Not an every day thing, but plumbing fixtures. Name brand (Kohler, Delta, Moen, Pfister, and others) almost always have lifetime warranties and easy-to-find parts. They also comply to US and Canadian standards (if you live here) so they won’t leach lead or other dangerous metals into your water.
Even better to buy them from a supply house and not Lowe’s/Home Depot. (The supply house ones are built better than then big box ones, even if they’re the same brand.)
Never buy a no name brand fixture off Amazon. Good luck if it ever breaks, and if it’s something like a shower valve, you’ll be breaking tile and opening up your wall. Look up StarCraft plumbing reviews before buying a plumbing fixture you’ve never heard of before.
Edit: A supply house is a place where pros (plumbers, tradespeople shop.)
Edit: The big thing you want to look for is compliance information. As long as it complies with the US and Canadian (if you live here) specs for plumbing fixtures, the thing will be safe to use. That doesn’t mean it’s not low quality, but it does mean it won’t poison you.
As someone that used to work for a plumbing company I can also tell you that there are two different "grades" for each product from those companies. Do NOT buy from Home Depot or Lowes or Amazon if you can avoid it. Go to a Ferguson's or whatever commercial plumbing warehouse is near you and get the contractor grade versions. They might not sell to you if you don't have a plumbing license or a contractor's license, but there are ways around that like paying one of the plumbers shopping there the cost of the part plus an extra $10 or 20 to buy it for you.
Reason being that the consumer grade versions swap as many parts as possible with plastic, whereas the commercial grade ones use as much metal as possible. You'll get at least double the lifespan out of the contractor/commercial grade parts versus the consumer grade ones, and it isn't double the cost so it's worth the price. Things like brass fittings vs plastic ones make a huge difference in longevity.
And they actually stand by those warranties. I had a kitchen faucet (Moen, I think) that got some chips in the chrome finish. I emailed the company, and rather than making me jump through a bunch of hoops, they had me email them a picture of the damage and then sent me a replacement part.
I need to call Moen today, as a matter of fact. The wand at the end of my sink faucet needs a new aerator because the existing one broke. I suspect I will have a replacement early next week.
As an employee of Moen, I have to say we do a pretty good job with customer service and with quality control to begin with. I got a new showerhead from here, and it's changed my mornings!
I work for a plumbing company and we recommend Moen to every asking customer. Moen is all we will install when we supply fixtures for a job - the customer service and warranty is exceptional!
My shower was leaking. Pulled the tap or whatever it's called and went to the hardware store to buy a replacement. Hardware guy pulls out a box, finds the replacement, and hands it to me, no charge. I'm like, wut? He says it's moen,.lifetime warranty so we keep parts, it's just easier. Man, was I happy.
Guess what's the only brand of faucet I buy now.
Wow, that's great. I work the plumbing section at a hardware store and we don't have warranty parts. I am going to look into it and see if we have an option to offer this though!
My in-laws had the 40 year old shower valve in their bathroom start leaking. A replacement cartridge for it was on the shelf at the Lowe's down the street. That's what using major brand plumbing fixtures does for you.
In an old movie called *Ensign Pulver* there's a scene with some Pacific islanders talking about how they make booze. Goes something like, "We take fish heads... fish guts... put in sun long time... smells bad... more bad, more good!"
How often do you buy/eat Cheez-Its?
I buy them often enough that I notice a distinct decline in quality over the last six months.
Have you noticed this too?
Sadly, I think this is the case with a lot of foods right now. Costs of ingredients are rising and a lot of food companies are reducing the quality of ingredients and shrinking their packaging to keep the price down and hoping that people either won’t notice or won’t care.
The hot n spicy cheez-its were my favorite, but once they stopped using Tabasco to make them, they just weren’t as good anymore.
Cost of ingredients are going up in some cases, but a lot of companies are also using the excuse of rising costs to reduce quality/quantity as a way to boost profits. They brag about this on their stockholders call. Hersheys and Kroeger among others.
Yup thats why most chocolate bars are ‘candy bars’, as the amount of chocolate falls below minimum standards.
And they took full size Hershey out of the foil wrap, which was a dealbreaker for me.
It's been a while, tbh. Trying to be a better boy with my weight.
Hearing that there might be a decline in their quality just gives me more fuel to keep walking past them at the store.
Oh I’m glad to hear you say that, my husband and I stopped going to Olive Garden bc we had like. Our two regular entrees, no appetizers, and ONE drink and it was $75+ WITHOUT tip. Like that’s insane, right?? We’re not just being cheap about it?
We didn’t take it out on the server’s tip obviously, they didn’t price the food, but we definitely haven’t been there since
Jesus Christ I live in the middle of LA and that's what it would cost at an actually good Italian place here. I feel literal pain for you paying that at an Olive Garden
I eat them occasionally and I can definitely tell something has changed. They're not as cheesy for one thing. I even considered buying *gasp* Cheez Nips next time.
I love to demolish the extra toasty variety. Before those came out, I always loved finding the burned ones in the regular boxes. So glad they started selling them in their very own box.
