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Original poster

Shit items that you never replace.

316 replies

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/12/2022 22:01

We have 2.

A washing up bowl bought 7 years ago for 3 quid. Part of it’s melted. It’s bleached and cleaned properly every week. The other day Dh suggested we buy a new one. We were both staggered by it😲

A shit mirror we took from Dmil house when she died. We painted the mahogany frame white. But it looks shit. You can see the mahogany. It’s just shit. And l like my interiors. But this peiceof shit hangs there. I suggested we buy a new one tonight. Again we were shocked that we hadn’t thought of it before.

A plastic seive that’s melted and broken . Yet we continue to use it🤷🏼‍♀️

OP posts:
bumblebeemumma · 07/12/2022 11:01

Feelinfestive · 07/12/2022 00:26

The pop up mechanism for the plug in our bath broke about three years ago - mid bath. After having to bail out the bath and lever out the plug with a butter knife we made a temporary fix by cutting out a piece of plastic carrier bag and poking the sticky out bit of the plug through it, creating a plastic border that you can grab to pull the plug out. The plastic has started to deteriorate and we were both inexplicably horrified at the idea that we might have to consider replacing it with a new bit of plastic bag, let alone a new plug

This is actually genius! Ours broke ooh about 5 years ago and we've used a plastic medicine spoon ever since to poke down the side of the plug and hook it out. Your carrier bag hack would be much easier and give us another few years before we have to actually fix the damn plug properly Grin

ScarierThanBoo · 07/12/2022 11:02

@SBAM thanks for the advice! My lovely clock is going nowhere.

Sunsetintheeast · 07/12/2022 11:03

Cheese grater with missing handle so you have to grate your fingers holding it. It still grates the cheese so it just stays

SBAM · 07/12/2022 11:04

@ScarierThanBoo you’re welcome. The other option might be an independent jewellers if you don’t have any model engineers nearby!

BeyondTheLetterOfTheLawTheLetter · 07/12/2022 11:06

Tools! I don't have a single screwdriver that is usable, yet do not throw the stupid things out. I also seem to have acquired about seven spirit levels somehow

TrickyD · 07/12/2022 11:07

Our piano. Inherited from my mum. I had lessons on it over 70 years ago but never progressed beyond Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. No one plays it now. Out of tune, but tuning man said it wasn’t worth tuning as it has a wooden, not a metal frame.
However it is very pretty, nice mahogany, the ‘things that hold the candles’ are complete. Small grandson enjoys bashing on it.
So it will stay.

StClare101 · 07/12/2022 11:07

Our kettle has leaked for over a year. Neither of us has got around to replacing it.

snowspider · 07/12/2022 11:09

Waterproof Converse that got relegated to gardening/mowing shoes when they had a small crack in the leather. I replaced the broken threadbare laces eventually, but with a mismatch of a one fluorescent green and one purple as for no known reason the other half of those pairs had been used to hang up keys. The Converse have now got mostly split and the rubber welt is falling off but I still use them so my feet get soaked from the wet grass and filthy from any digging. They are completely useless and I might as well just go out in socks. But still I persist, even I am baffled. I would have to choose another pair to downgrade I guess

SoftSheen · 07/12/2022 11:14

For about 20 years, my parents had a clock on their wall that didn't work because they hadn't replaced the batteries (apparently to work the clock needed batteries replacing every two weeks and they couldn't justify the expense, yet still they left it hanging there).

MrsVeryTired · 07/12/2022 11:14

One of the large plastic shopping bags I use to carry laundry Grin
Both handles are broken but I still use it!

TrickyD · 07/12/2022 11:16

And speaking of towels - I have some with my name tag still on from school. I'll be 50 next year

So do I, but 79 next year. Shock

StressedToTheMaxxx · 07/12/2022 11:18

longtompot · 06/12/2022 22:38

Sieve for pasta etc has lost one of its lip bits (that hook over edges) so wobbles when balanced over a pan or bowl
My spatula handle keeps coming off as the metal rivet has come off
I have a grater that will only grate cheese, the fine side for zest is too blunt. But it works for cheese so I still have it. Another one lost its handle outer, so I have a thin metal bar to hold when grating things. Oh, and the handle has a large nut on one side which sometimes comes lose, usually in the dishwasher.
But buy new ones! When it (we'll, some of it) still works? Don't be daft!

Is that what that side of the grater is for, zest?? Oh my goodness, I always wondered what it was for, I tried to grate cheese on that side once and it was just a mess. Lifelong mystery solved! 🤣

CoachBeard · 07/12/2022 11:19

The plug in our kitchen sink is ancient and has perished a bit and doesn’t seal properly so, as you are washing up, the water gradually leaks away. We could use a bowl or actually replace to plug but no, we just keep on cursing it and topping up the water.

GratefulCheddar · 07/12/2022 11:19

I remember many years ago starting my boyfriend at the times car with a teaspoon, the lock barrel had broken and he removed it but as the car was on its last legs he didn’t see the point of replacing, he had been a recovery mechanic in the army and could repair all manner of vehicles.

