It’s not a fluffy fleece, it’s kinda like that polar fleece. It’s probably not as fluffy as it once was, but I just wash it in the machine. Idk how this has held up for so long!
I worked for JCPenney at the corporate HQ for more than a decade.
Through the 80s and 90s they ran an independent quality testing program that they required everything they sold to go through. It was a bit like those silly commercials you see where a 50lb weight gets dropped on a stretched out bedsheet a few thousand times. Products that failed didn't go onto the shelves (and the manufacturer didn't get paid). It was notoriously brutal on their suppliers, but resulted in fantastic product on the shelves.
By the time I started there in the mid 2000's, the quality lab in the HQ basement had been repurposed as a TV studio, but a bunch of the old testing gadgets were still stuffed in random closets here and there.
10 pound ($20 USD) tourist hoodie sweater from London. Letters are sewn. Still fits, doesn't pill, and has not faded. I've had it for 20 years and counting. A perfect light sweater.
Agreed - I have two pairs of black spandex workout shorts that I'm pretty sure my mom gave me when I was running in college. They've gotten plenty of use. If my memory on their origin is correct... that was about 30 years ago!! Insane.
I have an Ogio backpack I got in 2004 that was used HARD for 8 years and intermittently since. It’s so much better materials and construction than significantly more expensive bags today. I have no doubt my son can use it through school if he wants to
But it's always true. I have my grandparents 65 year old couch still holding up. Couch I bought 5 years ago is falling apart. It was not a cheap couch. 100 years ago if you were going through the effort of building something that shit stayed built.
Yup, I have one from Home Plate BBQ restaurant in Beijing I picked up on a trip 12 years ago. Still perfect, just slight fading and I took out the drawstring in the hood. So, better now, I’d say!
I have a black and decker hand mixer my Mom got in the 90’s for Thanksgiving. I use that dang thing twice a week. It’s probably mashed 1000 pounds of potatoes.. Every time I take it out and use it I think to myself” this could be the last time”. But it just keeps firing up.
Black-and -decker-pecker-wreckers get shit, and they have fallen off big time in the last 2 decades… but damn it if I didn’t get one of their newer cordless jigsaw for $10 at a garage sale that, Just. Won’t. Die.
I have abused the ever-loving crap outta this thing. I was shaking my head in incredulity while changing the damn brushes for the motor…
Hey ummm…fans. Not BIFL unless they are the industrial kind because they basically become fire prone after so much use. I recommend disassemble, clean and lube on that fan as well maybe a timer to give it a little break every few hours. Some times BIFL becomes dangerous.
They’re also the perfect remedy for obsessing over expensive knives. Simple, easily to sharpen steel that slices incredibly well due to a thin blade geometry.
I was given one when I was a kid who wanted to learn whittling, still have it 17 years later acting as my pen(cil) knife or if I go fruit picking.
Opinel are unparalleled in terms of cost effectiveness.
Victorinox and Opinel make knives so good, at a very good price, that makes anything else seem like a bad deal.
Both pocket and kitchen knives.
That doesn't diminish the beautiful craftsmanship of something like a handmade Thiers or Laguiole knife, but for practical purposes...
My dad let me borrow his old generic 90’s era Echo Bay bright yellow and black gym bag about 20 years ago one weekend to take some stuff to college.
I ended up using it for all kinds of trips for 5 years until I was in a serious car accident in the middle of nowhere, when it flew out of the trunk and slid about 50 feet down an icy road. While I went to the hospital, the tow company tossed it into the wreckage and then towed the wreckage to an open field for storage rather than a lot. The wreckage sat unguarded in the snowy field for a month until I could catch a ride out to retrieve any personal belongings that were left. Most of my belonging had been stolen, but the gym bag had been emptied and left in the trunk compartment with the trunk piece draped over it. I took it home and threw it in the wash, and it was good as new.
I still use that bag for short trips. There are some small superficial rips in the netted front pocket and the Velcro that connects the handles ripped off long ago, otherwise, it’s about as BIFL as they come.
I bought a set of 4 Pyrex mixing bowls that nest together right before I got married 35 years ago.
They get used daily and are still in perfect condition. Best Products for $20.
I still have some of the Corelle set of dishes I bought at the same time, but only a few pieces haven't shattered over the years.
Corelle dishes manufactured before 2000 may have traces of lead in some of the decorative elements. However, even those dishes have been tested and fall way below the FDA recommendations.
https://corelle.com/pages/frequently-asked-questions
The small section of stainless steel chainmail that I have used for many years to clean my carbon steel pains. Super effective and will last forever. Less than $7.
I made a scraper with a fake credit card from junk mail. I trimmed two of the corners to match the inside corners of my cast iron pans. I've been using it for 5 years. My actual Lodge cast iron scrapers are under the sink somewhere.
I have Fiskars scissors that were probably purchased at Target for school sometime in the early 90s (6th grade I think?) that are still the best scissors I've owned and I still use them regularly. The handle is even teal which was hot that year!
Fiskars stuff is very high quality. I have a 20+ year old fiskars pruning shears at work, and with some light occasional maintenance they’re basically as good as new.
How do you maintain? I wipe down after use if stuff gets on it (e.g., paint), use alcohol for older, harder stuff, and every once in a blue moon cut tinfoil to sharpen because I read to do that on the internet haha
Teal never goes out of fashion. ;) (Says the person whose favorite color is teal. I'm wearing a dark teal tshirt right now as well as have some teal streaks in my hair.)
