To think that very little is built to last and truly value for money?

[Drivingslowtosavefuel]

I would love to buy quality over quantity, things built to last, things that offer really good value for money.

I am not talking about spending megabucks so maybe I am not spending enough to get really nice things that last - but every time I try to buy something a little more expensive than I am naturally inclined, I generally end up disappointed and wish I had just bought the cheaper version as the expensive one doesn’t seem any better or last any longer.

Recent disappointments include iPhone, Fitbit, every laptop I have ever owned, all clothes over £100 (I will manage to snag them the first time I wear them because of their delicate fabric and then they are basically ruined whereas at least my cheaper clothes look better for longer).

Are there any brands or products which you swear by as something really reliable, good value for money and built to last, not just to end up in landfill like most products these days? It could be anything - electronics, clothes, accessories, home etc. Bonus points if it will withstand 2 children under 2 (within reason!)

I think you do have to find workarounds too.. Like the TV thing. Mine is about 12 years old so long since stopped streaming stuff but I've used chrome casts, firesticks and most lately an x box as a way to stream onto it. There's nothing wrong with the TV itself.

It does bug me when things don’t last. My mum has baking trays from the 70s still in perfect condition and all of mine seem to degrade really quickly. Don’t know if it is different coatings but they seem rubbish. I’ve even got Le crueset which is meant to be indestructible that is cracked

My iPad is almost 7 years old and still going strong. IKEA kitchen and sofa have stood up to years of daily abuse; sofa looking a bit squashed but it held up better than a John Lewis one 3 times the price.

WRT white goods I do think there has been a decline in quality but I also think they get used loads more. We use our dishwasher at least twice a day and generally get 5 years out of one; when I was growing up my mum only used the dishwasher for plates and the first one lasted about 20 years. Ditto washing machines - I try not to wash clothes after one wear but for school uniforms it’s tricky.

Completely agree re: clothes - the quality on some more expensive pieces (looking at you, Whistles!) is shocking.

Agree with PP about Dualit toasters, and recently heard that some white goods manufacturers are changing their policies to make these more repairable.

Re: re-upholstery, I found some chairs years ago that needed recovering, so I went on a course to learn how to do it. Have become quite an expert in recovering dining chairs and doing it yourself I find really therapeutic! Haven’t tacked a sofa yet, but feel sure I could handle a mid-century design (with legs, rather than a divan-style lower half)...

Bunnycat, agree wholeheartedly about baking trays/tins etc. Dmum has some of my granny's tins (she does the Christmas cake in one and the Yorkshire puds in others). They must be at least 70 years old, perhaps more. My baking tins and trays have been replaced several times and don't last, even expensive ones, and I'm not heavy handed with stuff.

Oh, and re-soling shoes - DH had some good shoes, needed re-soling after about two years. Shoes cost £180, re-soling cost £80! Was a bit when I picked them up but at least they're not in landfill.

My MacBook is still going strong after 9 years. I recently upgraded to a larger SSD (

Another vote for uk.buymeonce.com.

I look at it regularly to see what they have, so I know for when something I have breaks.

Their salt & pepper grinders are amazing. And so solid they double up as offensive weapons

Our Bako dishwasher is over 14 years old and still doing the job, on a lot as we're a large family.
Our 7ft sofa is 16 years old, lasted through lots of abuse from the kids but I doubt it would survive a house move as the sides have to be removed to get it out.

Plant trees. I've ived in the same house for 20 years - why oh why didn't I plant more shrubs and trees. I do have some now getting to an impressive size but should have done more. Obviously care is required if you have a small garden but you can always plant small shrubs - once they are well established they look after themselves.

I bought the IKEA sofa I’m sat on right now 12 years ago and we’ve broken two newer ones in that time.

I was burning through a laptop/desktop every 18 months because I’m hard on them. Forked out for a MacBook Pro nearly 3 years ago and although the price made me vomit - it’s like new.

This morning I’ve been eyeing my crockery sadly. My dad has stuff in his cupboards I remember from childhood - mine is all tatty and chipped and just a few years old.

I have a pair of black ankle boots from Moshulu which are my daily winter footwear - although I don't go out every day! They are about to go into season 4. I went into Moshulu to buy a pair of shoes a couple of years ago and the assistant commented that my boots were from a previous year as she recognised the style. I had had new soles and heels put on them and they were as good as new (with a bit of shoe polish). In fact they were better than before as the new soles were slightly thicker with better grips.

@silentpool

Some brands are well known for making it easier to repair things - Miele is one. My Miele vacuum is like a tank and will last forever, I think. I will spend more on appliances who respect the right to repair in future.