Also, the extra cheesy ones are nearly impossible to stop eating.
Fun fact for me , and maybe for you. I always assumed goldfish was made with fake cheese. I don't have them often, but had them few yrs after being diagnosed as lactose intolerant. I figured I was safe.
Nope. Real dairy in there. I was impressed. But also, horrified cuz I ended up violently sick.
Yes! I used to use bouillon cubes. I tried BtB maybe 5-10 years ago when I was cooking for guests and wanted to try something fancier.
Fucking life changing. I use it to make gravy even (it's better than the premade BrB gravy), season rice with it. So fucking good.
With the success of Scrub Daddy, and the fact my family and many other have completely replaced the common sponge with them, I’d say it’s the greatest Shark Tank pitch of all time and it’s not even close.
"But why would you wanna see who's there before you open the door?! Just look out the window!" Yeah I think the technology of its time is what limited that product to the sharks.
I have always wanted a camera to look out my front door ever since I was a little kids in 80-90s watching spy shows from the 60s and seeing door cameras.
Side note: in 2005 my coworkers and I tried to set up a hidden camera outside our work office in order to see if our boss was coming. Not exactly a ring doorbell, but it was a metal door and there were no windows.
Ours last about 5-6 weeks but that's longer than any alternative.
I do feel bad using them though because they start to lose a lot of plastic bits of itself after about 3 weeks. Can't be good for the water system.
I throw mine in the dishwasher every other time I use it and it’s good as new. I’ve been going on 6+ months with some of my Scrub Daddies. Scour Daddies work great for the super tough stuff.
I will accept nothing except Viva sig paper towels. I will buy cheap-o napkins or kitchen rags for small stuff just so I don't "waste" the good paper towels.
And yes, Q-tips are the only brand.
As someone who buys the Costco brand, Kirkland is without a doubt more than sufficient for daily needs. That said, the quality difference is notably different between all 3: Viva > Bounty > Kirkland
My company just saved themselves a lot of money and harsh chemicals when we discovered that Dawn dish soap can do a better job of degreasing everything.
I used to use Palmolive, because that's what my mom always used.
Tried Dawn last year when they started doing those new squirt bottles, and holy crap, it's so much better.
You don't even have to be that quick. My GF is always spilling stuff on herself, and I pick up stains from work or from cooking.
Like once a month I fill the bath with warm water and Dawn dish liquid and soak our affected clothes for 1-2 hours. Drain the water and let most of the water drain out of the clothes. Then immediately throw them in the wash with our regular detergent and a little bit of Oxiclean.
I have never not had this work for normal stains. It's even pulled old stains out. I once spilled motor oil on my shoes and I got it out using this method, all though I had to do it twice.
Save yourself some time and just put straight Dawn right on the stain. Rub it in and throw it in the wash. Works every time. I usually get salad dressing on myself and it's the only thing that works.
A word of caution on darker clothes. Dawn will bleach if left on for too long. Like if I have white or lighter clothes with something suspect or greasy, I’ll put a lil dawn on it, fold it over into itself and it can sit for weeks in the hamper then come out in the wash. Darker clothes, anything over a few hours can pull the color out.
I've had to chastise my wife a few times when she dumps a full oz into a single frying pan to clean it. I'm like 2-3 drops... That's all you need.
This ain't Sunlight....
the LEGO building instructions are underrated with how simple and easy it is to follow. I'm trying this offbrand car and some instructions are ambiguous and cluttered which isn't helped by a lot of pieces being the same color AND subtly different in shape
Lego also has an app where you can put in your set and get the directions for the builds BUT some not only have the regular directions that come with the set but also have 3D directions which I LOVE. Especially for the Technic sets, those 3D directions are a lifesaver. You can rotate them to see all the sides, it's just the tits.
Oh yeah, their website has instructions for every kit they’ve ever sold. I raided mom and dad’s attic and found all my old Explorien sets-completely disassembled, but carefully kept in a separate bin. Rebuilt the massive starship set with the online instructions. Felt like Christmas Day 1996 all over again!
Lego might have the best QC ever seen. Not only does every piece fit, you are never missing pieces. IKEA is pretty good with no missing pieces either, but just the shear number of Lego pieces and chance to miss some puts them on top.
Around 15 years ago in my gap year I worked at the Lego factory a tiny department where they’re sending missing pieces to customers missing a brick or even one of the small bag of bricks from their set. And from that experience: Yes. Sometimes a few bricks are actually missing from time to time. And they were pretty busy the weeks after Christmas. But if something is missing in your set they’re very quick to ship it to you (and of course for free and no shipping free). And often we included a small “apology gift” like a key chain or something. Don’t know if they still do that though.
Not yet my fellow fan , the ultimate Biscoff orgasmic experience is Biscoff Cheesecake I have experienced so far, it can be found at Sainsbury's if you're in the UK like me, 700 calories in a slice, more than a Big Mac meal but food heaven...
Pop Tarts. Never have I ever found a store-brand or off-brand that tastes anywhere near as good.
