LIST: They don't make like they used to make 'em

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Just for fun and the venting of mild aggravation, let's start a list of things no longer usually the quality of the same sort of item in past decades. Please join me and add to the list as you encounter more such items over time. It can be anthing from five cent to $50 K items, right?

I'll start with two very recent encounters.

Kitchen pot holders

We were given two in a set of kitchen linens last month. We have to double them over to not burn fingers taking bread out of the oven. The last pot holders I bought for myself were also too thin. I looked at a pot holder in a thrift store yesterday. It had a kitschy fabric motif I recognized from the 1990s and felt substantially thicker.

Cabinet and drawer pulls

In shopping for a replacement pull for a 12 year old cabinet door, the near match I am finding is guaranteed for 1 year. Shouldn't a cabinet pull be good for a lifetime, generally speaking?

[disneysteve]

let's start a list of things no longer usually the quality of the same sort of item in past decades.

Kitchen pot holders

We were given two in a set of kitchen linens last month. We have to double them over to not burn fingers taking bread out of the oven.

Cabinet and drawer pulls

In shopping for a replacement pull for a 12 year old cabinet door, the near match I am finding is guaranteed for 1 year. Shouldn't a cabinet pull be good for a lifetime, generally speaking?

I have to say I think your premise is faulty for two reasons.

1. Just because something is only guaranteed for a year doesn't mean it won't last for 20 years. Most items only have a 90-day or maybe a 1-year guarantee because manufacturing defects are typically apparent very quickly. If it doesn't break soon after purchase, chances are it is fine and will last.

2. The other issue is what I tend to call 'mental inflation'. We bought something some number of years ago for a particular price and when we need to replace it, we go to the store expecting to spend the same amount, forgetting that inflation exists and a comparable product might be quite a bit more costly today.

You can walk into any kitchen store and buy excellent pot holders today. In fact, you will find ones that are far better than what you got 20 years ago made of newer materials like silicone. However, they won't cost $2 or $3 like what you bought back then. They might cost $12-15. Even one of similar material and quality might be $8-10.

I will agree that it can be more difficult to find the good quality stuff, partly due to the expansion of big box retailers like WalMart and Home Depot. For example, I've had to replace the innards of a toilet or two and the kits they sell at Home Depot are made of cheap plastic parts that used to be all metal in the past. Finding the metal replacement parts today typically requires going to a specialty plumbing supply company.

So basically I'd say the good quality is still out there. It just costs more than you might expect to spend and you might need to search a bit harder to find it.

[Thrif-t]

Shoot you'd have a smaller list by saying what do they still make like they used to, I'll tell ya, NOTHING!! Everything is cheap and disposable, appliances, clothes. My number one gripe right now is underwear!ha Maybe TMI but they are so thin now! Come on use some good quality thick cotton already

And what about boxes for presents, since we're just done with the holidays, today's boxes are paper thin. I had some old ones I pitched cause they'd seen better days but at least I was able to use them more than once.

[creditcardfree]

Kitchen pot holders

We were given two in a set of kitchen linens last month. We have to double them over to not burn fingers taking bread out of the oven. The last pot holders I bought for myself were also too thin. I looked at a pot holder in a thrift store yesterday. It had a kitschy fabric motif I recognized from the 1990s and felt substantially thicker.

I have to agree with you on this one...although it may be a Walmart problem. We rented an apartment for one month this summer. Had the pot holder melt after touch the pan one time. And it did not keep the heat away from hands! Terrible experience. Since these were provided by the apartment I decided to replace them (yes, from Walmart)...and used them assuming the first set would be the only faulty one. Nope same thing happened again. And finally, our landlords at our home left a new set at this house for our use (also from Walmart) and found them to do the same thing! Burn upon touching a hot pan and not protect the user. I don't know where the first set came from, but boy, not a fun experience.

[disneysteve]

I have to agree with you on this one...although it may be a Walmart problem.

I decided to replace them (yes, from Walmart)...and used them assuming the first set would be the only faulty one. Nope same thing happened again. And finally, our landlords at our home left a new set at this house for our use (also from Walmart) and found them to do the same thing!

This is a perfect example of what I said above. How many times do you need to buy cheap crap from WalMart before realizing that it is cheap crap? Places like WalMart exist to sell high volume, low cost merchandise. It isn't the place to go for quality items.

If I wanted a potholder, I wouldn't go to WalMart. I'd go to Kitchen Kapers or Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table or Macy's Cellar or some other place that carries decent quality items. And I'm also willing to bet that even WalMart and definitely Target do sell potholders that are better quality than the ones you encountered, but I'm sure they also cost more.

[creditcardfree]

This is a perfect example of what I said above. How many times do you need to buy cheap crap from WalMart before realizing that it is cheap crap? Places like WalMart exist to sell high volume, low cost merchandise. It isn't the place to go for quality items.

If I wanted a potholder, I wouldn't go to WalMart. I'd go to Kitchen Kapers or Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table or Macy's Cellar or some other place that carries decent quality items. And I'm also willing to bet that even WalMart and definitely Target do sell potholders that are better quality than the ones you encountered, but I'm sure they also cost more.

The ones I do use came from Target and work super. I generally don't shop for that type of thing at Walmart. It was the one time because I was attempting to replace something that was damaged.

Our economy is based on consumption, thus the more often retailers/manufactures can get us to consume any number of items the higher the profit. One way to do that is to reduce the quality of the product.

[disneysteve]

Our economy is based on consumption, thus the more often retailers/manufactures can get us to consume any number of items the higher the profit. One way to do that is to reduce the quality of the product.

I've mentioned in other threads how we wore out 2 or 3 sets of cookware before splurging on a set of Calphalon. We've had it for years now and it still looks brand new. I'm quite sure we will never have to buy another piece of cookware again. I can see where that isn't the goal of retailers, but at the same time, the money we are saving not replacing our cookware every few years is now free to spend in other ways, so the money still circulates in the economy one way or another.