Great find! I have Hotel Collection towels that I found on clearance when they were changing the pattern of the stitching on the edges. Definitely worth the splurge for me! I think they were actually top rated by Good Housekeeping, but I don't know if I can trust those kind of reviews. I'm suspicious some companies pay for their products to be highly rated there. For example, how they highly rate some very throw away quality vacuum cleaners.

But cheaper than Hotel Collection and nicer? When I need new sheets, I will definitely keep these in mind. I used to love feeling the luxury of the Hotel Collection display beds when I worked at Macy's. The kind of stuff I always imagined putting in my dream home.

Wow that's such a shame Breville isn't what it used to be.

Macy's got a new CEO, in, I think 2017-ish, when their pro-blue collar worker CEO stepped down. I'd imagine the company will go downhill. Shit eventually rolls downhill. It really started going downhill when Federated bought them. That's when they started weeding out commissioned sales associates. Imagine being able to make close to $20/hour in retail back in the early 2000's 😅, yeah, no more, thanks Federated. That's when I noticed their products making a downturn also. I worked there on an off a lot over the past 20 years.

Costco is definitely better than Sams, since their parent company is Wamart, which is extremely toxic. I like Kirkland brand also, plus, retail workers are always hoping to get hired there because the benefits and pay are much better.

I lived in Austin, and I don't think HEB employees are particularly happy. Randall's paid better, and their parent company, Safeway, allows workers to unionize, in union states, not Texas. I worked for a heavily unionized retailer, Macy's, in a non-union/right to work state, and it still made a difference, like we got health insurance, 401k's, an hour lunch break instead of the typical 30, the workplace culture seemed less toxic. HEB was blamed for trying to create a monopoly in central Texas, and push out smaller grocers, so they're kind of doing what Walmart did to small businesses, but also, how much of that can we avoid in this country? How do you define a quality company? That they make quality goods, or treat their employers well? Are they ethical?

I currently work at Target, and the CEO, Brian Cornell, is heavily anti-union. But if you search, there are a few items made with "that union label", mainly some Target brand kitchenwares made by the United Steelworkers. I was actually blown away finding their store brand Pyrex and some glassware and ceramics are made by workers under that union. The quality of the items though, I think it's on par with everything else these days. Older union made items that I can usually find at thrift stores are definitely higher quality. Companies are now into fast fashion, things that wear out, because that's what rolls a profit. Even those Stanley cups everyone are after. You drop them once, and the seal is probably ruined. Not like the Stanley cups that are popular with blue collar workers.

For housewares, which is what I'm most familiar with, I think Lenox is still a quality brand, Kitchenaid and Cuisinart if you are buying from a department store. Their lines at stores like Walmart and Target have cut corners to bring the cost down for their customer demographic. Most brands have their quality line and their more budget friendly line now. I think, unfortunately, once a company gets to be a certain size, they start to lose a lot of their ethics. Finding one that is both quality products and ethical seems like a real challenge.

Most are made in China, but some are still made in England. I have no idea on the quality though, because my feet are just not made for them (quite painful).

If only we had as good of radio stations as we did in the 80's and 90's

I hated my Bosch

Or Corningware, Le Creuset, etc.

If you have an HE dishwasher, cut the amount of detergent you use in half. Something is not getting rinsed properly.

You should see the family fights that have happened in my house over my grandmother's Rosenthal china, it's up there with the Hummels. She got crystal from Austria too. We did use it for the holidays and every now and then for nice desserts. But the most I interact with it is washing the dust off 😂

I think it's more about the fact that someone hand painted this, and you just can't find that care put into making an object on a large scale anymore. Things like china are maybe hand stamped now to pass as "hand painted", but someone didn't sit there and lovingly draw that flower on it.

Forgot the vacuum insulated! Dishwashers are perfect at ruining their seals. Add anything with rubber or plastic gaskets and seals to the list to handwash.

For stainless steel to conduct heat, it has an aluminum or copper plate glued to the bottom. Some BIFL brands like All-Clad and some (now harder to find) lines of Calphalon use tri-ply construction where the conductor metal is pressed between the two sheets of steel like a quarter. But aluminum and copper are not dishwasher safe, and the glue used to fuse the plates to the other pan's bottoms will eventually degrade in the dishwasher.

Not that I disagree with anything you said, you seem to know your stuff! It may say dishwasher safe, but it will definitely shorten its lifespan. To get the residue off of my Teflon pans, I've found pouring white vinegar in them and letting that soak overnight usually removes the residues and brings the nonstick quality back.

Deglaze the pan while it is still hot, I mean adding warm water (don't put cold water in a hot pan or it will warp). That will loosen up the stuck on food, the brown and black bits from searing. Then you should be able to clean it with a dish brush and some liquid soap like Dawn. I also highly recommend making a paste of water and Bar Keeper's Friend or Comet powder if you want to polish them back to looking like new.

I don't know why you got downvoted for simply asking a question. Take my upvote for being curious about how to properly care for your purchases. 🙂

One trick for teflon pans is soaking them in white vinegar every so often. The residues from cooking sprays and soap scum from detergents (even proper ones like Dawn since they removed phosphates), make the non-stick coating less effective over time. I found the vinegar soak brings them back to life sometimes.

Edit: With stainless it really helps to deglaze the pan while it is still hot. Plus Bar Keeper's Friend is great stuff.

It's the harsh detergent, and the blades hit things when the jet sprays them. Seen some knives even get dents and dings on the cutting edge from being put in the dishwasher.

Yeah, anodized aluminum gets that white crust on it from dishwashers. I could always tell how someone ruined their pan when they were returning it to the kitchen store I worked at.

Knives, any pots and pans even if they say dishwasher safe. If you want them to last, hand wash them. It's half the quality of the item, and half how we take care of it.

Plastics should also go on the top shelf only. Heat makes plastic leach. Glass, ceramics, silverware on the bottom, plastics on the top.

I used to work at the Children's department at Macy's, and a bunch of the pants had extendable waistbands and pant legs, so I think they could increase by 2-3 sizes. Pretty cool since they grow so fast! Customers would usually ask what all those extra buttons were for.

Awww, I was the third child, so I understand this very well. Except our name was usually written on the neck tag. Back in the 70's-80's when clothes were meant to be handed down. Then some of my stuff went on to my nephews. Poor boys, having to use their mother's stuff from the 70's 😂

Is your washing machine okay? Seems like a short amount of time to wear through any sheets.

I have a Sterilite with wheels, since I was at an apartment complex with outdoor laundry. Still going strong since 2007.

Wicker furniture is sturdier than something like those plastic drawers, or what Ikea offers, and it's fairly lightweight.

Most of them will shred cds, so probably soda cans. It'll take a toll on the shredder. Do you think burning the paint on the cans is a good idea?

There's cast iron stovetop ones if you want one that will be nearly indestructible