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)?

When my dad left home he was gifted a le creuset pan. He later gave it to me. Dad is 75 now so I guess that pan is 55+ years old. I still use it often.

We upgraded a lot of our household kit 20 yrs ago and we're still using it. The crockery is white, so anything can be added to it and looks fine - the cereal bowls are often replaced. The cutlery is good solid John Lewis stuff but a few pieces have disappeared over the years, I recently found some similar in a charity shop and snapped it up. The non stick pans are starting to peel a bit and we'll replace them soon. We recently replaced the 20-year old towels (quality John Lewis), but they were still fine for kids going to university. Unless it's broken or worn out, we offer anything we're replacing to the adult kids as it's perfectly OK starter kit. Still have a tupperware from my 70s childhood home, it's in and out of the dishwasher and freezer every week. Until last year we were still sleeping on our 28 year old mattress (it was really expensive tho). Had lounge suite re-upholstered and recovered, which didn't save money but was greener and fits the space perfectly. Now that we can afford it, I like buying good quality and making it last.

Also garden tools. Ours are 40 years and going strong, except for secateurs, which I think get accidentally thrown away.

I love old things. My rolling pin is prewar.

You lot have persuaded me to recycle my scratched and chipped serving dishes (as potting crocks) and I am reinstating my newly fashionable pyrex casseroles, again bought in 1978, but much nicer to use. I may be on a roll.

We replaced all of our cutlery with a really nice stainless steel set about 20 years ago. We have lovely Dansk everyday dishes that are even older and as they've broken I've been able to find replacement pieces in the same pattern here:

www.replacements.com/

An interesting yank/UK linguistic difference is that here eating utensils (knives, forks, and spoons) are referred to as flatware. Cutlery would just refer to specialty knives, like steak knives or kitchen knives.

@Iemony

You lot have persuaded me to recycle my scratched and chipped serving dishes (as potting crocks) and I am reinstating my newly fashionable pyrex casseroles, again bought in 1978, but much nicer to use. I may be on a roll.

My parents had something in that pattern! In fact, knowing my mum, they probably still do, tucked at the back of a cupboard.

My mum is still using ceramic casseroles that go on the hob as well as the oven which were a present back in the 1970s, when this was a huge novelty.

I have a set of 4 saucepans and a frying pan my gran gave me in 1993, they are my favourites and should last my lifetime. I sold my first cutlery set as it was horrible and had red and white stripy plastic handles and kept going rusty where the metal met the plastic; mum gave me a set to replace the stripy horror show that she had never used which must be 40 years old at least and unless we loose too much I don’t want to replace it.

I have a tea set one of my great aunt’s bought, it’s never been used, it takes up a lot of space in a box in a cupboard but I can’t bring myself to sell it. It’s delicate and has a lovely design. I reckon it’s post war, probably 1950s. My great aunt was a great hoarder of lovely things she never used, I seem to have inherited the trait!

Hi Lemony, I have one of those! I still use it regularly!

I have a pyrex dish like that from my grandmother's house but I think it's older by about 15 yrs

Still in use regularly

Pyrex has a fascinating history:

www.cmog.org/article/pyrex

If you're ever in New York, visit the Corning Museum of Glass. You can take glass blowing classes and the gift shop is fabulous.

Bedroom wardrobes, wretched things.

H reckoned they were the only tall ones in our price range so we had to buy them... so despite starting out by saying I didn't really mind but I didn't want a pink bedroom I have had a pink bedroom for 27 years.

Nowadays of course I would simply insist on coming home and using the old donated mismatched stuff and a rail hung on the wall, but in those days I was still growing into my own mind

The REALLY irritating part is that a couple of years ago it transpired that H has no recollection of this at all and has spent the entire time in the firm belief that I chose the pink and mahogany wardrobes.

@TheOldLadyOfThreadneedleStreet

I have a set of 4 saucepans and a frying pan my gran gave me in 1993, they are my favourites and should last my lifetime. I sold my first cutlery set as it was horrible and had red and white stripy plastic handles and kept going rusty where the metal met the plastic; mum gave me a set to replace the stripy horror show that she had never used which must be 40 years old at least and unless we loose too much I don’t want to replace it.

I have a tea set one of my great aunt’s bought, it’s never been used, it takes up a lot of space in a box in a cupboard but I can’t bring myself to sell it. It’s delicate and has a lovely design. I reckon it’s post war, probably 1950s. My great aunt was a great hoarder of lovely things she never used, I seem to have inherited the trait!

My mum has at least two full tea sets which were wedding presents in 1960 and which have been very little used but which she treasures. They sit in a display cabinet in the living room and have moved house with Mum and Dad at least seven times. She occasionally puts a real downer on the conversation by saying 'You won't want any of that when I'm gone, of course, I know that'.