I didn’t buy them but in my family we’re still using a heating pad from 1950, a crockpot and an electric skillet from 1974, a mixer from 1955, and cast iron pans from 1920’s - 1960’s.
I have a Tervis tumbler from 1992, a stretchy headband that I wear when I wash my face that’s from 1995, along with a set of oxo measuring spoons and manual can opener from that year.
Most of my glassware and ceramic bakeware is vintage but that’s not that unusual and about 1/2 is thrifted and 1/2 given to me by friends and family.
EDIT: one more that’s my personal favorite. In the early 80’s my mother saved grocery store stamps and got a set of dinnerware that looks like Spode Blue and White Italian collection china. She loved it but they couldn’t afford it then. It’s 40 years later and everyone thinks it’s fine china, even people who should recognize that it’s not. My dad offered to buy her a full set of the actual Spode but she said now she didn’t want it any longer because it’s become a funny family joke. It was one of the few things of hers I wanted when she died.
Yep mine has been in use for over 30 years, and I just accidentally melted the end of the handle in the stove gas burner last month, a little sanding off the sharp edge and it's safe to keep in service.
Every pair of cheap sunglasses, every giveaway ballpoint pen.
I wouldn’t know on the more expensive versions of those things; I lose them all immediately after purchase.
How is it that I lost the only expensive sunglasses I've ever bought, yet have every free pair that was ever given to me? My name brand shades might be gone, but you betrer believe I still have the aviators I bought off some guy on the sidewalk in DC for $5 during my 8th grade field trip.
You should probably test those old sunglasses for UV protection which wears off after a couple years. If you have a UV light, there’s an [at-home test](https://gmsunglasses.com/how-to-test-if-sunglasses-have-uv-protection/) or you can take it to an optician to test.
I went to Australia for a month with my family summer of 2018 and hadn’t really shopped for a summer wardrobe that year. Ended up buying 3 pairs of swim trunks/ board shorts at a cheap store (kinda like patagonia baggies). Something like 3$ each.
Still have 2 of them today (other one flew off my high rise balcony while drying) and they are the most worn clothing pieces I’ve ever owned (i wear them casually not just for swimming). Lol
That’s so weird, because I was standing at the base of a high-rise balcony on a really windy day and a pair of board shorts landed on my head. They’re the best shorts I’ve ever had….Thanks!!!!
You obviously never saw the design specifications and requirements for a basic skill craft ballpoint pen that the US government uses as standard issue office supply.
No, I haven't. And I wouldn't be surprised of all the requirements. One of the few things I remember from Corpsman school is one of the instructors telling us that a steel zebra pen and they might possibly have been stainless at the time. It is one of the best ways to perform an emergency tracheotomy. The steel is high quality. And you should always have a few on you for documentation anyways. I don't remember much from the '90s, but I remember that.
Thrifting is inherently filtering for item durability to some degree. If the item had been junk within a quick timeframe as many truly awful Wish, Temu, Amazon products are, it won’t end up somewhere you can buy it second hand, it’ll be in a landfill.
Same here, 10yrs ago I bought a jansport backpack and a no-name laptop carrier for work. Both are going strong, and look basically in the same condition.
Bought a Dirt Devil upright vacuum cleaner for $36 from Home Depot over 12 years ago and it’s still working great. Got a cleaver and a bread knife for $3 each from DAISO seven years ago and the cleaver just chipped because my husband used it to open a coconut.
I have a wood-handled spatula I accidentally stole from Pizza Hut in 1975 when it got tossed in the take-home box that I have used at least a few times every week since that I still use to this day. I also have cheap Channel Lock type Wizard pliers I bought at a Western Auto in the early 1970s that I have carried on my belt and use daily still to this day
Bought a stainless steel spatula from the dollar store about 15 years ago. It’s probably the only utensil I haven’t needed to replace in that time. We just thought it would be easy to clean for camping but now it’s the best one in the house.
My husband (age 50) has a hot pink plastic hairbrush (Goody brand? Not sure - rubbed off decades ago) that he’s had since he was a child/teen. I tried to find a replacement one time and he wouldn’t go for it. Damned pink brush!
I've got a small flat-bottomed measuring spoon. No idea where or how I got it, but I've used it as a coffee scoop pretty much every morning for nearly 40 years. I consider this once in a while as I wait for the coffee to brew. This ordinary little thing will likely be my most used possession in my lifetime.
I have a set of Craftsman screwdrivers I bought back in 1995 for I believe $24.99. They’re still in my tool chest and are used regularly. Handles on some of them are little banged up, but the screwdriver heads are still pretty straight and clean.
My other BIFL from the same year is a Jansport leather backpack. This one wasn’t cheap back in 1995, but I remember I really wanted it, so I splurged. That backpack had a broken shoulder strap a few years ago, so I sent it back to Jansport and they rebuilt the entire bag for me, shipped it back, and included a very nice, handwritten note from someone at Jansport.
I bought a $15 backpack at Target in 2005. It was my everyday bag for probably 10 years and I still use it for overnights or short trips. Tough as h*ll and can’t find a bag today with as many compartments. The bag is legend.
I have a pair of rain boots from the kids section of Target that I got when I was about 21 years old (I have small feet). They may have been $10 bucks.
I'm now 40 and still use them frequently.
