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)?

I have a cutlery drawer of random items and a box of ikea cutlery in a nice velvety lined box that the DC think are special so they always use those when they can I always give them my normal other cutlery which I think they feel is unworthy somehow

@Yourdeadtome, OP says they are mostly chipped.

@WeeTattieBogle

I’ve had quite a few cutlery sets over the years for day to day use but only one cutlery set for special occasions when I dress the table really nicely which is a couple of times a month. Any cutlery set that’s replaced becomes camping cutlery.

Crockery - I always have matching crockery on the go and and theyre filtered down in use when the set of twelve becomes a set of 8 perhaps and I then buy a new set of twelve. The older set would then be used casually - if I had all of my grandchildren round usually.

Christmas Day and Eid or if someone’s getting married/engaged for eg I get the dinner service out that I’ve had for many decades.

Towels and bedding I buy a few times a year and by the time I’ve bought for all the bedrooms and bathrooms it’s back to the beginning again. So each room is probably bought for every 2 years.

My Kenwood Major is about 40 years old and still going strong and I have egg cups that belonged to my mum.

Why do you need to buy towels and bedding so often out of interest?

I still use the pasta bowl, frying pan and mugs I bought to take to university in 1997. Not expensive items - Woolworths & Wilkinsons IIRC. Pasta bowl still looks like new, but I really should replace the frying pan.

My parents are still using some of the cutlery and glassware they got as wedding gifts. They’ve been married over 50 years and these are used daily, not kept for best.

Our cutlery set which we bought a couple of years ago was expensive, and I can’t imagine ever replacing it.

Garden furniture sets are something I feel like I’d only buy once, because of the price.

I don't know if anyone's already mentioned this, but I broke up some plates for crocks and found that the edges were far sharper than terracotta is, so when gardening repotting stuff felt quite treacherous - never again!

Ive had my towels for twenty years. I see lovely ones in TK Maxx and always want to replace but, what if they arent as good? I like thrm abit rough.

I love a scratchy towel! Maybe your mum does too? When I bought my first place I bought some towels and had to actively try to make them scratchy 😄

@TuftyMarmoset

I’m on my third cutlery set - I previously had cheap ones with plastic handles which I would recommend you avoid! The first set eventually all the handles either snapped or came off the actual utensil bit. The second set went all black and manky where the handle joins on. And now I just have normal (old) 100% stainless steel which a family member gave me and none of that has broken!

I’ve also had to get rid of a few kitchen knives which had coloured blades and the colouring started to flake off, and the same for non stick on non stick pans. My approach now is to buy as old fashioned as possible.

Our crockery was also given to us by a family member and I bought a couple of extra pieces online to make a full set.

I still have the towels I bought (cheap bale from Asda) when I went to uni and they are a ragged round the edges but I’m waiting until we do our bathroom to replace them.

Yes the plastic ones were from the 90s, were rubbish, I have 1 spoon left I like for soup

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.

Why not buy her a set for Christmas? I'm sure she'd say it's not necessary but she'd use them.

Why do you need to buy towels and bedding so often out of interest?

First and foremost it’s because a nicely made up bed and towels are two of life’s pleasures.

But, the strong sun where I live ages things quickly.

We keep stuff for a long time, but over a 30+ year marriage and a house move i don't think there is anything we haven't replaced at least once. A lot of the things we git at the beginning of our marriage were either cheap crap or hand me downs anyway.

Oh i thought of something, the rolling pin, we have only ever had the one.

I've got a Wimbledon tennis towel from 2004 that's still going strong.

I'm currently struggling with laundry baskets. I have 2 - both Minky, one I've had for almost 25 years, one newer one but even that I've had probably 12 years.

We have just bought new collapsible laundry baskets, much more practical as there is nowhere to store the others. But I'm having a lot of trouble letting go of the older Minky one - how is it possible to actually love a laundry basket?!

£25 for crockery or cutlery is cheap as chips

@TheOnlyMrsW

No sorry, it was just a local charity, was an offshoot of a church that was very involved in community work and homelessness. I imagine there are lots of similar ones out there though.

Watching the Amanda Lamb -do- your- house- up- to- sell- it programme, I saw a woman buy a floral duvet cover from a charity shop to make cushion covers. Oh I told the cat that is my oldest duvet cover in my airing cupboard now then realised my mistake. It is only 25 years old. I still have the first cover bought for my first continental quilt as called 40 years ago. Bought for £5 from Habitat sale, I thought it was dark blue, turned out to be iron grey with a yellow band. never liked it, tried to dye it, colour failed to take, but can't dump it as am committed now. The polyester duvet is long gone and I updated to a down single for which I have been grateful last 2 nights and a wool double which is for the post-Christmas ice age.

I still use on Christmas day my moms' cutlery on Christmas day Stainless steel with mother of pearl handles, Still in the original box cost £4.12.7d in the early 50s
I also inherited my grandmother's table cloth we use on Christmas day.

My vegetable peeler. It's ancient. I can't now remember whether I inherited it from my granny or my MIL, but either way I've had it for well over 30 years and it's brilliant. Looks terrible, though!

@GatoradeMeBitch

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.

Why not buy her a set for Christmas? I'm sure she'd say it's not necessary but she'd use them.

I bet she wouldn't. She'd keep them until the existing one wear out, which will probably be never.

Tesco Value weighing scales - tiny, basic, but do the job!!

@QuantumWeatherButterfly please tell mr more about your new laundry baskets ! I am hanging on a mismatch, ramshackle collection here with broken bits which poor you when you carry them down the stairs!

*poke not poor !

My Le Creuset… still like new after several years and I think it will see me out.
We replace cutlery every 5-7 years when it is too marked