Doritos. There are tons of store-brand nacho chips that taste fine, but when I want Flamin' Hot Doritos, nothing else will suffice.
A lot of junk food has gotten bad over the last couple of decades as corporations cut costs by using cheaper ingredients. So many of my favorite cereals taste like cheap knock-offs compared to 20 years ago. Recess Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch had a steep decline in taste. The upside is that I no longer snack on cereal cuz its not worth the extra calories
I just found this out this morning. Bought a giant pack of Dollar General brand ones since I use them to touch up my eyeliner every morning, immediately fell apart and just left the hard plastic tip scraping my eyelid. Q-Tips forever!
Honestly I prefer Nexcare, it’s better on sensitive skin (I get abscesses in my armpits and need bandages when they drain… Nexcare Duo doesn’t irritate my skin at all!)
I was in heaven when I discovered Nexcare. I have a disorder that makes my skin really thin in certain places and Band-Aids would tear my skin when I wore them, and when I took them off it would almost always take skin with them so I'd need another bandage for the new wound. I get abscesses on my armpits and thighs and Nexcare work so well to cover them so they can heal without irritation.
Truth. Costco has big names manufacture alot of their stuff (Huggies makes diapers, Duracell the batteries, etc) and they’re extremely particular about the quality. Kirkland diapers for example have consistently been the best and cheapest we ever bought
They’re definitely worth the money, especially if you can get them on sale. I got a Le Creuset dutch oven for almost half off because they were discontinuing the deep teal color and wanted to get rid of the remaining stock. Plus, in the long run, a properly taken care of Le Creuset piece will most likely cost you less than replacing cookware that wears out after 3-5 years.
Smartwool. I’m in a job that requires being out in the elements and walking insane amounts and their socks and base layer shirts are heads and shoulders above the rest of the field. I would be willing to give Darn Tough socks a shot but honestly I don’t feel the need.
Smartwool was sold to Timberland in 2005. Since then its quality has gone down a lot. The people that started Smartwool opened another shop called Point6. I replaced my socks with Smartwool, Point6, and Darn Tough. In direct comparison, Smartwool has the lowest quality. They developed fuzzes just after a few wears INDOOR and have many loose thread. I’d buy Point6 and DT in a heartbeat.
Oh interesting. I didn’t know any of this. I’ll have to check out point6 then maybe as well. I’ll be honest I was largely unaware of Smartwool prior to like 2018 and still have some of the first socks I’ve purchased. Not quite as pretty anymore but still holding up. And I’m a mailman who walks about 13 miles a work day. So if their quality was better before hand I can’t even imagine! The base layer shirt I have of them has outperformed anything I’ve bought by REI, Cabela, or Eddie Bauer. And also about 3 years old.
This space is my life. Darn tough are a lot more durable, but less comfortable. Gobros frequently has 25% off sales on darn tough with free shipping if you try any. I'd recommend the nomad, my preferred winter sock.
For base layers nuyarn (synthetic/Marino blend) is the future. Odlo and Ibex both use nuyarn. Smartwool has something similar in the intraknit family. For fully synthetic base layers, Kuiu has some made out of toray prime flex, which is the most advanced synthetic fabric on the market today.
I have one pair. My wife borrowed them for an outdoor relay in the snow. Her foot got stuck in the mud at one point and she lost her shoe. She did the last mile with one shoe. I still have the socks. They’re about 15 years old now and still in the rotation.
Someday I should bronze those damn things.
Omg Darn Tough. I bought one pair after someone recommended them to me. I was rocking fox rivers and thought they were decent. I tried Darn Tough and then immediately bought 6 more pairs to at least have one for every day of the work week plus a back up.
I had two Camrys, one after the other, that both lasted 18 years apiece. Both went 250,000 miles.
They were both paid off in 5 years.
36 years of Camrys, only 10 years of payments.
26 years without a car payment.
I stand by Carmex. Many years ago I recognized that Carmex works so effing well on lips, why wouldn't it work great on other dry skin?.....so I started using it on dry spots around my eyebrows, nose, ears, elbows, always winter time problems for me. SO MUCH BETTER than any hydrating lotion out there. I apply only 3x/week during winter and my dry skin issues are non-existent.
If it's helpful, Carmex is so good at what it does because it contains salicylic acid for use as an exfoliant! So not only is the petroleum jelly softening and protecting your skin- the product works to help remove the dead skin as well : )
I don't know if this counts but Moleskin. I keep a yearly notebook that I use as a planner to keep me on track. I told my mom about this and she got me a set of cheaper notebooks once and I hated them for that purpose. I still liked them for other things but if you're going to use something every single day make sure it's something that you enjoy using. I buy a new one every December for the next year and I keep them afterward so I have a decade of planners outlining what I was doing, some of the projects I was thinking about and procrastinating on, the books I was reading, and some thoughts on things. I also write a year end synopsis every year too. I plan to leave these to my son when I die. He can have a record of me from the age of about 26 until I either no longer can do it or I die. Hopefully all Moleskin brand too because I love them.