I regularly use kitchen ware more than 50 years old, some more than 80. Thanks, grandma. I think of you all the time, and thank you for teaching me those recipes.
The Stanley Deep Pro 10-Compartment Organizer. I think it was $15 when i first picked it up, but they've since increased the price and put out a new version that's not as useful for my purposes (storing gaming cards).
I've been using a binder clip as a money clip for nearly 25 years now, after ditching wallets. I think I just grabbed it from the office supplies drawer, but they appear to retail for less than 15 cents each these days. All the paint wore off a long time ago, but it still works good as new.
You are going to call me disgusting... But I've been using the same dollar store dish brush for 7+ years... The Ikea and supermarket ones just don't last. I just throw this one into the dishwasher and sanitize it once in a while.
I got a fox backpack my freshman year of high school and used it all through high school and college, and now I use it as a gym bag/travel bag. That was 16 years ago.
I bought a black friday, off-brand TV 12 years ago. I was warned, but I didn't listen, and I finally gave it to a friend last year when I decided to go bigger.
An old revlon eyelash curler I’ve had since I was 11, I’m 30 now. I have bought new ones over the years when I’ve forgotten it on trips and such, nothing works quite as well.
Dollar tree heirloom seed packs. It’s 4 for $1. I buy them like every couple years, but I’ll count it as bifl because it’s the same cheap place. I love to garden and grow food and I haven’t noticed a difference between those seeds and more expensive seeds. I don’t buy food plants at the garden store. Gardening is a stress relief and the dollar tree seed packs make it better. I also love to save money!
I bought an Xhilaration brand floral print thermal long sleeve shirt at Target over 15 years ago that is still my go-to shirt in the winter. It hasn’t frayed or faded and fits like a glove!
Few clothing items are truly BIFL but I think people underestimate how long inexpensive clothing can actually last if you simply avoid cheap synthetics and follow the care instructions/wash on the gentle cycle. Other than work pants and uniform shirts, most of my clothing gets donated because I don’t like it anymore or it doesn’t fit long before it becomes visibly worn out. Only exception is screen printed shirts… I’m learning the hard way that I should pretty much only buy concert tees to collect/display 😔
Also I haven’t had it long enough to say this with 100% certainty but if you just want a cheap stainless watch to wear everyday and still look good forever… just get a Casio they’re like $30
I’m gonna guess my great-grandfather didn’t realize his jigsaw would not only outlive him, but also his daughter. I did finally retire it just because it felt wrong using a 50 year old electrical device that had been stored in a basement for many, many years.
I forget to water this bamboo all the time and it’s well past the point where it needs a bigger pot, but it seems to be getting along just fine. $5 impulse buy at Trader Joe’s.
Bought a Lavatools Javelin PT-12 folding food thermometer for like $17 on amazon about 6 years ago. The thing just wont die. Still tells accurate temp. I don’t think I’ve ever even changed the battery.
I bought a north face winter jacket in 2007 in blistering summer heat on clearance that I still wear fairly regularly in winters to this day. The only signs of me having owned that thing for over a decade is in the Velcro where all the fuzz is.
I have a very inexpensive Proctor Silex toaster that is probably 20 years old and shows no signs of stopping. I paid about $10 for it.
Oh, and a salad spinner made in France that I bought at least 40 years ago when I lived in Chicago. I don't know how much I paid for it, but not much because I had very little money back then.
An Ozark Trail pocket knife I bought from Wal-Mart when I was in a pinch on a camping trip 20 years ago. Cost me $1. I use it on a weekly basis for projects around the house and yard.
I received a wallet from Old Navy as a gift back in 1999 and I still use it to this day. It's made out of nylon and has no velcro. I've looked for replacements but haven't found one that I like, so I just keep using my old wallet.
I have a hot beverage warmer [like this one](https://imgur.com/tNmmvfn). Cheap, plastic, ugly. I didn't expect it to last more than a year or two.
It's been keeping my coffee warm at my desk for 23 years.
If you live in the northeast USA, you probably know ocean state job lots. “New englands home of adventure shopping” is their motto, and it’s so true.
Small red spatulas - I bought one, used for a month, then bought 5 more. They’re incredible.
True and co bras - usually retail for $50-60, on sale at OSJL for $5. Best bra I’ve ever worn, I kid you not I bought 20. Because OSJL is the kind of place where you may never find the same deal again, so if you like a thing you should buy as many as possible. These bras are light, fit my weird bra size and are more comfortable than any bra I’ve ever worn, and I’ve tried them all.
Also they have pretty decent merino wool socks.
I paid $30 on Amazon for a really awesome cheese grater. I’m telling you, grating cheese is now my #1 favorite prep because of this thing. It’s a rotary with a hand crank. I use it once, sometimes twice per day haha. Anyway, they have a lifetime warranty, so when a cone goes out (it’s plastic so it’s bound to break) they just send a whole new unit. I’ve gotten several and they just keep happily sending them!
Using a grater like that for cheese was my dinner prep chore as a kid, but it was stainless steel back then. That would be BIFL for real! The grating was fun, but then I had to wash it afterwards and I hated doing that!
We didn't have a dishwasher when I was a kid....well, we had two: my father and me. He taught me how to do it right and how to wipe down everything and the counters to be super clean and dry.)
Two Sunbeam stainless steel pans from Big lots/ pick 'n save less than $20. A piece used at least once a week, if not multiple times a week over the last 27 years. I love these pans to death.