Blueeyedgirl21 · 07/12/2022 11:20

@GratefulCheddar the image of you all
dressed up for date night and your boyfriend producing the teaspoon has made me laugh 🤣

viques · 07/12/2022 11:21

I have two Pyrex measuring jugs, the big one is handy for storing soup in the fridge but is too big for measuring as it’s unwieldy. The small one would be perfect for measuring except most of the markers have worn off, so it is more a guessing jug than a measuring jug.

ShaunaTheSheep · 07/12/2022 11:28

Is anyone else taking tips from this thread?

I'm not going to replace my measuring jug but I am going to try adding markings with a permanent marker.

snowspider · 07/12/2022 11:29

BogRollBOGOF · 07/12/2022 10:26

My email address. It was a great idea in dying days of the 20th century but has aged a lot. The problem is that it's registered to so many things and usernames that my brain can't cope with swapping to it to something more mature.

DM's sofa. People were falling through it 20 years ago. She hs solved the problem by not inviting people round and sitting comfortably on the chair that works.
Most of her stuff is either worn out and long past redemption or was aquired through someone else. There are whole rooms filled with hoarded, redundant crap or things she makes-do with, but is never proactive at sorting out. I suspect being a war child has a lot to do with it.

Yes!

My email is one that was temporary in the early two thousands but I had to use regularly when I changed internet provider/Tiscali disappeared. Every time I tell somebody it I feel embarrassed and apologise for its weirdness. But it is now so embedded that I can't bring myself to try and change it.

Our sofa was inherited from dp parents. I hate it because it is eighties leather (too cold and a trendy design that has not aged well) and worst there are black patches where they rested their heads for years. When they first brought it I objected but now 6 years on it is still here covered in cushions. throws so it's not too cold to sit on (I hate leather!) and I regularly browse for a new one and sit on them in stores but can never bring myself to replace I think I am scared I might buy a new one and hate that just as much!

viques · 07/12/2022 11:31

JudgeJ · 07/12/2022 10:08

Weakling! We have a bath towel that my late OH was wrapped in after his baby baths in the mid 40s and apparently it had belonged to his grandmother so it must be from 1910s though it's really just a piece of muslin with no towelling left! My beach towel is a Maclaren F1 car, as my daughter tells me they've changed their livery so many times since, think that came from Zante too!

Show quote history

I have a bath towel I use for leaks and cat baths. It has a huge cut up the middle, a legacy of the day I found my dd ( aged about 3 ) attacking it with a pair of very blunt craft scissors. I thought she had been quiet for rather a long time 😀, when asked what she was doing she said she was making me two towels ! I keep the towel as a reminder of her superior maths skills and her spirit of tenacity at what must have been a hard task.

GratefulCheddar · 07/12/2022 11:32

@viques I have a measuring jug with zero marks on, DH is a scientist and works with micro nano or whatever they are called measurements and his special microscope bought with a grant magnifies to teeny tiny things.

I keep the jug because when he sees it in use it winds him up as so inaccurate😂

bigbadbarry · 07/12/2022 11:33

ShaunaTheSheep · 07/12/2022 11:28

Is anyone else taking tips from this thread?

I'm not going to replace my measuring jug but I am going to try adding markings with a permanent marker.

Yes! This. 100%. Then maybe it will be good for something other than warming up milk and custard in the microwave

TurkeyTeeth · 07/12/2022 11:53

For years we've had the most useless, half broken, wires sticking out, impossible to clean all the gunk out of properly, wire sink trap thing in the kitchen sink.

The other day DH proudly announced that he'd bought a brand new shiny stainless steel one that fits perfectly. I almost fell over from shock.

viques · 07/12/2022 11:54

I do hope Santa’s elves are reading this thread, and making notes!

This is something that I have recently retired from use, but won’t ever be throwing away. It’s the egg cup I have had since I was 2. I am now 72. I noticed the other day that it is getting a bit crazed and discoloured so he has been retired to the top shelf. No one else has ever been allowed to use him.

Shit items that you never replace.
TwoOwlSocks · 07/12/2022 11:55

The desk drawer that is so heavy and full of stuff it falls off one of its runners. I got so fed up I propped it up on one side with a random bit of wood. If I want to sit at the desk I have to shimmy the chair in at weird angle to get past the post. The desk is old and beautiful but the drawer was probably designed to hold blotting paper and a few visiting cards, not 20 years worth of redundant chargers and mystery cables which weigh as much as a small child. Because I can't possibly throw those out. Oh no. It's the law.

petridishmystery · 07/12/2022 12:00

SoftSheen · 07/12/2022 11:14

For about 20 years, my parents had a clock on their wall that didn't work because they hadn't replaced the batteries (apparently to work the clock needed batteries replacing every two weeks and they couldn't justify the expense, yet still they left it hanging there).

After reading this my head popped up to the clock on the kitchen wall…no idea when it even stopped! Well it stopped at 6.45 but I don’t know what day or month or year it was or if it was AM or PM. I never even look at it. I may change the batteries today and see how long it takes DM to notice.

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