Garamousalata · 19/10/2025 19:05

Rice cooker. Utterly pointless as you can cook rice perfectly well in a pan on the hob. I’ll get my coat…..

See, I thought this until I remarked to a friend how fluffy her rice was (mine was always sticky) and she told me about her rice cooker.

Never going back to the stove top method.

Fishingboatbobbingnight · 20/10/2025 09:59

Garamousalata · 19/10/2025 19:05

Rice cooker. Utterly pointless as you can cook rice perfectly well in a pan on the hob. I’ll get my coat…..

Could not disagree more. Virtually the whole of Asia has a rice cooker ! You don’t need to watch it. You put it in, press the button and get back to work/farming/housework… rice is kept warm, never burns and when you eat rice 3x a day - keeping an eye on the hob is a massive waste of time - that can be used more productively. Wouldn’t be without it.

deeahgwitch · 20/10/2025 09:54

soupyspoon · 19/10/2025 20:01

Avoid all bags of salad stuffs

Replace with a bag of oven chips

Show quote history

Love it @soupyspoon😂

Mondaytuesdayhappydays · 19/10/2025 22:49

saltandvinegarchipsticks · 19/10/2025 19:49

I can still hear the sound, and it’s been years. Never leaves you.

Show quote history

Haunting…

LillyPJ · 19/10/2025 21:28

FunMustard · 19/10/2025 21:24

I prefer a salad spinner to using kitchen roll. Gets it dryer and also doesn't unnecessarily use kitchen roll. I don't use it for lettuce much though.

I use a clean tea towel. Bigger surface than kitchen towel and less wasteful.

TheSwarm · 19/10/2025 21:25

Generative AI.

pIum · 19/10/2025 21:24

I think some people have forgotten that lettuces are grown in soil. If you grow your own, they need a wash first.

FunMustard · 19/10/2025 21:24

I prefer a salad spinner to using kitchen roll. Gets it dryer and also doesn't unnecessarily use kitchen roll. I don't use it for lettuce much though.

Onefortheroad25 · 19/10/2025 21:21

The egg frying things that you put in the pan for perfectly round fried eggs. But they just stick to the pan and the egg sticks to them and they are a bastard to wash.