To ask what household items were a complete waste of money?

[Ladymayormaynot]

Have just read expensive items worth every penny thread & interested to see what others have regretted buying. I'll start off with steam mops, I've had 3 all useless & binned. Garden strimmers again I've had 3 makes and none of them any good. The last was a Gtech which promised so much including free blades for life. Hidden in the small print was the £2.99 delivery cost per packet of 20. By the 2nd use I had used 10 blades as the kept splitting. It was returned for a refund.

Microwave. Have now been without one for 5 years and don't miss it.

If anyone hates their blend activ or just wants to get rid of the bottles that come with it then let me know! < hopeful face >

bagless vacuum
standing in a cloud of dust when emptying is not quite allergy friendly

I love my steam cleaner. Wonder why so many of you think it's useless

Juicer was a bad buy. Takes lots of fruit and veg to get any juice and a NIGHTMARE to clean

Exercise bike tho makes a good clothes horse 😁

Whizzy looking mop and bucket. Just too much faff and never looks as clean as it does when I get down on my hands and knees with a cloth and a bowl of floor detergent.

Actifry was on a health kick , bought last Dec , never been out of its box, must eBay it so I can buy some other useless gadget !

I love my Georgie Foreman. I sometimes put it on the dining table and we have an indoor bbq of sorts where we cook steaks, bangers and burgers etc.

I love the steam mop and also my double steamer. New potatoes or rice in the bottom, brocolli, beans, peas, etc in the top - or kale in the bottom, cauli in the top and the veggie goodness for the gravy water. Take cauli off and put in serving dish, drain bottom through steamer into jug. It saves power.

Can't find the post upthread, but someone mentioned a £50 supermarket vacuum cleaner - tell me which one, please!! I have a SEBO, which I loved in our last house but it can't cope with the (manky) carpets in our current one, and a Shark thingy with headlights which highlight beautifully just how much shit its left behind on the carpet. And its bagless. And the hose doesn't extend, just moves slightly then pings itself back again, dragging the sodding machine over with it. But it was bloody expensive and I can't justify dumping it yet

I think the £50 vacuum cleaner was only £50 because the poster had cashed in their club card vouchers and doubled them up, so they only had to pay £50 on top, the whole cost was more.

I use my microwave nearly every day and my George Foreman at least twice a week. I'd love one of those combi (oven-grill) microwaves though, as I don't have a cooker (induction tabletop instead).

Biggest waste was the bagged no-name vacuum from Amazon (£39.99 and I had a gift voucher). It was impossible to get the weird sized-shaped bags from anywhere, put me off hoovering. Bought a second-hand bagless upright for £10 instead and sold the Amazon one to Cash Converters.

Other than that, the iron and ironing board - I think I've used them maybe 5 times.

Dyson people, why are you spending so much? There's a Bosch cordless vac that lasts 45mins to an hour. It's suction is good enough for most things (I have no pets, but the Amazon reviews said it worked). I also have an 18volt Dustbuster which is powerful enough to clean car carpets etc. So good I want one for upstairs and one for downstairs. Cost about £65 but it's the first handheld I've ever had which is actually worth the money. Both have made life a lot easier. Would like to thank everyone for reminding me that we have a George Formby grill, I had completely forgotten. Going to use it for next lot of sausages.

Electric pan - used loads for about a month, not even sure where I put it now.

Juicer - looks good on side not used it for months

Foot spa - too much faff

Blue ray player - dust collector in living room

Soup maker - kindly bought by DH as a Christmas present, when I stupidly said 'use your imagination' when asked what I wanted
It is an industrial strength one, so heavy I can barely pick the jug thingy part up.

It has pride of place on the worktop. Each week, It sits glaring at me and making me feel ungrateful as I happily chop veg by hand and make copious amounts of soup for lunch .... far quicker and in a saucepan, just as my DGM and DM before me.

Waffle maker .. not even sure where it is

Everyone always insists we're odd because we don't have a microwave, kettle or toaster. We used to, but I got rid as I now just use the oven, grill and hob to do the same thing. We have a coffee machine which is overused, but if someone comes round wanting a cup of tea it's a pain in the arse boiling a saucepan of water for them. Luckily we don't have visitors often so it seems silly to have a big kettle out on the side just in case we get a random visitor who wants tea.

Air fryer. Very generous wedding present. I use the oven.
Ice cream maker, never got any ice cream or of it. Just chilled custard.

PlasticBertrand I second the Thermomix. OK I didn't buy it, friends have lent me their second one (). I've had it 2 month and in that time I've thought about making lots of stuff in it...then realised I can make it quicker and with less faff without.

Ridiculously expensive too. They were hoping to sell it to me. They're having it back soon.

One of those Bullet juicers. I haven't got one, but I can imagine experimenting with it madly for a few days and then never using it again.

NO KETTLE!

now I've heard everything....... (I use my 7000 times a day)

I can make it quicker and with less faff without

YY. White sauce in the microwave: eight minutes. White sauce in the thermomix: twenty-five minutes. white sauce out of a box: ten seconds

yy to thermomix
I sent mine back.
it's a weird size too. not really big enough for bread dough or soup for a family of 4. and a bugger to clean (despite what they tell/demonstrate you)

I love my thermomix-type gadget from Lakeland and use it often, especially for sauces, macaroni cheese, etc. and when it it colder I know I will make a lot of soup in it. Just one bowl to clean.

Someone has managed to amend the title of this thread, a big thank you to whoever did it, it's been bugging me since I posted it but I couldn't work out how to change it. Another thank you to the posters who recommended a Bosch strimmer. I ordered one on Amazon and it's being delivered today. I promise not to mention strimmers or steam mops again.

For those annoyed by toasted sandwich makers, we have a panini press which we use virtually every day! Plates just wipe clean. Sandwiches will leak a bit of cheese if you overfill or leave in too long, but it's not a problem. I even manage to do my student favourite of baked beans and cheese toastie in it (again, just don't overfill too much). It doesn't seal edges but you don't then get 3rd degree burns from molten fillings!

Sandwiches, panini rolls and wraps (rolled) are all good in it, or I sometimes stick left over mince/chilli in a wrap with some cheese and fold it into a burrito.

There's a recipe in my thermomix recipe book that goes - and I swear this is true - 1. chop up some frankfurters. 2. slice some gherkins lengthwise 3. use the thermomix to chop the gherkins into thin slices 4. add mayonnaise. Yeah, that sounds labour-saving and not at all like a lot of faff and extra washing up