By cheap, I don’t mean price. I mean quality.

I have used Oral-B’s dental floss for many years and had no problem – until now. Not sure if it is just a defective batch, but suddenly, I am feeling my stress level going up while trying to keep this floss from ripping apart/thinning out. I constantly have to open up the holder and yank the floss until it is the full piece, then put it back only to have it thin out again (like tape when only a part of it rolls out). ARRRGGGGHH! I don’t need this type of frustration. Not only that – the floss is relatively expensive and I have wasted at least half of it.

Everything cheap quality

Unfortunately, it is not just dental floss that is made poorly these days. Other items are not only poor quality but unsafe to use. Almost everything else that I have bought recently has NOT stood the test of time.

Here are just a few items to name a few:

1. Thomas and friends battery-operated (motorized) trains. I actually had kept some from about 5-7 years ago (which were already played with by my other kids when they were younger), and they actually moved on the train tracks at a pretty good speed. I bought some more recently and they move at snail speed and cannot grip the track. The plastic parts break off very easily too. It is sad, but those newer trains are in the landfill now.
2. Plastic boat toy with battery-operated propellor movement. I put in batteries and suddenly the batteries became dangerously hot. Pretty scary. Joined trains in the landfill.
3. Refrigerator. We owned a GE side-by-side freezer/fridge for about 20 years. Working beautifully, but needed a secondary fridge. So naturally, based on product performance, bought a GE. But within a couple of years, the freezer was not working. We had a technician take a look, and he said wires were just ‘connected’ with a cheap piece of plastic these days. So the wires were not properly connected.
4. My vehicle. There are so many weird issues that I never experienced so early in the life of a new vehicle (just over two years old) from the car dealership. For example, a squeaky brake and steering wheel. Our old cars may have only had this problem near the end of their lives. Also had a transmission problem that revved the engine but did not allow the vehicle to accelerate.
5. Toys in general.
6. Shoes. Ever notice the soles and velcro coming off to quickly? I bought one pair of kids shoes and after one wearing, the velcro detached.

What I still hold onto dearly

I still have and use my GE electric clock/radio. Based on old photos, I have probably owned it for about 30 years!

Bottomline

In this thing called life, I guess there is no profit for companies if their products do not break down. I understand this, but can’t a product even last a couple of years, or a year, or a month, or a day???

Impact on our wallets and the environment

Unfortunately, it is our wallets and the environment that really suffer from cheap quality and disposable items.

What is the oldest thing that you still own (that still works)? I would love to hear from you…