What are you still using that you got a long time ago thinking it will do for now?

[thepastisanothercountry]

I've just put the veg on to steam and realised that I bought the steamer pan I'm using for a fiver in 1999. It was from an end of line / bargain type shop and I remember thinking it would be useful until I got something better.

I didn't think I'd still be using it several times a week in 2021!

A clunky steam mop with a cable about an inch long. I have to plug the damn thing in three different places just to do my kitchen floors.

@DeedledeDee

Pink Floral sheets my mum bought in 1970,. Very 70s pattern.

The cotton is so much thicker and nicer which is why they've lasted over 50 years!!

Can we see a pic?

[quote Chickydoo]@StCharlotte I have the exact same IKEA grater. [/quote]
I have the IKEA grater. And one for the caravan. Really no point in having a fancier one is there 😂

Our house! It was supposed to be a starter gone to get us on the property ladder, but we've been here nearly a decade. It's definitely too small now, we just can't face the hassle of moving.

My grandma’s lemon juicer. It doesn’t even have a base any more so you have to put the pointy bit in a basin. Presume she bought it when she got married. In 1941.

Also my foot on the housing ladder tiny old house. Still here after 22 years.

Colander from when I started at uni. It’s chunky and beige from Woolworths.

Also an electric whisk from when I started at uni. Nearly 30 years old.

Quite a lot of kitchen stuff from uni days, some of which predates that as it was hand me downs then and two jumpers I used to wear at sixth form, I am 43. Oh and my Just Seventeen comb, but we covered that on a previous thread.

A Pair of cheap pink plastic sunglasses from the Avon catalogue in 1992. I bought them to round up the order. They still look brand new and are now being worn by my 15 year old dd who loves the look of vintage styles. She is currently also wearing her dad's polytechnic sweater as its her favourite shade of green. That is older than the shades.

Slippers I bought for university in 1995. From Boots, iirc…

We also have an ugly silver Beko fridge that was the ex display model. I think it cost £40 and we needed something to tide us over. That is nearly 20 years old

@Dilbertian

Our kitchen! It was already nearly 30y old when we bought our house. Replacing it was going to be the first big job.

Fifteen years later...

Hang fire another 2/3 years and it’ll probably come back in to fashion!

I'm another one still using a plastic colander! Purchased from Sainsbury's, in the 1990s, and a temporary stop gap until I could afford a nice metal one. It's grey.

We've had a spider plant for 17 years. I picked it up in ikea as thought 'cheap and cheerful, it'll do'.

I've had to repot the damn thing three times. We've moved house with it also three times. I literally remember to water it four times a year and still it survives

@Burnerphone21

Pizza cutter the roller kind that belonged to a boyfriend I had until 2001. I sharpened it last year. It was used on a first Ish date when the pizza fell out of the oven and he was really embarrassed. He was a lovely man I wish I was still in touch with.

A bottle opener from when I worked in the fat cat in Leicester city centre around 20 years ago.

The tommee tippee weaning pots from the dds when they were little. Expect I'm not the only one.

I still use the Tommee Tippee pots, and my kids are teenagers! They're great for freezing herbs etc

My nans slow cooker. "That'll do for uni" my dad said
It's still going. It has an on/off switch, no heat settings and refuses to die!

I've actually lost my fave sheet if anyone has any recommendations. It was originally from a hospital I think, just a flat white one but proper thicker cool cotton and brilliant for summer and it felt quite heavy

I still have an M&S satin nightie which was bought for my 13th birthday. I'm 44, and though it's been worn a lot, it's still in good condition

May have been one of the first times my mum came to stay (late 90s?), I picked up a filter coffee machine for about £15 at Woolworth's. A couple of the tiny plastic bobbles have broken off where parts hinge, so you have to hold the lid on to pour and gently finesse the filter cone in and out, but the coffee is good, stays hot and doesn't drip everywhere and I can't be arsed to research new coffee machines so we will keep it until it dies.

An ironing board that I picked up from a skip outside my student house in 1992. Because I've had it so long, I'm going to keep it until I die...

@NotMyCat

My nans slow cooker. "That'll do for uni" my dad said It's still going. It has an on/off switch, no heat settings and refuses to die!

I've actually lost my fave sheet if anyone has any recommendations. It was originally from a hospital I think, just a flat white one but proper thicker cool cotton and brilliant for summer and it felt quite heavy

That sounds like a linen sheet, not cotton. They're proper sheets!

I am still using a great metal whisk, and a pyrex measuring jug, that I
bought in 1966 just before I got married. I knew that I would always use them though, as I never replace anything that's still good. I have also got a couple of cotton bed sheets and two pillow cases, white ones, edged in a lemon coloured embroidery, still in good condition. I bought them in the USA, when i lived there for three years in the 1970's

@ThereWeAreThen79

A Pair of cheap pink plastic sunglasses from the Avon catalogue in 1992. I bought them to round up the order. They still look brand new and are now being worn by my 15 year old dd who loves the look of vintage styles. She is currently also wearing her dad's polytechnic sweater as its her favourite shade of green. That is older than the shades.

Please can we see the shades? Not on your dd just the shades I'm fascinated

My job!
I started in a very junior clerical role straight out of 6th form to earn some money so I could go to uni.
20 years, a lot of hard work, 4 promotions later I’m still here in a career I never even dreamed of, and my company paid my uni fees!

I took my old chest of drawers and bedside table with me when I moved into my first rented house. They are 21 years old and now serving time in my DDs room. I will eventually replace them when I redecorate her room but I think I'll be sad to see them go.

@AgnesPerdita

I took my old chest of drawers and bedside table with me when I moved into my first rented house. They are 21 years old and now serving time in my DDs room. I will eventually replace them when I redecorate her room but I think I'll be sad to see them go.

I forgot the given things almost feels like a betrayal. When my mum left my v abusive dad she had one suitcase and eff all but she did have some very quirky friends (a deaf silver spoon dealer and an actor who played the monsters in vintage dr who) who were well used to getting by on pence. They used to randomly turn up at the house with furniture for her because it was going v cheap or on the street or whatever. We have kept some. I have a pair of 40's utility chairs that have been painted all colours over the years that I will never part with because they were the dining chairs in my mums tiny house. There's a chest of drawers that moves between our houses that's similar. This is quite an emotive thread isn't it.

@idontiron

A stainless steel teapot that doesn't drip, bought before we got married, 54 years ago! DS wants us to leave it to him in our will.

How lovely!