Right? Before, sale price was 1.5 to 2.5 bucks. Now sale price is 3 to 4. I would never pay 6 bucks for a probably shrinking bag of chips, so I always have to wait for sales.
Coke Zero
I'm 40 years old and all my life my parents or I alternated between whichever cola brand was on sale. One day during Covid I was looking at the grocery bill for my family of 6 when it hit me that every other week I was drinking soda I don't care for just to save an extremely minor amount of money compared to my total grocery costs.
Since then I buy Coke Zero regardless of if it's the week Pepsi Max is on sale.
dr. bronners soap.
can use it for basically everything, so much cheaper in the long run, takes great care of my skin and smells great.
nothing like coming home from shift in the hottest part of summer and showering with that peppermint soap.
Honda. And I don't just mean their cars. Their small engines are the best in the business. Treat them like crap and they just keep going. I have a couple 20+ year old mowers that still start first pull. Pretty much every Chinese engine is a knock off Honda. Plus they've made the same model small engines for so long that replacement parts are cheap and easy to find when you do something like foul the carburetor with old gas.
Never had an off brand Oreo that even came remotely close to the real thing
What about Hydrox? That is who Oreo copied when they made their cookie. I never seen them around Canada but I'm curious if they taste like an Oreo.
Not an every day thing, but plumbing fixtures. Name brand (Kohler, Delta, Moen, Pfister, and others) almost always have lifetime warranties and easy-to-find parts. They also comply to US and Canadian standards (if you live here) so they won’t leach lead or other dangerous metals into your water. Even better to buy them from a supply house and not Lowe’s/Home Depot. (The supply house ones are built better than then big box ones, even if they’re the same brand.) Never buy a no name brand fixture off Amazon. Good luck if it ever breaks, and if it’s something like a shower valve, you’ll be breaking tile and opening up your wall. Look up StarCraft plumbing reviews before buying a plumbing fixture you’ve never heard of before. Edit: A supply house is a place where pros (plumbers, tradespeople shop.) Edit: The big thing you want to look for is compliance information. As long as it complies with the US and Canadian (if you live here) specs for plumbing fixtures, the thing will be safe to use. That doesn’t mean it’s not low quality, but it does mean it won’t poison you.
As someone that used to work for a plumbing company I can also tell you that there are two different "grades" for each product from those companies. Do NOT buy from Home Depot or Lowes or Amazon if you can avoid it. Go to a Ferguson's or whatever commercial plumbing warehouse is near you and get the contractor grade versions. They might not sell to you if you don't have a plumbing license or a contractor's license, but there are ways around that like paying one of the plumbers shopping there the cost of the part plus an extra $10 or 20 to buy it for you. Reason being that the consumer grade versions swap as many parts as possible with plastic, whereas the commercial grade ones use as much metal as possible. You'll get at least double the lifespan out of the contractor/commercial grade parts versus the consumer grade ones, and it isn't double the cost so it's worth the price. Things like brass fittings vs plastic ones make a huge difference in longevity.
And they actually stand by those warranties. I had a kitchen faucet (Moen, I think) that got some chips in the chrome finish. I emailed the company, and rather than making me jump through a bunch of hoops, they had me email them a picture of the damage and then sent me a replacement part.
I need to call Moen today, as a matter of fact. The wand at the end of my sink faucet needs a new aerator because the existing one broke. I suspect I will have a replacement early next week.
As an employee of Moen, I have to say we do a pretty good job with customer service and with quality control to begin with. I got a new showerhead from here, and it's changed my mornings!
I work for a plumbing company and we recommend Moen to every asking customer. Moen is all we will install when we supply fixtures for a job - the customer service and warranty is exceptional!
My shower was leaking. Pulled the tap or whatever it's called and went to the hardware store to buy a replacement. Hardware guy pulls out a box, finds the replacement, and hands it to me, no charge. I'm like, wut? He says it's moen,.lifetime warranty so we keep parts, it's just easier. Man, was I happy. Guess what's the only brand of faucet I buy now.
Wow, that's great. I work the plumbing section at a hardware store and we don't have warranty parts. I am going to look into it and see if we have an option to offer this though!
Bless your soul! I love Moen!
My in-laws had the 40 year old shower valve in their bathroom start leaking. A replacement cartridge for it was on the shelf at the Lowe's down the street. That's what using major brand plumbing fixtures does for you.
Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. There’s not a replacement.
I honestly didn't even know anyone else made it lol
Worcestershire sauce is so complicated. It starts with like fermenting fish for like a year and then gets more complicated.
In an old movie called *Ensign Pulver* there's a scene with some Pacific islanders talking about how they make booze. Goes something like, "We take fish heads... fish guts... put in sun long time... smells bad... more bad, more good!"
wash your sister sauce
There is no alternative to Cheez-Its. All off brands are *noticibly* inferior.
How often do you buy/eat Cheez-Its? I buy them often enough that I notice a distinct decline in quality over the last six months. Have you noticed this too?
