Things you buy once and then make do with for the rest of your life

[Ubiquery]

Cutlery sets. Has anyone ever changed their cutlery set? If so, why and what did you do with the old set. I reckon I will have mine for the rest of my life and never change them.

DP has just chipped another bowl this morning. Most of our crockery set is chipped so I'm toying with breaking them all up for crocking and buying a new one. It'd cost about £25 but feels incredibly wasteful and decadent.

My mum has had the same towels all of my life. None of them match. They are threadbare and patchy. I find it so sad. I wonder why she doesn't just use them all for rags and buy a brand new bale so that they all match and are clean and fluffy.

What things have you bought once and reckon you'll never replace even if you should (my mum's towels) or could (my cutlery set)?

@Chemenger

I have an IKEA Extending dining table that I bought around 1990. It now lives in the garage in pieces and only comes in at Christmas. It is so solid that I can’t see us ever getting rid of it.

I have a Billy bookcase from IKEA bought in 1978, long before they were in the UK and some Christmas decorations from the same place and era.

I forgot -- I also have the canteen of John Lewis cutlery (minus all the tea- and egg-spoons, of course) I was given in the mid-70s.
in addition I inherited my DM's 1960s Kenwood stand mixer complete with ultra solid glass blender that crushes ice in a trice, dough hook, mincer attachment and other bits. It's so heavy I rarely drag it out of the cupboard.

@bibliomania

There are clearly two groups of people - teaspoon-acquirers and teaspoon-losers. I'm one of the former. It's truly mysterious where they all come from. If we measure out our lives in coffee spoons, I'm going to live forever.

Maybe ts Elliot actually had the secret to alchemy?

Just remembered a set of very old Christmas lights I recall both my parents and my Aunt had in the 1950s, I loved them, they were a plastic bell and each one had a nursery rhyme on, they also have the old twisted, fabric covered flex and they still work!

My mum gave me her casserole and baking dishes that she got in the early 70s when I moved out of home 21 years ago. They are still going strong.

I also have the cooking utensils I purchased when I left and have no plans to replace them.

@ponkydonkey

Le cruset... they won't need replacing.

Tin opener I've had that for 40 years

Black pepper mill is over 60 years old!

But I did buy a lovely set of cutlery recently as the old habitat set I bought in 2001 had mostly disappeared

My late OH managed to break Le Creuset, he broke the handle off a deep pan and broke the frying pan straight across. He wasn't using them as weapons however and sadly it's not why he's now my latre OH!

@SprayedWithDettol

My mother in law’s mother’s griddle. It’s cast iron and weighs more than a car (slight exaggeration). It fits perfectly on the wok stand on my hob. Great for making Welsh cakes. I’m going to try Derbyshire oatcakes on it this weekend (I watched the Hairy Bikers last night). It think it will be here when the sun goes super nova in 5billion years.

... and possibly the only thing to survive it too!

Wellies and my rain coat, both 25 years old (I'm 41), both going strong! I can't see us ever changing the bin, our cutlery or ... anything in the kitchen really!!!

I've replaced my cutlery so many times as Dp takes some to work to eat (take a meal on a late night shift) and he looses them so I have replace all the bleddy time. I've had about 10 sets since we've lived together I think!

@Nandocushion

Angostura bitters. My dad has a bottle dating back to the 60s! DH and I can't figure out how the company stays in business.

I have wondered this a lot myself!!

We bought a microwave many years ago and we both hated the thing, it was so unintuitive to use and required many button presses just to get it to heat something up for a minute. But it still functioned as a microwave and we couldn't bring ourselves to replace it so we resentfully kept the thing. Couple of years ago I was out and got a whatsapp from my husband "the microwave has just blown up, FUCKING GET IN"we were delighted to finally get rid of it.
A dryer we bought that was the biggest heap of junk broke within 6 months. They repaired it 4 times before my husband dropped it in the store door declaring we were getting a new different model. First time I've ever seen him rant and I was so proud

I replace my hodge-podge of mismatched cutlery with a set from John Lewis about a decade ago - nothing fancy, just plain stuff but nice to hold (I remember some of the cutlery we had growing up as almost sheet metal-like, and really uncomfortable in the hand!). I did, however, keep a couple of plastic-handled teaspoons, because for reasons I can't quite fathom, I prefer them for stirring drinks!

Jewellery and kitchen equipment unless dire.

I have replaced cutlery and crockery and given old plates to a jumble sale in the past.

Sometimes chipped ones go into plant pots

And replace bedding and towels. Old ones were used for Guinea pigs

We even put old carpet on the garden for weeds😀

lalallama - I have the exact same 'set' of teaspoons! (Except the long one - what is that?)
The round-handled one I gained from my DP, he hated them as they swivel in your hand.

My favourite ones are the second from left, they feel nice in your mouth, but I also recognise the floral-handled one which I got from (I think) my mum's set

Big brown and cream Mason Cash mixing bowl. It has had a chip in the edge for God knows how long, it's bulky it's heavy, but I couldn't imagine it not being in my bottom cupboard

(Of course I meant "replaced", not "replace"! )

@Pheebs2021

My big kitchen knifes. They are in awful condition peeling etc at the handles but I wouldn't know how to dispose of them.

I put mine in the police amnesty box 😂😂

I hate spending money on replacing stuff I already have, it seems really boring. I hold off as long as I possibly can. We still have some of the same curtains, same sofa and same chest of drawers (second hard from my parents) that we had when we moved in 18 years ago. Same bed (different mattress). White goods are the things that always seem to end up needing to be replaced at some point.

I've got a comb that came free with a magazine in the 1990s - there was a thread here a while ago about 90s magazines and it turned out loads of Mnetters had one that they were still using.

I have a pyrex bowl from my parents' house that must be 50 years old.

Why would you smash up perfectly decent bowls etc? Why do they need to match?

My Fissler saucepans (cost a small fortune) - bought them about 25 years ago when we had our kitchen done (in our previous house) and they are still like new. I will never need to replace them.

I still have items that I use everyday from when we moved in together 31 years ago - vegetable peeler, colander etc. etc.

I buy cutlery regularly as I have 8 children and for some reason things just disappear. I’ve bought three sets of cutlery over the last year yet still only have enough knives for each of us.

We get through glasses, mugs, tea spoons and scissors at an alarming rate too.

Definitely cuttlery. I also have my nan’s moulinex hand held mixer from at least the 70s. It’s still going strong although the box is falling apart.

Teaspoons definitely get thrown away accidentally here - the number of times I’ve found an empty yoghurt carton in the sink and the spoon in the bin . . .