Things MN have recommended on threads that you bought but turned out to be crap?

[CovidStoleTheRainbow]

I'll start.

Shark vacuum cleaner.
I should have got another Miele. The Shark is just another average sucker upper.

A Dualit toaster.
After years of cheap toasters that starts off great but soon end up toasting one side more than the other, I listened to the years of recommendations on MN and spend £140 on an effing Dualit toaster just for it to do exactly what allllllll the other toasters do. The only difference is, is that it looks a tiny bit better and as though I have stupid money to throw at ridiculous items like toasters. Never again.

Anyone else?

What other things are always recommended by other Mumsnetters that actually turn out to be a bit shit?

I have to disagree with the Lakeland airer hate.

I got one and it was brilliant.
When I was in a 2 bed flat with storage heaters and no garden it was brilliant for drying the clothes and it also heated the room it was in, so I don't have to put the storage heater on in that room.
I bought a second one as theres 5 of us now.

We are now in a big house with radiators but I still absolutely love them.
They make out freezing cold bullshit built conservatory all warm and cozy!

@AllDayHappyHour the mooncup was painful with its horrid hard pully bit (and yes I did trim it) so I tried a pixy cup which leaked so I tried another brand which leaked. I have tried again and again and they just don’t seem to catch anything - the cup remains empty 🤷🏻‍♀️ I must be the wrong shape for these things but I think I have given them more than a fair chance.

GrilledAubergines I love my Dualit Toaster too! Bought it about 4 years ago as previous one was worn out ,and its replacement somehow managed to melt!(sort of melamine surround) No problems at all!

Babyliss Big Hair changed my life. I liked Baby Bottom Butter & my Shark is ok.

@Wasail

Moon cup. MN goes on and on about these shitty, fiddly, messy things and they don’t work!

You're using it wrong!!

Good thread.

Miele Cat & Dog - utter rubbish. Flimsy, inefficient, faffy and crap.

Babyliss Big Hair. Gave me big hair, when I wanted sleek hair- so I take full responsibility for that one

Lakeland Heated Airer- shite.

Bra intervention- liked the thought of being a 30dd. Hated wearing a 30dd. Unflattering, uncomfortable, just unpleasant. Gave it up after 6 months and went back to conventional sizes, where at least I had bigger tits at the front than at the back, and I could breathe.

Mooncup- loved.

Eufy - loved.

Astral cream as a face moisturiser.

It's just so heavy!

It was a decent body cream though.

Boob or Bust was ridiculous.

To be fair, I only tried it on the M&S bras. If I'd tried the ones made to the BoB system it might have been better. Which is why it Pisses Me Off every time someone says "M&S do it all wrong".

I was coming on to say babyliss big hair too. Did absolutely nothing for my hair.
The springy facial hair thing - amazing and life changing!!

Please could someone post a link to the springy facial hair thing? I actually want to try it.

The Turtle Dove cashmere wrist warmers. I was so taken by the many recommendations on here that I bought several pairs as gifts for people who love cashmere. I barely wear mine - too long - bunch up under sleeves etc. And I have never heard a word from the friends and family that I bought for. Love the concept - not sure it works in practice.

Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream - thankfully managed to sell my tube as (genuinely) barely used on Ebay. Simply do not get the fuss.

Will never buy Miele again - still fuming about how I was treated by their service team and engineers. (Came to my house to replace a washing machine drum and refused to let me take a photo of the totally manky drum after only 18 months use). Apparently their failed products are taken to Germany - I assume that is so they can claim a high reliability rate (as the products are not longer in the Uk).

Slow Cooker - not a recommendation on here, but love mine. Use it a lot. eg red cabbage, tagine, pulled pork. Delicious.

Anything vegan (and I say this as a vegetarian) often tastes greasy. The non-dairy fats are just not nice. We have a lovely local bakery who have gone vegan on many products. Sadly the more their product range increases, the less I buy in there.

Thank you @Blownaway1 and @paddingtonbear1

Regarding the Lakeland heated airer, I don’t hate ours, but after coveting one for ages, I nearly cried with disappointment when I finally got ours. I still debate sending it back and getting the drying pod instead.