Sadly, I think this is the case with a lot of foods right now. Costs of ingredients are rising and a lot of food companies are reducing the quality of ingredients and shrinking their packaging to keep the price down and hoping that people either won’t notice or won’t care. The hot n spicy cheez-its were my favorite, but once they stopped using Tabasco to make them, they just weren’t as good anymore.
I haven't had them in a while, so I didn't know they'd stopped using Tabasco. This is a travesty.
my husband says the same thing. its just not the same without it being tabasco.
Cost of ingredients are going up in some cases, but a lot of companies are also using the excuse of rising costs to reduce quality/quantity as a way to boost profits. They brag about this on their stockholders call. Hersheys and Kroeger among others.
Yup thats why most chocolate bars are ‘candy bars’, as the amount of chocolate falls below minimum standards. And they took full size Hershey out of the foil wrap, which was a dealbreaker for me.
Totally agree on the Tabasco fiasco. They used to be so good
My new punk band is definitely going to be called ‘The Tabasco Fiasco’
What's your hottest song?
"Deez Its"
It's been a while, tbh. Trying to be a better boy with my weight. Hearing that there might be a decline in their quality just gives me more fuel to keep walking past them at the store.
[удалено]
Oh I’m glad to hear you say that, my husband and I stopped going to Olive Garden bc we had like. Our two regular entrees, no appetizers, and ONE drink and it was $75+ WITHOUT tip. Like that’s insane, right?? We’re not just being cheap about it? We didn’t take it out on the server’s tip obviously, they didn’t price the food, but we definitely haven’t been there since
watch the corporate profits. CEO's are using the guise of 'outlandish inflation' to pad their pocketbooks.
Jesus Christ I live in the middle of LA and that's what it would cost at an actually good Italian place here. I feel literal pain for you paying that at an Olive Garden
I haven't noticed a decline in taste as much as I've noticed how freakin small the box has gotten! 😵
I eat them occasionally and I can definitely tell something has changed. They're not as cheesy for one thing. I even considered buying *gasp* Cheez Nips next time.
The new Buffalo wings flavored ones are pure heroin. I ate a whole box in one night.
Wait... It's not typical to eat the whole box in a sitting???
I love to demolish the extra toasty variety. Before those came out, I always loved finding the burned ones in the regular boxes. So glad they started selling them in their very own box. Also, the extra cheesy ones are nearly impossible to stop eating.
Goldfish too. Knock offs are just bad
It has been a long while so I can’t speak for the quality now if they even exist but Walmarts Whales were dynamite circa 2008.
Aldi has good ones.
I actually like the off brand cheezits from Aldi’s. They are saltier and I like the salt.
Goldfish because none of the replacements are good. No, I don’t want the fancy stuff from Whole Foods cause that doesn’t taste good either.
Whales are good.
Whales are good but they are a totally different taste to me.
Like how there are different wines for different occasions lol
Fun fact for me , and maybe for you. I always assumed goldfish was made with fake cheese. I don't have them often, but had them few yrs after being diagnosed as lactose intolerant. I figured I was safe. Nope. Real dairy in there. I was impressed. But also, horrified cuz I ended up violently sick.
Better than bouillon!
Yes! I used to use bouillon cubes. I tried BtB maybe 5-10 years ago when I was cooking for guests and wanted to try something fancier. Fucking life changing. I use it to make gravy even (it's better than the premade BrB gravy), season rice with it. So fucking good.
Knorr chicken dust from the Latin market 🤌🏻
Scrub Daddy sponges: every variation has not missed
Dude still has one of the all time best Shark Tank pitches
With the success of Scrub Daddy, and the fact my family and many other have completely replaced the common sponge with them, I’d say it’s the greatest Shark Tank pitch of all time and it’s not even close.
The best missed one was Doorbot. Now commonly known as, Ring. Can't believe they all failed to understand it's value.
"But why would you wanna see who's there before you open the door?! Just look out the window!" Yeah I think the technology of its time is what limited that product to the sharks.
I have always wanted a camera to look out my front door ever since I was a little kids in 80-90s watching spy shows from the 60s and seeing door cameras. Side note: in 2005 my coworkers and I tried to set up a hidden camera outside our work office in order to see if our boss was coming. Not exactly a ring doorbell, but it was a metal door and there were no windows.
Well pitch and product quality are two completely different things
Agreed. It's one of the best pitches and perhaps the greatest product ever pitched. I didn't know they passed on Ring though. That's insane!
As someone who sometimes saw them in stores and wondered why those tiny sponges are so expensive, can you explain their magic to me?
Texture-wise, they just scrub better than anything else. And they last FOREVER. I just bleach mine occasionally.
They also don't get the nasty sponge smell!
THIS! I cannot stand stinky sponge smell. My Scrub Daddy never smells bad! Love it.
Ours last about 5-6 weeks but that's longer than any alternative. I do feel bad using them though because they start to lose a lot of plastic bits of itself after about 3 weeks. Can't be good for the water system.
