Anyone else fed up of mass-produced, disposable carp?

[Salsa]

The economic race to the bottom.

Common tier consumers, looking for Legendary tier goods, at Trash tier prices.

Incidentally my £12 Tesco toaster still going strong after 7 years while my mum has had 3 "quality" Morphy Richards ones, costing 5 times as much, go pop in that time.

/Salsa

 

[sigma]

I agree to an extent however, as has been pointed out, there's nothing stopping you buying better made items.

 

[paradigm]

My issue isn't one of mass production but lack of "supposed" repairability. I know that the actual issue is manufacturers being utter ****wombles and not wanting anyone to know HOW to repair their products (so you buy a new one). Louis Rossmann has been doing some great work in the states regarding right to repair, but there are far too many deep pockets arguing the toss for the opposition.

A recent (as in today) example for me. I bought a portable A/C unit last week, it was faulty from day one, throwing up a nondescript error on the display, the manual referring me to the manufacturer. Rang the manufacturer who even confirmed to me that the problem was a sensor on the evaporator, a single sensor, probably a thermistor cased in epoxy or similar. They told me that it's a non-replaceable part so would instead be replacing the entire unit. Seriously? The entire unit replaced, two lots of additional shipping, instead of having service manuals and a 30p component shipped to me? Retarded consumerism is retarded.

On the flip-side, my 2 year old has a bubble machine (a cheapo one from B&M) that failed yesterday. Sure I could have gone and got something similar (this one is no longer sold), but instead I took it apart and worked out that the motor had burned out one of it's brushes. Fabricated one from some old electronics components legs and some copper de-solder wick and repaired it. Was it worth repairing a £5 item? In terms of my time, probably not, but in terms of not being so wasteful, of course it was!

 

[Ayahuasca]

It's difficult with some items, take electronics for example where you can quite easily spend £5k on a top of the line TV and it will still have quality issues. Some of it is inherent of the technology but there's also just a complete lack of responsibility from manufacturers to correct or cover known issues.

 

[chroniclard]

Just like toast cut into triangles taste better, so does artisan toaster toasted bread.

 

[inogen]

The economic race to the bottom.

Common tier consumers, looking for Legendary tier goods, at Trash tier prices.

Incidentally my £12 Tesco toaster still going strong after 7 years while my mum has had 3 "quality" Morphy Richards ones, costing 5 times as much, go pop in that time.

/Salsa

Yeah, I bought the cheapest 4 slice toaster in Currys about 15 years ago. I even think it was on offer. It's not skipped a beat.

I do buy expensive stuff in general though. Then try to learn over the years how I might maintain them. Though mostly you can't without really getting into electronics and having access to a small workshop.

And as efour said, expensive electrics and mechanical items are only reliable as the least reliable integral part, which is often the same POS resistor that's in the cheap ones.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Don’t have that problem, buy cheap, buy twice.

I do my research, save up, buy the good quality stuff.

There are always disposable stuff, no one is forcing you to buy it. Like don’t buy a cheap Teflon pan for £10, buy a £30 carbon steel pan. There are things that are cheap and can last but generally you get what you pay for.

 

[FoxEye]

I agree to an extent however, as has been pointed out, there's nothing stopping you buying better made items.

Well take my leather work glove example. I'm looking for better ones all the time. I'd be over the moon to find some really good quality ones.

There don't seem to be any.

You can spend £1000 on a pair of Gucci leather driving gloves, but in work gloves there only seems to be one or two designs that all the manufacturers use. They all retail for between £8 and £20 and last about a couple weeks each. That I can see - there is nothing else.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Well take my leather work glove example. I'm looking for better ones all the time. I'd be over the moon to find some really good quality ones.

There don't seem to be any.

You can spend £1000 on a pair of Gucci leather driving gloves, but in work gloves there only seems to be one or two designs that all the manufacturers use. They all retail for between £8 and £20 and last about a couple weeks each. That I can see - there is nothing else.

perhaps leather is the wrong material for the job you want to do in this instance?

 

[FoxEye]

Don’t have that problem, but cheap, buy twice.

Keep your experiences at the docks out of this

 

[FoxEye]

perhaps leather is the wrong material for the job you want to do in this instance?

The alternative is the nitrile stuff which doesn't last any longer. And is less env friendly. The things you can buy with various safety ratings on them. They degrade pretty fast tho and are designed to be bought in bulk/replaced frequently. Get them wet or use them outdoors and they start disintegrating fast.

Wrt the leather gloves, it's purely the cost-cutting and craftsmanship that is the problem.

I probably need to find a specialist/niche outlet that isn't indexed by Google. People selling quality, hard-wearing leather gloves must exist, somewhere.

 

[Monkeynut]

Don't buy cheaply made goods, usually western production is more expensive.
Cello make TVs in the UK (Not sure on the quality)
Hayter lawnmowers are built in the UK.
New Balance make some of their shoes in the UK.
When looking at tins or packets some of the cheaper stuff is made in cheaper places rather than the UK.

But everyone just looks at the price tag so they cheapen the labour more and more until there's nothing left to cut except quality.