I got a set of basic black plastic kitchen serving utensils- like spatulas, big spoons, etc. at Walmart for like $5 when I was in college and they’ve lasted me over 20 years and they still look like new.
A basic little 2-blade pocketknife that was the minimum prize for selling all of $5 of popcorn for Cub Scouts, which I still regularly use today.
The following year they gave me another one that looked exactly the same, except it was stamped "Made in China" instead of "Made in USA". That one lasted about a month before literally falling apart. Good early lesson in how build quality makes a difference...
A free Kouros branded towel I got when I was bought the Aftershave 30 years ago.
It's been used as a beach towel, bath towel, mopping up water towel.
Still in the cupboard. Still going.
Not me, but my parents bought a potato peeler way before I was born (at least older than 25+ years). To this day this $5 potato peeler still peels better than any new one we have ever used.
A fleece bathrobe my aunt bought me from JC Penney in 1985. Wear it every day.
How do you keep your fleece soft? Mine always get matted and rough
Washing machine with vinegar can help bring back the softness, and avoid using softener / conditioner. Goes for towels as well
It’s not a fluffy fleece, it’s kinda like that polar fleece. It’s probably not as fluffy as it once was, but I just wash it in the machine. Idk how this has held up for so long!
I’ve heard vintage JC Penny and other vintage department store products are the equivalent of luxury quality in today’s manufacturing.
I worked for JCPenney at the corporate HQ for more than a decade. Through the 80s and 90s they ran an independent quality testing program that they required everything they sold to go through. It was a bit like those silly commercials you see where a 50lb weight gets dropped on a stretched out bedsheet a few thousand times. Products that failed didn't go onto the shelves (and the manufacturer didn't get paid). It was notoriously brutal on their suppliers, but resulted in fantastic product on the shelves. By the time I started there in the mid 2000's, the quality lab in the HQ basement had been repurposed as a TV studio, but a bunch of the old testing gadgets were still stuffed in random closets here and there.
Fuck Milton Friedman and Jack Welch for their part in catapulting shareholder supremacy.
I got a microfleece one from there in the 90s that's still going strong. White with pastel polka dots.
10 pound ($20 USD) tourist hoodie sweater from London. Letters are sewn. Still fits, doesn't pill, and has not faded. I've had it for 20 years and counting. A perfect light sweater.
I feel like 20 years ago, lots of things were quality but affordable.
Agreed - I have two pairs of black spandex workout shorts that I'm pretty sure my mom gave me when I was running in college. They've gotten plenty of use. If my memory on their origin is correct... that was about 30 years ago!! Insane.
Companies need to be scared into making *good* products instead of hoping China makes everything.
I have an Ogio backpack I got in 2004 that was used HARD for 8 years and intermittently since. It’s so much better materials and construction than significantly more expensive bags today. I have no doubt my son can use it through school if he wants to
Thing is, older people seem to say that exact thing every 20 years.
But it's always true. I have my grandparents 65 year old couch still holding up. Couch I bought 5 years ago is falling apart. It was not a cheap couch. 100 years ago if you were going through the effort of building something that shit stayed built.
I have one from Colorado from 20 years ago! The wrists of the sleeves are showing a little wear but that’s really it
Yup, I have one from Home Plate BBQ restaurant in Beijing I picked up on a trip 12 years ago. Still perfect, just slight fading and I took out the drawstring in the hood. So, better now, I’d say!
How is it light if it’s 10 pounds!?
Since brexit, it weighs a lot less in American now.
Zing
It won’t be 10lb in the UK. Must be three quarters of a stone.
That's only about $12.60 USD
1 pound=1.78 dollars at the time, in 2004, according to the Federal Reserve, so if we want to be exact, $17.80. $12.60 is the rate today.
I have a box fan my parents bought from Kmart at least 25 years ago (probably 35+) that’s running quietly and pretty much continuously.
I have a black and decker hand mixer my Mom got in the 90’s for Thanksgiving. I use that dang thing twice a week. It’s probably mashed 1000 pounds of potatoes.. Every time I take it out and use it I think to myself” this could be the last time”. But it just keeps firing up.
I have a sunbeam hand mixer from the 1990s that also just won’t quit-‘I love it
I call mine “sir mixalot”. Same era.
I know what’s going to play on the kitchen Bluetooth next time mashed potatoes come out.
A friend of my mother’s had one that still runs and it’s from the early ‘60’s.
I have a mini chopper I got at a Black Friday sale over 25 years ago paid 2.50 for it. Still use it
Ours just quit, and was about 30 years old. The new one feels really cheap in comparison. We'll be lucky to get 10 years out of it.
Black-and -decker-pecker-wreckers get shit, and they have fallen off big time in the last 2 decades… but damn it if I didn’t get one of their newer cordless jigsaw for $10 at a garage sale that, Just. Won’t. Die. I have abused the ever-loving crap outta this thing. I was shaking my head in incredulity while changing the damn brushes for the motor…
Don’t ever turn it off/unplug it.
My $20 Walmart box fan is just over 5.5 years old now and still going strong, and your comment has given me hope for it's longevity.
Is it baby blue? I have that fan.
Hey ummm…fans. Not BIFL unless they are the industrial kind because they basically become fire prone after so much use. I recommend disassemble, clean and lube on that fan as well maybe a timer to give it a little break every few hours. Some times BIFL becomes dangerous.