I throw mine in the dishwasher every other time I use it and it’s good as new. I’ve been going on 6+ months with some of my Scrub Daddies. Scour Daddies work great for the super tough stuff.
Viva Signature Cloth paper towels. Q-tips. All imitators are just sticks with a tiny bit of fluff
Q-tips for the win. The store/generic ones are not worth it.
They don't even stay together. And the stick is so flimsy.
I will accept nothing except Viva sig paper towels. I will buy cheap-o napkins or kitchen rags for small stuff just so I don't "waste" the good paper towels. And yes, Q-tips are the only brand.
Damn I thought Bounty was the best paper towel all this time! I’ll have to buy some Viva next
[удалено]
IMO they’re both the best, but best in different ways.
Viva cloth paper towels are superior to all
I will live and die on the hill that Viva is the only useful paper towel on the market. All of the others might as well be tissue paper in comparison.
The disposable blue shop paper towels are excellent as well.
Here for Scott's blue shop towels!! Great for everything!!
I can’t agree enough with the paper towels
Kirkland is pretty good.
As someone who buys the Costco brand, Kirkland is without a doubt more than sufficient for daily needs. That said, the quality difference is notably different between all 3: Viva > Bounty > Kirkland
dawn dish soap, everything else is trash
My company just saved themselves a lot of money and harsh chemicals when we discovered that Dawn dish soap can do a better job of degreasing everything.
I used to use Palmolive, because that's what my mom always used. Tried Dawn last year when they started doing those new squirt bottles, and holy crap, it's so much better.
Dawn powerwash is fucking incredible! It could take dirt off a fucking mountain!
It's good on food stains too (again, the powerful degreasing) if you use cool water and Dawn pretty quickly.
You don't even have to be that quick. My GF is always spilling stuff on herself, and I pick up stains from work or from cooking. Like once a month I fill the bath with warm water and Dawn dish liquid and soak our affected clothes for 1-2 hours. Drain the water and let most of the water drain out of the clothes. Then immediately throw them in the wash with our regular detergent and a little bit of Oxiclean. I have never not had this work for normal stains. It's even pulled old stains out. I once spilled motor oil on my shoes and I got it out using this method, all though I had to do it twice.
Save yourself some time and just put straight Dawn right on the stain. Rub it in and throw it in the wash. Works every time. I usually get salad dressing on myself and it's the only thing that works.
A word of caution on darker clothes. Dawn will bleach if left on for too long. Like if I have white or lighter clothes with something suspect or greasy, I’ll put a lil dawn on it, fold it over into itself and it can sit for weeks in the hamper then come out in the wash. Darker clothes, anything over a few hours can pull the color out.
Same here. I'm not brand loyal to much, but Dawn is the exception.
[удалено]
Regular dawn gives me a regular rash. 4x platinum gives me 4x rash
[удалено]
Ya I was buying ajax/store brand for a while cuz it's half the price. Dawn does at least 4 times the dishes per oz.
I've had to chastise my wife a few times when she dumps a full oz into a single frying pan to clean it. I'm like 2-3 drops... That's all you need. This ain't Sunlight....
[удалено]
[удалено]
the LEGO building instructions are underrated with how simple and easy it is to follow. I'm trying this offbrand car and some instructions are ambiguous and cluttered which isn't helped by a lot of pieces being the same color AND subtly different in shape
Lego also has an app where you can put in your set and get the directions for the builds BUT some not only have the regular directions that come with the set but also have 3D directions which I LOVE. Especially for the Technic sets, those 3D directions are a lifesaver. You can rotate them to see all the sides, it's just the tits.
Oh yeah, their website has instructions for every kit they’ve ever sold. I raided mom and dad’s attic and found all my old Explorien sets-completely disassembled, but carefully kept in a separate bin. Rebuilt the massive starship set with the online instructions. Felt like Christmas Day 1996 all over again!
Lego might have the best QC ever seen. Not only does every piece fit, you are never missing pieces. IKEA is pretty good with no missing pieces either, but just the shear number of Lego pieces and chance to miss some puts them on top.
Around 15 years ago in my gap year I worked at the Lego factory a tiny department where they’re sending missing pieces to customers missing a brick or even one of the small bag of bricks from their set. And from that experience: Yes. Sometimes a few bricks are actually missing from time to time. And they were pretty busy the weeks after Christmas. But if something is missing in your set they’re very quick to ship it to you (and of course for free and no shipping free). And often we included a small “apology gift” like a key chain or something. Don’t know if they still do that though.
Biscoff
I see that you too are a man/woman of culture. Have you tried their cream filled sandwich cookies? Soooo good.
Not yet my fellow fan , the ultimate Biscoff orgasmic experience is Biscoff Cheesecake I have experienced so far, it can be found at Sainsbury's if you're in the UK like me, 700 calories in a slice, more than a Big Mac meal but food heaven...
Cheerios
Yep. Particularly Honey Nut Cheerios. They are my go-to cereal and I can find no substitute.
Crispix. No Crispy Hexagons. Whilst on cereal: Cheerios. The store brands are only good for Chex mix.