The good:

• it keeps radiators free of clothes, so the house looks tidier
• the clothes dry faster than they would on a regular clothes horse
• clothes dry very gently so there is no shrinkage or damage

The bad -

• clothes take a long time to dry. If you want thick items like school sports hoodies and trousers to dry overnight, you are limited to about 6 items, which need to be spread horizontally across the bars rather than hung.
• it takes a long time to heat up. I tend to either leave it running and time washes so I always have something drying, or switch it on when I start the washing machine cycle so it’s warm by the time the clothes come out.
• it does not work very well in unheated spaces. I bought ours specifically so I could use it in our attached but unheated garage, but even with the fitted cover, clothes were just not drying. I set it up in our garage with a full load when I first got it, and had to rewash everything after 2 days as they were still damp and starting to smell stale. It now lives in the utility room, which brings us to..
• it’s fucking enormous
• it also has the shortest electrical cable known to man

The Alpro chocolate vegan dessert. Recommended on the Hidden Gems thread and I gave it a go. Horrible insipid texture that dissolves into a watery nothingness mouthfeel. My tweens won't even touch them and they are hollow food pits at the moment.

Boohoo summer strappy dresses - they hung weird and were strangely unflattering. Went to the charity shop.

Don't understand the Hush love on here at all.

Joseph Joseph toilet brush, it’s ok but it didn’t blow me away.

I love a lot of the stuff mentioned by pp though! I use my instant pot all the time for rice and dried pulses among other things, enjoyed the vegan sausage roll and alpro desserts, and only use reusable menstrual pads with no leakage/issues.

I didn’t know that Dualits were good/expensive - they were the ones we had in halls when I was a student and I thought they weren’t very powerful but I do really miss the bagel setting which my (Asda) toaster doesn’t have.

One word: Zoflora

Off on a tangent here but.......I can't believe how many people on this thread seem to have 2 or 3 vacuum cleaners!

Do you live in sprawling mansions?

@CovidStoleTheRainbow

I'll start.

Shark vacuum cleaner.
I should have got another Miele. The Shark is just another average sucker upper.

A Dualit toaster.
After years of cheap toasters that starts off great but soon end up toasting one side more than the other, I listened to the years of recommendations on MN and spend £140 on an effing Dualit toaster just for it to do exactly what allllllll the other toasters do. The only difference is, is that it looks a tiny bit better and as though I have stupid money to throw at ridiculous items like toasters. Never again.

Anyone else?

What other things are always recommended by other Mumsnetters that actually turn out to be a bit shit?

I love our Dualit toaster. Had it a long time and it still looks great.

Our Miele vacuum was awful. Far, far too heavy!

@AllDayHappyHour the mooncup was painful with its horrid hard pully bit (and yes I did trim it) so I tried a pixy cup which leaked so I tried another brand which leaked. I have tried again and again and they just don’t seem to catch anything - the cup remains empty 🤷🏻‍♀️ I must be the wrong shape for these things but I think I have given them more than a fair chance

@Wasail I wonder if you didn’t have them in correctly as I also had that but when you wriggle it more ‘up there’ and it finds it suction then it’s fine. Sorry you didn’t get on with them though as I love mine.

The problem with vacuum cleaners in my experience is that none of them work, and/or they break easily. That's why I have 3 and am about to get a 4th. I'm hoping that the new one - a cheap model in fact - will in fact clean the carpet.
I've had both Dyson and Miele - both crap. And I'm slovenly - they're not worked hard.

It's like the Holy Grail of housework.

Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser was the go to recommendation about 5 years ago. Was absolute shit and brought me out in the worst case of adult acne I've had in years.

I never understood why Henry vacuum cleaners don't get any love on Mumsnet. That happy chappie will keep going and going, no matter what he has to suck up.

Steam mop

Not quite sure what I thought I was going to steam. We don't have tiles. I don't think it would do the vinyl flooring any good. Just another unused cleaning item in my dirty house.

I was thinking the same thing about people having so many Hoover's, then I thought about it. We have my DP old Dyson which is amazing but way too heavy and too much suction. Then I bought the up right GTech (lighter on my knackered shoulder). It's good and light and it came with the handheld one which is really great. So that's 3.

Then I read the Eufy thread and bought one of those, which I absolutely love.

So I have 4,. I live in a three up, three down mid terraced, I don't need 4 Hoover's????

@WorksTheDinerAllDay

I never understood why Henry vacuum cleaners don't get any love on Mumsnet. That happy chappie will keep going and going, no matter what he has to suck up.

I have to day Henry's are the favoured vacuums by the cleaners at work.

Only thing is that since EU regs changed they are less powerful than they used to be so the older ones are better.