make do and mend; is it worth it?

[Annpan]

we got a dualit toaster for the same reason (it's 7 years old) the switch broke on it, we phoned dualit and they sent us the part for free.

[crowsashes]

ive just had a look at the dualit website ... have to admit i do like those radios!

[mrsflibble]

our mixer was bought nearly 2 years ago during a time of great financial hardship. it was only ever meant to be a stop-gap lol.

I've cannibalised it for any parts I can (beaters, the flex, plug etc) and will be binning what's left.

[Turtuga Blanku]

recycling is good, mending is a lot better

[Mrs Moustoir]

We also have a Dualit toaster - I bought it in 1990 when I had a bonus at work.
People laughed at me and said "HOW MUCH? You are mad paying that for a yuppie toaster - you can get one for a tenner at Arg0s!"

20 years on, it is still in daily use and I allow myself the occasional smug remark to members of my family who sneered at my lovely chrome toaster

And great to hear that Dualit are so helpful with regards to parts...I'm going to go and buff it up now before it decides to conk out!!

I have a friend with an ancient Renault 4 that she hurtles around in - she says the same, easy to get parts and easy to repair. So make "do and mend" works for her too.

[Turtuga Blanku]

I have a friend with an ancient Renault 4 that she hurtles around in - she says the same, easy to get parts and easy to repair. So make "do and mend" works for her too.

"do and mend" is getting more and more difficult with newer cars, with all the extra electronic/computer-parts in there. Although I suppose at some point in time all vehicles will be electric and those need a lot less maintenance than internal combustion engines.

[JessieMac]

I have a Magimix food processor and a juicer that Dennis calls R2D2 when the processor jammed I phoned the customer services dept and this for once lived up to its name.
Although it was a few months out of warranty they arranged pick up fixed it and returned it free of charge so I will look at Magimix when I need anything else for the kitchen.
I know that they are pricey but as I have a lot of trouble with my hands I use it everyday to make bread and pastry so I feel it is worth saving up for but if it is something for infrequent use it may not be worth it. ................ Jessica.

[citizentwiglet]

What's a mixer? Is that one of those fancy big whisk things with the bowl underneath?

As you can tell, I don't have one of those. But then, I don't do much stuff that involves mixing that can't be done by hand, with a fork. But I do fancy one of those old fashioned manual double-whisk jobs.........oh, and a decent bread machine. We got a 'no brand' machine from a mate, with no instructions....it's cost us more in failed bread than actually buying one. I think OH and I are going to buy each other half of a Panasonic one (with nut dispenser) that gets rave reviews for Christmas.

[Milims]

My mum gave me her 1960s Kenwood Chef - it's the best thing ever! You can still buy parts, or it's so simple that you can cannibalise an old one for parts. Also, parts and atachemts come up on freecycle and ebay - even the bean huller! I guess the old ones really are the best!

[fruitcake]

I still have (and use occasionally) what was my gran's early 1970s kenwood chefette the liquidiser part fell to bits years ago tho - the plastic went all brittle, but the whisk part still works great

[Jessiebean]

Oh great, now I really really want a dualit toaster.. and kettle...
I am another fan of buying as good aa quality as you can justify- it is cheaper in the long run and there is less involvement in the cycle of consumption.. also buying new cheap things takes almost as much time and is as stressful as buying one good thing, except you have to do it a lot more often which can't be good for anyone...

[Flo]

I'm more of the make do school of thought. Question is - why do I need that? Too many things seem to be a good idea but .....

The but comes in the running of "it" with regards to cost and whether the job could be done just as easily without "it". That line of questioning comes before repairing "it".

Too often, if you can't repair "it" yourself, the cost is prohibitive. Case in point - I can't put zips into things due to total lack of skill and tools. New second hand coat from charity shop was cheaper than putting in a new zip. Nope - things come with built in wear out factor in order to get us to buy another one. To keep the economy going you know.

[crowsashes]

with regards to lack of skills to repair things, i swear there is a youtube video to cover it! ive learned a few new knitting stitches etc on there. the kind you cant learn from a book but need to be shown how to do. i had to replace my ipod battery and sending it off to repaired cost the same as a new one so i had a quick look on line, videos, step by step tutorials the spare part and i replaced it my self ( other than wiring a plug etc my knowledge is limited)

its the same for a lot of skills. most of mine are self taught.

if somethings already broken is it not work it to either give it a go to fix it?

[Jessiebean]

Mixers, hand blenders and food processors are terrible to fix a lot of the time- they often have plastic gears which just strip and then you need a new gear box.. not just the cheap ones either. I bought my last cheap hand blender from a supermarket and it tried to kill me with wired little electrical zaps through a body seam... now I have a nice Braun hand blender which was $35 down from $85 and I have had for years.
I agree that zips aren't worth replacing for me, I get most of my clothes for $2 from op-shops and I nearly always have "good brands" but my sewing is a nasty horrible laborius thing, only to be used for buttons. I can't seem to drive a sewing machine....
I learned how to take links out of my Tag Heuer watch (new to me, a surprise gift from OH)which none of the jewellers around here could do for me. I found the instrutions on the 'net, OH also repaired the power steering on Our Mercedes Benz A Class from reading a good DIY site devoted purely to them (yes they go wrong an awful lot and Mercedes don't know how to fix them!) he also repaired the ABS control unit from an ML320 Mercedes when I found the instructions on a forum- saved us over $1600 whichis what a second hand unit would have cost. Before abandoning "Mend and Make do" do a thorough Google because the repair could be out there and you could save yourself a lot of time and have fun and gain satisfaction... also don't buy a Mercedes Benz unless you are into Mending and Making do!

[Merry]

This reminds me of the mower we had at the allotment (for the orchard grass).
A neighbouring plot holder gave it to us because he was getting a 'better one', (which turned out to be rubbish.)
It gave brilliant service for some years but eventually gave up when the much repaired casing cracked right across.
We left it at the end of the site and it gradually disappeared.
First the Briggs and Stratton engine - then the wheels - then the handle - in the end there was only the cracked casing to go into the skip.
I like to think that our mower is still cutting grass all over the site.
Our new one is rubbish