How often changing items?

[Elektringa]

Hello,
I started thinking whether I am not changing my items, such as Towels, kitchen towels, bedding maybe even curtains often enough? Oh and the cushions.. I might think of more.
I am attached to staff and was decluttering a bit when I realised I had bedding from ten year ago, my towels were actually 8 years old.kitchen towels up to 5 years old. Curtains are now 6 years old.
I donated bedding and towels, they are in absolutely great condition...
I like to save money, thinking of investment rather than new bedding every year.
How often do you change such things? If they are clean and not damaged I don't really see a point of getting new ones.

When they get holes

I just change things when they are broken. Or I will donate them if I really don’t like them anymore. I hate the whole materialistic world we live in now, much prefer to make things last x

I still own towels that were a wedding present 23 years ago! I do have newer one too but cushions I’ve changed recently after having the other ones 9 years. My living room curtains have been in 3 houses are 20 years old they are neutral so go with any colour so why change?
Bedding, also neutral and rotate between 3 different sets so I can’t even remember how old.

You can get MN to delete the duplicate threads-you have 4 the same.

I thought you were going to ask about washing them!

I have curtains here that are 25 yo. My sofas and carpets are 20yo

I have towels that were wedding presents so almost 30 years.

Pillows are replaced more frequently because they go saggy. Generally I buy the best quality I can afford and use it until it falls apart.

Why would you buy new bedding every year?!

When they are completely worn out or very occasionally I've bought new because I just saw something and really loved it. That doesn't happen often though. I don't hoard things. If I was to buy a new quilt cover and pillowcase set for example then I would keep one set I have and give one away so I still have two sets. I've had everything for three years as I had to buy new after a move, I've only replaced tea towels, replacing things every year would be crazy.

I dye old bedding that looks a bit tired or greying and kept tea towels and towels until they fall apart- then they get cut up for cleaning cloths.

I wouldn't get rid of anything unless it wasn't useable or was ugly to me.

Some of my curtains are 20 years old. Some of my bedding is 30 years old and is like new. Kitchen tea towels are used until the proportion of holes and scorch marks make them unusable, and then they are used for cleaning.

I have a bed set which is over twenty years old. It is very good quality and still looks and feels good. I still use it - that's the key. If you don't use something because it's tatty or you don't like it, get rid.

I wait til they are worn out. I don't like to consume stuff unneccessarily.

I've been married 26 years and only bought three bedding sets for our double bed in that time. We were given one set as a wedding present (the duvet cover wore through but I still have the pillow cases) and two others have been hand me downs from my Mum. So we've got through 6 sets in 26 years and all but 2 of them are still going strong.

My husband (55) has a towel that he's owned since University. It is perfectly good enough to use as a swimming towel/beach towel.

When they're worn out, or if they've served a decent amount of time but I've found an alternative I really love. I do keep older sets first as spares for us, then as emergency back-up, then for cleaning rags / mopping up spills / dust sheets / etc - so this year I have got rid of some pillow cases that were 15 years old, but also had to replace a sheet that was only maybe two years old as it had a tear.

These sort of threads can get competitive, but I think we should use things as long as we can. Whether that means 5 years or 20 depends hugely on the quality of the original item and how much use it gets.

I replace bedding when it is worn out, in practice every 3 years or so. But each bed only has one set at any one time. So it is worn through by then as it’s all washed weekly.
I don’t understand many western homes that have “linen cupboards” with multiple bedding sets. What is the point having more sets bedding than beds in a house? Why? It’s always been a mystery to me.

I get rid of stuff when it looks tatie.

What is the point having more sets bedding than beds in a house? I have two sets per bed and usually put the same set back on, but it does take all day to dry inside when it's raining but it's summer so no heating on. If a child was sick in the night then you would need a spare set.

I still have and use the towels I bought for each of my children when they were born, my eldest is 28!
Tea towels get changed quite often, because they go mank. Curtains, hardly ever, cushions occasionally. Bed clothes, as and when.

Every couple of years for most of what you mention apart from curtains. I like to freshen things up I suppose. I wouldn't keep something until it was falling apart if we are talking about bedding, towels or cushions.

I always donate my bedding / towels etc etc

My sister told me you need to change bedding and towels every two years as they don't get cleaned properly after that period some bacteria stays on them or something. She read an article somewhere. So I change mind every 2 years unless they look washed out before. X

@copperoliver
I don’t think that’s true.

copperoliver

As long as your wash your bedding and towels regular they will not need changed every two years , all my white bedding and towels get washed in a 60degree wash with vanish platinum and M&S white washing liquid and a little bit of lavender fabric conditioner, and hang out side on washing line. The coloured stuff gets done on 40 degrees . I always wash the sheets on the beds every week, in the summer I will do our bed every five days. They all look as good as new . Tea towels I use a clean one every day also use one the are mainly white and some of them are properly ten years old.

Buy Quality and it will last a long time.

I buy new towels when we are trying to sell the house so they look nice, but otherwise our stuff goes on forever. Old towels become dog towels. I can't remember ever throwing anything like that out. I do buy good quality though and I think that makes a difference.

Towels get replaced when they fall apart. Or the washing machine eats them.

Things like cushion covers, curtains and duvet covers tend to get replaced when I am bored of them and want a change. Usually when we move house. I got rid of lots of stuff last year when we moved. I was hanging onto it but we weren't using it because I didn't like it. DH went through a bit of a 'brown' home decor phase and now I cannot stand anything brown!

I only buy things when they need replaced. I have still got tea towels given to us when we married 35 years ago. Towels have all been replaced as they wore out eventually. Bedding is replaced when needed. I replace pillows regularly because my DH appears to eat them in his sleep and they get ruined. I have invested in pillow protectors now to prolong their life.

What is the point having more sets bedding than beds in a house?

I would hazard you haven't lived with British weather and no tumble dryer, or had a child who wets the bed!

This is part of the problem with society today. We are made to feel that everything needs to be new and shiny all the time.

We replace when things are too worn to use effectively anymore. But even then we repurpose anything that we can eg towels get used by the animals or cut into dishcloths, socks get turned into pan scrubbers etc. I sometimes replace curtains if I'm decorating a room but that gets done about once every ten years and most of the time I'll try to design the room around the existing curtains. If I need "new" I'll always try to buy second hand first. So we've just redecorated our bedroom and we have "new" from ebay curtains. The old bedroom curtains are going to be repurposed on the landing.