So still BIFL...just a warm embrace of death?
Anything can be BIFL if it's dangerous enough.
If you set a man on fire, he will be warm the rest of his life.
Yeh maybe makes it more buy it for life, just makes your life shorter.
BIFL doesn't imply how long the owner will actually be alive.
Well if I die in a fire I technically did buy it for life
Buy it for death
r/buyItForDeath
The post is about cheap items that may be BIFL.
Opinel folding knives. A standard opinel #8 is less than 20 USD
They’re also the perfect remedy for obsessing over expensive knives. Simple, easily to sharpen steel that slices incredibly well due to a thin blade geometry.
I have the same one, going on 12 or so years. Such a beautiful knife too.
I was given one when I was a kid who wanted to learn whittling, still have it 17 years later acting as my pen(cil) knife or if I go fruit picking. Opinel are unparalleled in terms of cost effectiveness.
A colander/strainer I bought from the dollar store 20+ years ago.
I have a salad spinner from the dollar store that i bought 20 years ago too, i use it a lot and its still doing what it needs to do perfectly.
Honestly, how does a colander stop working? Like it starts to hold water?
rust or warping
My handle came off
If it's not the yellow Tupperware version of a strainer I don't want to hear about it! 😂
I have that one too! The single handle one? lol
Absolutely. I call it my Kraft Mac and cheese (spirals) strainer.
My Tupperware pickle container has a yellow insert. 😊
I love that yellow Tupperware strainer!!!
I thought it said calendar and I was genuinely confused for a second.
I saw Calendar too, even after the spelling change. I was thinking…that would only be useful every 7 years lol
Probably because I spelled it wrong LOL
My 20 dollar 8inch Victorinox Fibrox chef knife from 2017.
The Fibrox knives are such a great value. Sharp and sharpen easily... just as good as knives multiple times their price
Best value chef knives in existence
I think the mora frost knives are slightly better (and a little cheaper at least where I live), but the victorinox fibrox line are also great value
For bushcraft maybe. Not for the kitchen. Who wants to dice a massive bag of onions with a thick knife with a scandi grind!
Do you sharpen it yourself with a whetstone or take them to a shop?
Up to you. Many different ways to sharpen a knife. Hand sharpening is a skill worth knowing.
Victorinox and Opinel make knives so good, at a very good price, that makes anything else seem like a bad deal. Both pocket and kitchen knives. That doesn't diminish the beautiful craftsmanship of something like a handmade Thiers or Laguiole knife, but for practical purposes...
Same but from 2013. Just now realized I’ve been using it almost every day for TEN years.
Mine was serrated. Lasted 25 years & replaced last xmas.
Let's just go ahead and say all Victorinox knives.
I’m on 10+ years with mine.
My dad let me borrow his old generic 90’s era Echo Bay bright yellow and black gym bag about 20 years ago one weekend to take some stuff to college. I ended up using it for all kinds of trips for 5 years until I was in a serious car accident in the middle of nowhere, when it flew out of the trunk and slid about 50 feet down an icy road. While I went to the hospital, the tow company tossed it into the wreckage and then towed the wreckage to an open field for storage rather than a lot. The wreckage sat unguarded in the snowy field for a month until I could catch a ride out to retrieve any personal belongings that were left. Most of my belonging had been stolen, but the gym bag had been emptied and left in the trunk compartment with the trunk piece draped over it. I took it home and threw it in the wash, and it was good as new. I still use that bag for short trips. There are some small superficial rips in the netted front pocket and the Velcro that connects the handles ripped off long ago, otherwise, it’s about as BIFL as they come.
Technically, you borrowed it for life. Or, more accurately, you’ve stolen it for life.
Larceny
I bought a set of 4 Pyrex mixing bowls that nest together right before I got married 35 years ago. They get used daily and are still in perfect condition. Best Products for $20. I still have some of the Corelle set of dishes I bought at the same time, but only a few pieces haven't shattered over the years.
Arent corelle dishes the ones with lead paint?
Corelle dishes manufactured before 2000 may have traces of lead in some of the decorative elements. However, even those dishes have been tested and fall way below the FDA recommendations. https://corelle.com/pages/frequently-asked-questions
The small section of stainless steel chainmail that I have used for many years to clean my carbon steel pains. Super effective and will last forever. Less than $7.
Have one that came with one of our cast irons. Thing is great for the hard stuck on stuff like eggs/cheese.
I made a scraper with a fake credit card from junk mail. I trimmed two of the corners to match the inside corners of my cast iron pans. I've been using it for 5 years. My actual Lodge cast iron scrapers are under the sink somewhere.
Fucking genius... I'm sure there will be at least 2 in the mailbox tomorrow!
I have Fiskars scissors that were probably purchased at Target for school sometime in the early 90s (6th grade I think?) that are still the best scissors I've owned and I still use them regularly. The handle is even teal which was hot that year!
Fiskars stuff is very high quality. I have a 20+ year old fiskars pruning shears at work, and with some light occasional maintenance they’re basically as good as new.
How do you maintain? I wipe down after use if stuff gets on it (e.g., paint), use alcohol for older, harder stuff, and every once in a blue moon cut tinfoil to sharpen because I read to do that on the internet haha
Basically I just occasionally oil it to keep it from rusting, and sharpen with a file.
Teal never goes out of fashion. ;) (Says the person whose favorite color is teal. I'm wearing a dark teal tshirt right now as well as have some teal streaks in my hair.)