 

[Raymond Lin]

The alternative is the nitrile stuff which doesn't last any longer. And is less env friendly. The things you can buy with various safety ratings on them. They degrade pretty fast tho and are designed to be bought in bulk/replaced frequently. Get them wet or use them outdoors and they start disintegrating fast.

Wrt the leather gloves, it's purely the cost-cutting and craftsmanship that is the problem.

I probably need to find a specialist/niche outlet that isn't indexed by Google. People selling quality, hard-wearing leather gloves must exist, somewhere.

What kind of jobs? How about those Blacksmiths uses?

 

[Orionaut]

Its simply not worth it and stagnates design and proggression.

How much progress do you need on a ****** toaster??

Incidentally my £12 Tesco toaster still going strong after 7 years while my mum has had 3 "quality" Morphy Richards ones, costing 5 times as much, go pop in that time.

Case in point, I dare say the "Quality" items are only really "Quality" insofar as they have extra features (Frozen bread setting, etc) which are charged extra for. but are also more things to go wrong.

I am currently using the toaster that my parents got as a wedding present in 1953.

All I have ever had to do with it was replace the mains lead (About 20 years ago)

 

[FoxEye]

What kind of jobs? How about those Blacksmiths uses?

Just "light" gardening, which is why it irks so much that they fall apart after a couple weeks If I was a rigger or a blacksmith they'd get a real punishing!

There are "rose gauntlets" which are fairly robust but also huge (they go all the way up your arms). Just need a normal sized pair of gloves that seal at the wrist (dirt getting inside them makes them useless), solid construction (gunn cut with winged/keystone thumb), decent quality leather (not suede/split leather)..

Now, if you search for "gardening gloves" instead of "work gloves", you find that most of them are designed as fashion accessories.. I think the "gardener" market is aimed at people who potter around taking flower cuttings, rather than designed for digging with a pickaxe (my kind of "gardening" )

 

[sigma]

Just "light" gardening, which is why it irks so much that they fall apart after a couple weeks If I was a rigger or a blacksmith they'd get a real punishing!

There are "rose gauntlets" which are fairly robust but also huge (they go all the way up your arms). Just need a normal sized pair of gloves that seal at the wrist (dirt getting inside them makes them useless), solid construction (gunn cut with winged/keystone thumb), decent quality leather (not suede/split leather)..

Now, if you search for "gardening gloves" instead of "work gloves", you find that most of them are designed as fashion accessories.. I think the "gardener" market is aimed at people who potter around taking flower cuttings, rather than designed for digging with a pickaxe (my kind of "gardening" )

https://www.screwfix.com/p/site-kf350-full-hand-performance-gloves-grey-black-large/515fr

https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-performance-performance-full-hand-gloves-grey-large/71617

Any good? The finger tips don't seem to have extra padding.

If you must have leather:

https://www.safetyshop.com/polyco-weldmaster-leather-welding-gloves.html

 

[sigma]

Don't buy cheaply made goods, usually western production is more expensive.
Cello make TVs in the UK (Not sure on the quality)
Hayter lawnmowers are built in the UK.
New Balance make some of their shoes in the UK.
When looking at tins or packets some of the cheaper stuff is made in cheaper places rather than the UK.

But everyone just looks at the price tag so they cheapen the labour more and more until there's nothing left to cut except quality.

Also buy local to support local independent shops, especially if they source locally.

People are often quick to moan at society, but everyone can start a process of change themselves.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Just "light" gardening, which is why it irks so much that they fall apart after a couple weeks If I was a rigger or a blacksmith they'd get a real punishing!

There are "rose gauntlets" which are fairly robust but also huge (they go all the way up your arms). Just need a normal sized pair of gloves that seal at the wrist (dirt getting inside them makes them useless), solid construction (gunn cut with winged/keystone thumb), decent quality leather (not suede/split leather)..

Now, if you search for "gardening gloves" instead of "work gloves", you find that most of them are designed as fashion accessories.. I think the "gardener" market is aimed at people who potter around taking flower cuttings, rather than designed for digging with a pickaxe (my kind of "gardening" )

You can go to any leather maker to make your a pair of gloves? I doubt you will be the first. It will be goos quality leather but it will cost you.

 

[FoxEye]

You can go to any leather maker to make your a pair of gloves? I doubt you will be the first. It will be goos quality leather but it will cost you.

Yeah I might end up doing this. In theory leather should be the best bet; it's normally the stitching on the cheap stuff that lets the whole thing down. The leather tends to still be intact, whilst the stitching unravels if you look at it funny.

Actually, leather working seems like it could be a cute little hobby. Not sure of the costs, but I can imagine worse things to do. Also I love the smell of goats, but that's another thread.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Yeah I might end up doing this. In theory leather should be the best bet; it's normally the stitching on the cheap stuff that lets the whole thing down. The leather tends to still be intact, whilst the stitching unravels if you look at it funny.

Actually, leather working seems like it could be a cute little hobby. Not sure of the costs, but I can imagine worse things to do. Also I love the smell of goats, but that's another thread.

I don’t think the contact points made of leather would wear well when you constantly put friction and stress to it...but explain it to the builder who should know all about it.

 

[builder22]