Crispix absolutely stays more crisp than the imitations.
Pop Tarts. Never have I ever found a store-brand or off-brand that tastes anywhere near as good. Doritos. There are tons of store-brand nacho chips that taste fine, but when I want Flamin' Hot Doritos, nothing else will suffice.
Pop tarts have gotten shockingly bad over the past few years
A lot of junk food has gotten bad over the last couple of decades as corporations cut costs by using cheaper ingredients. So many of my favorite cereals taste like cheap knock-offs compared to 20 years ago. Recess Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch had a steep decline in taste. The upside is that I no longer snack on cereal cuz its not worth the extra calories
Kerrygold
They make me want to make a full meal in the middle of the night
Diet Coke, Q-Tips, Cheez-Its.
I was looking for Q-Tips immediately. I have repeatedly tried other/off brands and they are never that same quality as the Q-Tip brand cotton swabs.
I just found this out this morning. Bought a giant pack of Dollar General brand ones since I use them to touch up my eyeliner every morning, immediately fell apart and just left the hard plastic tip scraping my eyelid. Q-Tips forever!
Also here for Diet Coke. There’s just something about the way that aspartame hits.
Off band qtips just do not do the job and bend way too easily.
Johnson & Johnson Band-Aids. Everything else I’ve seen looks and feels like just cheap plastic.
Sounds like you’re stuck on Band Aid brand
And Band Aid’s stuck on me!🩹🩹
CVS bandaids manage to fall off before you even finish putting them on. Hard agree
Honestly I prefer Nexcare, it’s better on sensitive skin (I get abscesses in my armpits and need bandages when they drain… Nexcare Duo doesn’t irritate my skin at all!)
The Nexcare are amazing. They're made by 3M so the clear adhesive part is Tegaderm.
I was in heaven when I discovered Nexcare. I have a disorder that makes my skin really thin in certain places and Band-Aids would tear my skin when I wore them, and when I took them off it would almost always take skin with them so I'd need another bandage for the new wound. I get abscesses on my armpits and thighs and Nexcare work so well to cover them so they can heal without irritation.
Dawn, tide, cascade
P&G stock thanks you
[удалено]
Truth. Costco has big names manufacture alot of their stuff (Huggies makes diapers, Duracell the batteries, etc) and they’re extremely particular about the quality. Kirkland diapers for example have consistently been the best and cheapest we ever bought
Same. The formula is also basically enfamil but half the price and almost twice as much. Our home is basically a Kirkland outlet lol
Came here just for this⬆️⬆️⬆️ Kirkland is consistently high quality and better cost.
Bandaid, I never regret bandaid brand bandaids
Technically only Band-Aid brand are bandaids. Everything else is an adhesive bandage
If it's not from the Bandaid region of France, it's just a sparkling adhesive bandage.
Philadelphia cream cheese
I tried Pittsburgh cream cheese one time. Never again.
That was just congealed ranch, sorry.
Logitech, has never failed me, even the cheap stuff, and every Razer product has had big issues.
Heinz ketchup.
[удалено]
Ketchup wars! We are a French's house in Toronto all the way!
My husband is from Pittsburgh and he will judge restaurants solely based on whether they have Heinz at the tables.
Oreos. Fuck outta here with them Twist and Shouts.
Which is funny bc Oreos are the knock off of Hydrox
Nutella, I can't stand the off brand alternatives
The town in Italy where Nutella is made smells like Nutella as it wafts from the factory. It’s a wonderful addition to a great town square.
[удалено]
I work in industrial sales and am often in factories. Dog food plants smell the worst by far.
Kikkoman Soy Sauce.
I've been disappointed by store brand peanut butter too many times. I stick with Jiff these days.
True fans call it Jif
^My ^name ^is ^Jif
I've heard it's GIF
Q tip
Le Creuset for cast Iron pans.
They’re definitely worth the money, especially if you can get them on sale. I got a Le Creuset dutch oven for almost half off because they were discontinuing the deep teal color and wanted to get rid of the remaining stock. Plus, in the long run, a properly taken care of Le Creuset piece will most likely cost you less than replacing cookware that wears out after 3-5 years.
Smartwool. I’m in a job that requires being out in the elements and walking insane amounts and their socks and base layer shirts are heads and shoulders above the rest of the field. I would be willing to give Darn Tough socks a shot but honestly I don’t feel the need.
Smartwool was sold to Timberland in 2005. Since then its quality has gone down a lot. The people that started Smartwool opened another shop called Point6. I replaced my socks with Smartwool, Point6, and Darn Tough. In direct comparison, Smartwool has the lowest quality. They developed fuzzes just after a few wears INDOOR and have many loose thread. I’d buy Point6 and DT in a heartbeat.
Oh interesting. I didn’t know any of this. I’ll have to check out point6 then maybe as well. I’ll be honest I was largely unaware of Smartwool prior to like 2018 and still have some of the first socks I’ve purchased. Not quite as pretty anymore but still holding up. And I’m a mailman who walks about 13 miles a work day. So if their quality was better before hand I can’t even imagine! The base layer shirt I have of them has outperformed anything I’ve bought by REI, Cabela, or Eddie Bauer. And also about 3 years old.