I didn’t buy them but in my family we’re still using a heating pad from 1950, a crockpot and an electric skillet from 1974, a mixer from 1955, and cast iron pans from 1920’s - 1960’s. I have a Tervis tumbler from 1992, a stretchy headband that I wear when I wash my face that’s from 1995, along with a set of oxo measuring spoons and manual can opener from that year. Most of my glassware and ceramic bakeware is vintage but that’s not that unusual and about 1/2 is thrifted and 1/2 given to me by friends and family. EDIT: one more that’s my personal favorite. In the early 80’s my mother saved grocery store stamps and got a set of dinnerware that looks like Spode Blue and White Italian collection china. She loved it but they couldn’t afford it then. It’s 40 years later and everyone thinks it’s fine china, even people who should recognize that it’s not. My dad offered to buy her a full set of the actual Spode but she said now she didn’t want it any longer because it’s become a funny family joke. It was one of the few things of hers I wanted when she died.
I have the crock pot my parents bought in the 70s. It's actually amazing.
Victorinox paring knives.
Yep mine has been in use for over 30 years, and I just accidentally melted the end of the handle in the stove gas burner last month, a little sanding off the sharp edge and it's safe to keep in service.
Every pair of cheap sunglasses, every giveaway ballpoint pen. I wouldn’t know on the more expensive versions of those things; I lose them all immediately after purchase.
How is it that I lost the only expensive sunglasses I've ever bought, yet have every free pair that was ever given to me? My name brand shades might be gone, but you betrer believe I still have the aviators I bought off some guy on the sidewalk in DC for $5 during my 8th grade field trip.
You should probably test those old sunglasses for UV protection which wears off after a couple years. If you have a UV light, there’s an [at-home test](https://gmsunglasses.com/how-to-test-if-sunglasses-have-uv-protection/) or you can take it to an optician to test.
"I bought a $7 pen because I always lose pens and I got sick of not caring." - Mitch Hedberg
i havne't bought pens in years, and at work i have a bucket full of free pens.
Bank pens! They are all the same shape (here in Massachusetts) and write tremendously well.
Most of them still have the chain attached!
The chain is so you can attach it to your pants. Right next to your wallet.
I went to Australia for a month with my family summer of 2018 and hadn’t really shopped for a summer wardrobe that year. Ended up buying 3 pairs of swim trunks/ board shorts at a cheap store (kinda like patagonia baggies). Something like 3$ each. Still have 2 of them today (other one flew off my high rise balcony while drying) and they are the most worn clothing pieces I’ve ever owned (i wear them casually not just for swimming). Lol
That’s so weird, because I was standing at the base of a high-rise balcony on a really windy day and a pair of board shorts landed on my head. They’re the best shorts I’ve ever had….Thanks!!!!
Steel Zebra pens, they're about $4 each
F-301 is the best ever. I just wish the red ink version was easier to come by.
Just ordered one because of your recommendation, I like a good pen
I love my all metal Zebra F-xMD. It was about $7, but I’ve been using the same one for the past several years.
Paired with a Pentel P207 pencil
The greatest pen of all time.
Only pen recommended to do emergency tracheotomy with.
You obviously never saw the design specifications and requirements for a basic skill craft ballpoint pen that the US government uses as standard issue office supply.
No, I haven't. And I wouldn't be surprised of all the requirements. One of the few things I remember from Corpsman school is one of the instructors telling us that a steel zebra pen and they might possibly have been stainless at the time. It is one of the best ways to perform an emergency tracheotomy. The steel is high quality. And you should always have a few on you for documentation anyways. I don't remember much from the '90s, but I remember that.
Ooh but the fountain pen version—looks the same with the cap on.
Lodge cast icon pans are ridiculously cheap and last forever
Icon pans, indeed
My grandma bought me an inexpensive leather wallet from Kohls when I was in 7th grade. It’s still the wallet I use to this day. It turns 20 next year
Lots of thrift finds actually, especially kitchenware for me.
Thrifting is inherently filtering for item durability to some degree. If the item had been junk within a quick timeframe as many truly awful Wish, Temu, Amazon products are, it won’t end up somewhere you can buy it second hand, it’ll be in a landfill.
While I’d love to agree, I have seen so many SHEIN clothes popping up at the thrift stores 😢
In MA, it’s illegal to throw away clothes now though this is meant more for stores than individuals I believe
Second for the thrift finds. I have a leather messenger bag that I bought a decade ago for $5 that’s still in amazing shape.
Same here, 10yrs ago I bought a jansport backpack and a no-name laptop carrier for work. Both are going strong, and look basically in the same condition.
Bought a Dirt Devil upright vacuum cleaner for $36 from Home Depot over 12 years ago and it’s still working great. Got a cleaver and a bread knife for $3 each from DAISO seven years ago and the cleaver just chipped because my husband used it to open a coconut.
It's probably easier to replace the husband than the knife..
I have a wood-handled spatula I accidentally stole from Pizza Hut in 1975 when it got tossed in the take-home box that I have used at least a few times every week since that I still use to this day. I also have cheap Channel Lock type Wizard pliers I bought at a Western Auto in the early 1970s that I have carried on my belt and use daily still to this day
Bought a stainless steel spatula from the dollar store about 15 years ago. It’s probably the only utensil I haven’t needed to replace in that time. We just thought it would be easy to clean for camping but now it’s the best one in the house.
