AIBU to ask what’s the oldest appliance / utensil you still use regularly?

[AlmondsAreGreat]

Another thread got me thinking - what’s the oldest appliance or utensil you use regularly? Something that has truly outlived its life expectancy but is still going strong? I mean things you actually use for their tended purpose.

I have a hot water bottle inherited from my Gran who died 27 years ago, although judging by the thread I should probably give it up!

I also have a gravy boat that I still use that was my Great Grandmothers, and must be at least 90 years old. I also have her rolling pin, and still use it.

The boiler in our last house was newly installed in 1973 and still going strong when we moved in 2013.

Any others?

I would have said my mum's kitchen knife that she must have bought in the early 90's and then have to me to take to university with a load of other oldish kitchen stuff. But that finally snapped in half a few months ago. I still have a Smarties mug from when they came with an Easter egg in the 80's. It's not my original one though, but it's probably about the same age.

My most treasured cheese slice, from when my dad lived in Norway. It's from the 60's and is a thing of beauty. The wooden handle is molded to my hands and the slice is as sharp as ever.

My trusty old Kenwood Chef - a wedding present in 1974!

I still use my great-grandmother's wooden rolling-pin. It must be well over 100 years old.

I have a kenwood food processor that is 35 years old plus plastic mixing bowls I bought in 1986. I also have MiL and Dmum's Pyrex dishes and grandma's ladle and cake slice which are all used regularly.

Probably silver gravy boats at Christmas but nearly every day my Grandmother's wooden chopping board, she was born in 1899.

Old electrical appliances CAN be good. As evidenced by all the 40+ yo Kenwood Chefs mentioned on this thread. Things were designed to last longer in the past, so may well be better quality than more modern equivalents.

(nobody's been talking about using 100yo electrical gadgets with their original cloth-covered wiring).

My mum has a very old Foley cabbage chopper which works brilliantly and I would love one. It used to belong to my nanna who died in the late 90's.

I was devastated when my nanna's casserole dish cracked. It was the perfect size.

I regularly use my mum's old crock pot and an old griddle (way before George Foreman came into being).

I threw out my 20 year old water bottle after reading a burn thread ☹️.

My most regular item now is a 16 years old iron, which never had a scratch until my daughter started using it. I'll cry when it goes as it irons beautifully ☺️.

I also have a duvet that's the same age and an assortment of pots, pans and utensils that are much older.

My second hand Kenwood mixer that I got when my son was born in 1977 died in a cloud of smoke last year. I haven’t had the heart to bin it yet.

My first ever brand new vacuum cleaner, Miele, that I got in 2002 is still going strong.

Could you smooth out the scratches with some very fine wire wool? Or very fine sandpaper works too.

Pifco slow cooker 44 years and works perfectly.

A 1920s vaccuum cleaner would probably be a death trap. Electrical product safety was virtually non existent then.

It would be interesting to see if the insurers would pay out if such a thing caught fire and burnt a house down.

My biggest pot is a huge mustard yellow Club Aluminum dutch oven. It was my great-grandmother's and I think she bought it at a cookware party in the early 1950s. It's been through multiple family members, moved continents about 8 times and will outlast us all.

I have a sandwich toaster that I won in a raffle 40 years ago. Still works perfectly (although it is a reminder of how food potions have increased over the years - todays sliced bread is about 1/3 bigger than that of the 1980s!).

Also, I bought our condenser tumble dryer second hand off a friend 13 years ago when DS1 was born and that's still going strong too. It's probably pretty poor on energy efficiency compared to what's available on the market today, but I only use it once a week so I figure it's greener to keep it going and use it seldom, rather than junk it and buy a more efficient one.

We've been through 3 washing machines in the time we've had the tumble dryer!

My Grandma’s needle case and millions of buttons in an old SMA formula tin from the 1900’s to date. I never buy buttons!

Knife I bought at university around 1980. We have a working fridge freezer in the utility room from about 1980s we have had since new. I have the food mixer for baking I got in the 1980s still going strong and the electric carving knife.

When one of my sons at university stage bought a dinner jacket etc (in my day students were really scruffy but it was rather nice my twins went to back tie dinners etc so I was all for encouraging it) and was ironing a lot (I just about never iron ever) I did replace the 1980s ironing board. When I took it to the council tip I had to take it to a special place for asbestos as it did indeed have that in it. (The new one doesn't of course....)

I've got a 60s stand mixer inherited from DH's grandma which still gets a lot of use!

I'll try that, thank you 😊.

I recently saw a Tweet that was an advert for fridge, and the design was excellent, and of course the build quality was excellent.

I don't know why they can't bring back features like that.

We have a 27 yr old fridge freezer in our garage that still works , an electric hand whisk from 1989 and we still use our dinner service everyday that was a wedding present in 1989 .

I love this thread, I have a tower slo cooker,big earthenware pot. Must be almost 50 years old.

I have a Philips clock radio. It's pink and I got it when I was ten years old and 37 years later I'm still using it.

I also have a Russell Hobbs toaster that's 24 years old and still in regular use.

Also have a few Woolworths plastic kitchen utensils left from a set bought for £5 in 1998. Only the fish slice I had to replace, as the head kept falling off as I was scooping things up.

I use my mum's Wood and Son's plates which date from the 1960s.Have lots of mid 20th century Staffordshire pottery things generally. I try to use most of them, they are pretty and well-made.