The other thing that's worth considering is avoiding the high tech versions of appliances. A dishwasher repairman told me that it's the versions that have the fancy displays etc that break down most often and give him the most work/are more expensive to repair. So I've tried to buy the dumb versions - with dials etc and they do seem to hold up. Less to go wrong, I suppose.

I also maintain my appliances - clean dishwasher, washing machine etc, replace batteries in laptops etc to extend their lifespans.

100%agree. I get the simple version of anything…less likely to breakdown. Got a really cheap ,basic tumble dryer in the early 90s …it’s still working!!

I’d second Dualit, Le Creuset and Kitchenaid, all my stuff from them (casseroles, baking tins, toaster, stand mixer, blender) have all lasted 20+ and look like new.

I’d also recommend NEFF for ovens, hubs etc again mine has lasted over 20 years, the oven needed a replacement element but otherwise all is good.

Our appliance engineer said there was no point in spending lots on dishwashers or tumble dryers because parts are so hard to come by - manufacturers apparently restrict distribution of parts so that people will replace. He suggested a Beko dishwasher because he knows he can get the parts, and they’re solidly built to begin with.

Doc Martens
Banana Republic
Bravissimo

Ghd hair straighteners - everyone I know seems to have a pair that they bought ten years ago that are still going strong despite being dropped on the floor, carted all over the world etc. If you use them every, or every other day they are great cost per wear.

White goods seem to be the worse.
Three washing machines, two dishwashers and two fridge freezers over 25 years.

We had our wardrobes, tv cabinet, chest of drawers and a huge chest made by carpenters between 20 and 25 years ago. We also had a sofa and chair made 15 years ago. All still amazing. The other furniture we have is inherited from DH grandmother and his Mother also gave us the 1960’s Ercol dining table DH grew up eating his dinners at. The hall table and coffee table were brought in a charity shop by me. The only brand new furniture we haven’t had made are beds.

YANBU, unless you buy solid wood furniture, decent wool and cotton clothes or good quality carpet very little lasts anymore.

I try and buy second hand from eBay a lot, and am splashing out on a decent wool blend carpet for the sitting room soon. But nothing lasts that well, maybe because most of us don’t know how to mend things anymore? But electronics are built to slow down (looking at you, Apple) to force you to replace them - I hate it, it’s so wasteful.

@LucentBlade

White goods seem to be the worse. Three washing machines, two dishwashers and two fridge freezers over 25 years.

We had our wardrobes, tv cabinet, chest of drawers and a huge chest made by carpenters between 20 and 25 years ago. We also had a sofa and chair made 15 years ago. All still amazing. The other furniture we have is inherited from DH grandmother and his Mother also gave us the 1960’s Ercol dining table DH grew up eating his dinners at. The hall table and coffee table were brought in a charity shop by me. The only brand new furniture we haven’t had made are beds.

Not sure it really is that good to use white goods over such long periods, though - new machines are massively more effective, using far less resources.

Built-in obsolescence is definitely a thing, especially with home electronics.

Although I've been impressed with Dualit stuff toaster is 10 years old, kettle is eight I think basic but well made, looks nice, easy to clean.

And I know people on MN moan about Dyson but my (slightly older) upright is also good. It goes wrong sometimes but it's very serviceable, and the Dyson support people you get helping you over video are always lovely and really helpful.

Cars Japanese makes generally last longer and have better reliability, certainly than European. My dad drives an older Lexus which has been absolutely brilliant. Another relative has a Lexus which has almost 300,000 miles on it it just keeps going. I wouldn't buy another BMW or Audi.

Furniture -- we generally buy Heal's stuff and haven't been disappointed. One sofa is 12 years old I think and with a leather conditioning treatment still comes up looking new.

Other times old stuff is the way to go. Another one of our sofas is well over 100 years old, about 140 I think.

Capitalism demands that we keep buying so a reduction in quality is inevitable ☹️

My partner is a product designer and is constantly decrying how little care people take to maintain their things. Wash your filters please people.

I second Doc Martens. Always mindful of this quote from Terry Pratchett:

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

My GHDs from 2005 are still going strong

All my stuff seems to last for ages.
I replaced my fridge freezer and washing machine recently as they were wearing out after 8.5 years and weren’t as economical as newer models. Apart from that my things seem to last.

I have and still use a sandwich toaster that was my mums who gave it to me when I left home for college when I was 23, I am 60 this month!
disclaimer, its probably a health risk even though I clean it after use I imagine it has bits of very old cheese somewhere in its workings.