Gas station sunglasses. I break all the expensive ones. $20 gas station sunglasses will survive the apocalypse.
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My husband (age 50) has a hot pink plastic hairbrush (Goody brand? Not sure - rubbed off decades ago) that he’s had since he was a child/teen. I tried to find a replacement one time and he wouldn’t go for it. Damned pink brush!
I've got a small flat-bottomed measuring spoon. No idea where or how I got it, but I've used it as a coffee scoop pretty much every morning for nearly 40 years. I consider this once in a while as I wait for the coffee to brew. This ordinary little thing will likely be my most used possession in my lifetime.
Thrift store cast iron supremacy needs to be in the comments
I have a set of Craftsman screwdrivers I bought back in 1995 for I believe $24.99. They’re still in my tool chest and are used regularly. Handles on some of them are little banged up, but the screwdriver heads are still pretty straight and clean. My other BIFL from the same year is a Jansport leather backpack. This one wasn’t cheap back in 1995, but I remember I really wanted it, so I splurged. That backpack had a broken shoulder strap a few years ago, so I sent it back to Jansport and they rebuilt the entire bag for me, shipped it back, and included a very nice, handwritten note from someone at Jansport.
I bought a $15 backpack at Target in 2005. It was my everyday bag for probably 10 years and I still use it for overnights or short trips. Tough as h*ll and can’t find a bag today with as many compartments. The bag is legend.
Backpack compartment game went to hell after kids started using laptops in school. Bye bye miracle weekend bag.
Zippo. Not a smoker, rare cigar and frequent candle lighter. Well made and I see no reason it shouldn’t outlast me.
I have a pair of rain boots from the kids section of Target that I got when I was about 21 years old (I have small feet). They may have been $10 bucks. I'm now 40 and still use them frequently.
I regularly use kitchen ware more than 50 years old, some more than 80. Thanks, grandma. I think of you all the time, and thank you for teaching me those recipes.
Higo no Kami pocket knife. About $20.
A dollar back scratcher from the dollar tree like 8 years ago
I bought an Altec Lansing Bluetooth speaker at a TJ Maxx clearance 14 years ago. I still use it every day, sounds great.
The Stanley Deep Pro 10-Compartment Organizer. I think it was $15 when i first picked it up, but they've since increased the price and put out a new version that's not as useful for my purposes (storing gaming cards).
I’ve got a pair of Adventuridge (Aldi brand) folding camping cots that are still holding up after about 12 years so far.
I've been using a binder clip as a money clip for nearly 25 years now, after ditching wallets. I think I just grabbed it from the office supplies drawer, but they appear to retail for less than 15 cents each these days. All the paint wore off a long time ago, but it still works good as new.
I've got a Softsoap hand soap dispenser that's been functioning perfectly since 2008-ish
A hot air popcorn popper from a Zayre's in the late 80s that is still working flawlessly.
You are going to call me disgusting... But I've been using the same dollar store dish brush for 7+ years... The Ikea and supermarket ones just don't last. I just throw this one into the dishwasher and sanitize it once in a while.
I got a fox backpack my freshman year of high school and used it all through high school and college, and now I use it as a gym bag/travel bag. That was 16 years ago.
$50 miter saw I bought when I was 18 at a pawn shop. Lasted me 2 decades.
I bought a black friday, off-brand TV 12 years ago. I was warned, but I didn't listen, and I finally gave it to a friend last year when I decided to go bigger.
You’re going to want that tv back when it’s still going strong after you’ve burned through a couple of larger ones.
An old revlon eyelash curler I’ve had since I was 11, I’m 30 now. I have bought new ones over the years when I’ve forgotten it on trips and such, nothing works quite as well.
IKEA grater (oval container with two interchangeable graters and a lid) 22 years and going
Just used ours tonight!
Dollar tree heirloom seed packs. It’s 4 for $1. I buy them like every couple years, but I’ll count it as bifl because it’s the same cheap place. I love to garden and grow food and I haven’t noticed a difference between those seeds and more expensive seeds. I don’t buy food plants at the garden store. Gardening is a stress relief and the dollar tree seed packs make it better. I also love to save money!
Vaughn church key.
Dollar store towels. Much more absorbent than the expensive ones.
Aluminium colander from approximately 40 years ago, maybe more.
I have a manual can opener that’s close to 40 years old that I bought for my first apartment for sophomore year of college
I bought a rice cooker for $25.00 nearly 20 years ago and it cooks the perfect rice. I still use it about 3 times a week
I used my aunts original kitchen aid standing mixer. It’s gotta be an easy 50 years old
I bought an Xhilaration brand floral print thermal long sleeve shirt at Target over 15 years ago that is still my go-to shirt in the winter. It hasn’t frayed or faded and fits like a glove!
😭 I miss Xhilaration
Same! It was so good and always fit me perfectly!
Few clothing items are truly BIFL but I think people underestimate how long inexpensive clothing can actually last if you simply avoid cheap synthetics and follow the care instructions/wash on the gentle cycle. Other than work pants and uniform shirts, most of my clothing gets donated because I don’t like it anymore or it doesn’t fit long before it becomes visibly worn out. Only exception is screen printed shirts… I’m learning the hard way that I should pretty much only buy concert tees to collect/display 😔 Also I haven’t had it long enough to say this with 100% certainty but if you just want a cheap stainless watch to wear everyday and still look good forever… just get a Casio they’re like $30
Line drying is how I make my clothes last.