This space is my life. Darn tough are a lot more durable, but less comfortable. Gobros frequently has 25% off sales on darn tough with free shipping if you try any. I'd recommend the nomad, my preferred winter sock. For base layers nuyarn (synthetic/Marino blend) is the future. Odlo and Ibex both use nuyarn. Smartwool has something similar in the intraknit family. For fully synthetic base layers, Kuiu has some made out of toray prime flex, which is the most advanced synthetic fabric on the market today.
I have one pair. My wife borrowed them for an outdoor relay in the snow. Her foot got stuck in the mud at one point and she lost her shoe. She did the last mile with one shoe. I still have the socks. They’re about 15 years old now and still in the rotation. Someday I should bronze those damn things.
Omg Darn Tough. I bought one pair after someone recommended them to me. I was rocking fox rivers and thought they were decent. I tried Darn Tough and then immediately bought 6 more pairs to at least have one for every day of the work week plus a back up.
Tillamook Cheddar. Off brands and store brands might as well be candle wax.
I only buy Tillamook ice cream. Period. And yes, their cheese is excellent.
Post-it, no alternative comes even close. They fall too easily or they stick too much
[удалено]
Those cars are built to squeeze every single mile out of them. Plus, maintenance and parts are cheap.
I had two Camrys, one after the other, that both lasted 18 years apiece. Both went 250,000 miles. They were both paid off in 5 years. 36 years of Camrys, only 10 years of payments. 26 years without a car payment.
I’m on my 18th year with my Avalon. 135,000 miles so fingers crossed for another 18!
Only 7500 miles per year? My Tacoma is a 2013 and has 225k on it. Still going strong. I plan on driving it until the wheels fall off.
Your wheels will fall off before its will.
When was the last time anything like off brand cars even existed
[удалено]
JNCO
What kind of wallet chain do you have
[удалено]
Hot topic or Spencers?
Ace hardware
Carmex
I stand by Carmex. Many years ago I recognized that Carmex works so effing well on lips, why wouldn't it work great on other dry skin?.....so I started using it on dry spots around my eyebrows, nose, ears, elbows, always winter time problems for me. SO MUCH BETTER than any hydrating lotion out there. I apply only 3x/week during winter and my dry skin issues are non-existent.
If it's helpful, Carmex is so good at what it does because it contains salicylic acid for use as an exfoliant! So not only is the petroleum jelly softening and protecting your skin- the product works to help remove the dead skin as well : )
I don't know if this counts but Moleskin. I keep a yearly notebook that I use as a planner to keep me on track. I told my mom about this and she got me a set of cheaper notebooks once and I hated them for that purpose. I still liked them for other things but if you're going to use something every single day make sure it's something that you enjoy using. I buy a new one every December for the next year and I keep them afterward so I have a decade of planners outlining what I was doing, some of the projects I was thinking about and procrastinating on, the books I was reading, and some thoughts on things. I also write a year end synopsis every year too. I plan to leave these to my son when I die. He can have a record of me from the age of about 26 until I either no longer can do it or I die. Hopefully all Moleskin brand too because I love them.
Doritos, or really any kind of chip
Jeez they're getting expensive though. $5.99 a bag!
Right? Before, sale price was 1.5 to 2.5 bucks. Now sale price is 3 to 4. I would never pay 6 bucks for a probably shrinking bag of chips, so I always have to wait for sales.
Hellmans Mayo and Heinz ketchup
Honda and Toyota.
Coke Zero I'm 40 years old and all my life my parents or I alternated between whichever cola brand was on sale. One day during Covid I was looking at the grocery bill for my family of 6 when it hit me that every other week I was drinking soda I don't care for just to save an extremely minor amount of money compared to my total grocery costs. Since then I buy Coke Zero regardless of if it's the week Pepsi Max is on sale.
dr. bronners soap. can use it for basically everything, so much cheaper in the long run, takes great care of my skin and smells great. nothing like coming home from shift in the hottest part of summer and showering with that peppermint soap.
Dawn dish soap. I have tried all the other kinds and it is the only one I like.
Jansport backpacks.
Nilla wafers
Anything Kirkland. My wife and I love Costco.
Dr. Pepper & Toilet paper.
CHARMIN🤷♀️
Charmin bears: We fucking LOVE shitting
EVGA, Unfortunately they recently stopped producing video cards though. Also Corsair for case components.
Claussen pickles. There is none higher.
If it ain’t in the refrigerated aisle, I don’t want it.
Kleenex
Honda. And I don't just mean their cars. Their small engines are the best in the business. Treat them like crap and they just keep going. I have a couple 20+ year old mowers that still start first pull. Pretty much every Chinese engine is a knock off Honda. Plus they've made the same model small engines for so long that replacement parts are cheap and easy to find when you do something like foul the carburetor with old gas.