Actually, she's wrong about that. One of the teasets is (I think) Susie Cooper and I've always rather liked it. I've been googling and I think the pattern might be Dresden Spray. Wouldn't go in the dishwasher, though, I should imagine, and in all honesty nothing gets used here if it's going to have to be handwashed afterwards.

uk.buymeonce.com is a website selling items that last a very long time or can be easily repaired.

I am yet to try them out but their items look really good. Unfortunately not cheap.

@Iemony

You lot have persuaded me to recycle my scratched and chipped serving dishes (as potting crocks) and I am reinstating my newly fashionable pyrex casseroles, again bought in 1978, but much nicer to use. I may be on a roll.

Yes dm had the blue/pink version

My parents have an electric whisk thing from the 70s I think maybe a wedding present they won't part with. Weirdly my in laws have the exact same one and they are obsessed with replacing things that work perfectly fine, for some reason the whisk stays. My parents have towels and plates older than me, some came from grandparents houses when they died too!! They just don't replace. We were given a really old lawn mower when we first set up home together and a time being washmachine (really small drum, no time display) from relatives having clearouts, we were going to replace them once we could afford but we realised that they both work really well 10 plus years on so we won't get rid of them until they break. I worry if we get a fancy washing machine it'll go wrong so my small machine for a family of 5 stays!

@WeeTattieBogle

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.

What do you do with the old ones?

@CalmConfident They are similar to these ones (though we got ours from Costco, for half the price)

www.lakeland.co.uk/53273/Lakeland-Collapsible-Hipster-Laundry-Basket-27L?src=gfeed&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrJOMBhCZARIsAGEd4VHMqFHznzc4uha9nV2byqMJi9PmG4rVD51CV0U1TvQdnb3qw3H00jcaAk7xEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I know I need to ditch the old ones, but what if these ones aren't still going in 25 years time? I'll regret it then!

It's definitely possible to break a Le Creuset casserole dish... if you scrub it with wire wool!

What do you do with the old ones?

They go in the swimming pool changing room and it’s a case of if 4 are added to what’s there then 4 go in the rag bag.

The bedding goes in a shipping container that myself and some family/friends send to Kenya every year along with other things (pre loved/new) that we collect locally over the year. A lifelong friend of my family distributes it where it’s needed most.

It's the name of the game for me, as in keeping things as long as possible.. I still have lots of kitchen ware stuff, that I bought in 1966, just before I was married, and also still use some of my late Mums things. that I took, from her flat, when clearing things out, after she died 16 years ago. I love the fact that I can still use things from way back, that have been kept it good condition all through the years..

I have many a time been in the kitchens of family or friends, and every time you visit, they have changed all the stuff that they had before, as in had new and different coloured kettles and toasters etc and had new sets of fancy cutlery and drinking glasses and mugs etc..

One of the oldest things I have,is a wooden ironing board,,although only used on rare occasions now, it was handmade by my late granddad,in 1941, my late Mum used it a lot when passed to her, as she ironed everything in sight ! but I have it now,. it is still very sturdy, and functionable.

I still have some cutlery we got 30 years ago, but some of it is a bit broken so we have bought more.

Big wooden bread board- also 30 years old. I don't think it will wear out.

Gorgeous rug we were given as a wedding present- same age, still looks great.

Pressure cooker. Wok. Metal food steamer.

Cake slice, cheese knife. Rolling pin.

I've still got my silver jubilee mug which gets used occasionally.
My sewing box is older but don't think anything else is.

I've had my saucepans for over 30 years & don't see them ever needing replacing.
They are stainless steel & still wash up like new (they were deliberately purchased to last)

My cutlery was deliberately bought in a classic pattern a long time ago from Arthur Price so I can replace or add to it (have added things like steak knives, fish knives & forks, cake forks etc... over the years) & I deliberately bought 12 of everything plus double teaspoons.
We still end up with all the teaspoons in the dishwasher sometimes so I might add another set of them.
Cutlery set will never need replacing.

My potato peeler is at least 25 years old & was bought at the same time as my knives & the wooden spoons etc.., they all seem set to last forever.

@WeeTattieBogle

What do you do with the old ones?

They go in the swimming pool changing room and it’s a case of if 4 are added to what’s there then 4 go in the rag bag.

The bedding goes in a shipping container that myself and some family/friends send to Kenya every year along with other things (pre loved/new) that we collect locally over the year. A lifelong friend of my family distributes it where it’s needed most.

Excellent 😀

I have a paring knife that I bought for my grandmother in the 1980s. She asked me to go to the junk shop (auction room) in the nearest town.
I still use it.