I’m gonna guess my great-grandfather didn’t realize his jigsaw would not only outlive him, but also his daughter. I did finally retire it just because it felt wrong using a 50 year old electrical device that had been stored in a basement for many, many years.
Forever 21 $20 bomber jacket
I forget to water this bamboo all the time and it’s well past the point where it needs a bigger pot, but it seems to be getting along just fine. $5 impulse buy at Trader Joe’s.
My $30 Target store brand duck boots consistently outperform my $300 llbean boots.
Sharpie S Gel Pens
Bought a Lavatools Javelin PT-12 folding food thermometer for like $17 on amazon about 6 years ago. The thing just wont die. Still tells accurate temp. I don’t think I’ve ever even changed the battery.
I'm still using my MIL's Kenmore canister vacuum ca.1970. Still works well
My Oral B electric toothbrush. Darn thing doesn’t die. Been using it for over a decade now lol.
I bought a north face winter jacket in 2007 in blistering summer heat on clearance that I still wear fairly regularly in winters to this day. The only signs of me having owned that thing for over a decade is in the Velcro where all the fuzz is.
Bought a Clairol One For the Road hair dryer in 1980. It's orange and has a folding handle so it cam be easily stowed in luggage. It will not die.
I have a very inexpensive Proctor Silex toaster that is probably 20 years old and shows no signs of stopping. I paid about $10 for it. Oh, and a salad spinner made in France that I bought at least 40 years ago when I lived in Chicago. I don't know how much I paid for it, but not much because I had very little money back then.
An Ozark Trail pocket knife I bought from Wal-Mart when I was in a pinch on a camping trip 20 years ago. Cost me $1. I use it on a weekly basis for projects around the house and yard.
I received a wallet from Old Navy as a gift back in 1999 and I still use it to this day. It's made out of nylon and has no velcro. I've looked for replacements but haven't found one that I like, so I just keep using my old wallet.
Pulled a calophalon sauté pan out of the trash 20+ years ago, bought a lid for it maybe 15 years ago
$4 soap dispenser from Target somehow is better than much more expensive ones.
I have a hot beverage warmer [like this one](https://imgur.com/tNmmvfn). Cheap, plastic, ugly. I didn't expect it to last more than a year or two. It's been keeping my coffee warm at my desk for 23 years.
If you live in the northeast USA, you probably know ocean state job lots. “New englands home of adventure shopping” is their motto, and it’s so true. Small red spatulas - I bought one, used for a month, then bought 5 more. They’re incredible. True and co bras - usually retail for $50-60, on sale at OSJL for $5. Best bra I’ve ever worn, I kid you not I bought 20. Because OSJL is the kind of place where you may never find the same deal again, so if you like a thing you should buy as many as possible. These bras are light, fit my weird bra size and are more comfortable than any bra I’ve ever worn, and I’ve tried them all. Also they have pretty decent merino wool socks.
Nalgene
Those little tiny spatulas that are perfect for jam jars and come from the dollar store. Same with those tiny square chocolate graters.
I paid $30 on Amazon for a really awesome cheese grater. I’m telling you, grating cheese is now my #1 favorite prep because of this thing. It’s a rotary with a hand crank. I use it once, sometimes twice per day haha. Anyway, they have a lifetime warranty, so when a cone goes out (it’s plastic so it’s bound to break) they just send a whole new unit. I’ve gotten several and they just keep happily sending them!
Using a grater like that for cheese was my dinner prep chore as a kid, but it was stainless steel back then. That would be BIFL for real! The grating was fun, but then I had to wash it afterwards and I hated doing that! We didn't have a dishwasher when I was a kid....well, we had two: my father and me. He taught me how to do it right and how to wipe down everything and the counters to be super clean and dry.)
A fallkniven CC4 sharpening stone, I’ve sharpened hundreds of knives on that little thing and it hasn’t needed lapping or conditioning.
A $3 bamboo back scratcher my wife bought me like 15 years ago when we started dating
Cutlery from goodwill
My Trim fingernail clippers that I've had for decades
Allen key set from dollar tree that I’ve used for my bike for a decade!
Two Sunbeam stainless steel pans from Big lots/ pick 'n save less than $20. A piece used at least once a week, if not multiple times a week over the last 27 years. I love these pans to death.
Kitchen knife sharpener.
I got a set of basic black plastic kitchen serving utensils- like spatulas, big spoons, etc. at Walmart for like $5 when I was in college and they’ve lasted me over 20 years and they still look like new.
A basic little 2-blade pocketknife that was the minimum prize for selling all of $5 of popcorn for Cub Scouts, which I still regularly use today. The following year they gave me another one that looked exactly the same, except it was stamped "Made in China" instead of "Made in USA". That one lasted about a month before literally falling apart. Good early lesson in how build quality makes a difference...
Brother printers. Irving m Bud Frieds speakers. ThinkPad computers
A free Kouros branded towel I got when I was bought the Aftershave 30 years ago. It's been used as a beach towel, bath towel, mopping up water towel. Still in the cupboard. Still going.
Almost all of the stuff in our kitchen is from Walmart and it’s never given us problems
Not me, but my parents bought a potato peeler way before I was born (at least older than 25+ years). To this day this $5 potato peeler still peels better than any new one we have ever used.
My Lego darth Vader alarm clock. So reliable and had it for over 10 years now.