I found Calphalon's tri-ply line at TJMaxx, probably had been a display. I think it was $7.99. Polishes up to a mirror shine with some Bar Keeper's Friend.

I like powdered detergent with these type of washers, more economical and they don't need all the dyes like liquid detergent has. I put it in the bottom so it dissolves as the washer fills. Only half a scoop for a large load unless the clothes are heavily soiled.

Yeah the really high thread counts like that are just thinner thread at that point. It rips extremely easily. 500-600 tops will feel luxurious and get that softer with age thing a lot of us love with 100% cotton.

I sold home textiles too long to pay for college 🙃

The Stanley thermoses are very tough, just don't put anything vacuum insulated in the dishwasher, even if it says it's dishwasher safe. It will still greatly reduce the lifespan.

I used Thermoses a lot when I was younger and didn't have as much access to microwaves to heat up my lunch. To get a strong odor out of them, after washing them, fill with warm water and add a teaspoon or two of unscented household bleach. Then put the lid on and shake it to get the bleach into all the grooves, etc. That will disinfect, deodorize, removes coffee and tomato soup stains, etc. I let it sit about 30 minutes then flush it with lot of water until all the bleach smell is gone.

I know they don't back up the warranty if the damage was caused by the airlines. So that's kind of a downside.

If you just need it to tell you how much you weigh, I'd go with a dial scale. I set it when I go to the doctor's office because I know their scales are accurate. Mine was about 8 lbs off when I bought it. There's nothing to really break in it that I know of, and they're cheaper.

I don't, I use a wide toothed comb for blow drying. I have short (bob length) straight hair, medium thickness. I'm worried that the heat from the dryer would damage the rubber pad or the bristles. The brush is great for detangling dry hair and moving the oils from your scalp down your hair. My hair's gotten so shiny since using it and has less static.

Denman brushes are heat resistant, and I've heard good things about them too. Maybe the Denman D38 for your hair type.

You use a comb to remove the hairs, then wash the bristles and handle with soapy water. If it's a plastic or hard rubber brush, you can soak it in warm water with some Dawn dish soap. If there's styling product buildup on the bristles, a wet cleaning toothbrush with some soapy water works well. I'd try to avoid getting rubber pads and wooden handles super wet as much as possible, and don't immerse them, but they can be wiped.

My BIFL hairbrush is a Mason Pearson. Some people in my family have had theirs since the 1980's. The cost hurt, but I've probably spent way more than that on lesser brushes over the last 20 years.

Just disinfect them with some isopropyl alcohol or half bleach/half water.

I have a Sonicare like this, I bought it in 2007. Just keep buying new brush heads. The battery refuses to die. My dentist is like, why don't you buy a new one with bluetooth, like why does my toothbrush need bluetooth 😂

Cool, that's good to know!

Don't they make a commercial and a residential line now? I'm assuming the commercial ones would be higher quality. I've even seen retired laundromat ones for sale with the coin dispensers still attached.

I thought it was Alzheimer's, but I'm not sure, used an aluminum pot for rice for 30 years.

Oh that sound 😂 I got a clock radio so I could wake up gently to music instead.

Use a toilet plunger (hopefully a new one not used in the toilet) in the bucket (like those big orange ones from Home Depot) as an agitator 😂 That's the poor people washing machine.

The fact that the safety features like the seatbelts and the head rests don't work properly is concerning. That after the accident/s it was in, these were not repaired or replaced properly. I would get an estimate of the repair costs from the collision repair specialist and mention that to the dealer, to possibly get the price down. You want those working correctly in a rear end accident.

If the body damage is only on the bumpers, it's probably fine rust wise, just cosmetic damage, since bumpers are made of plastic. The damage near the wheel though, someone ran into that area on my car, and it damaged some parts of the wheel that would have caused problems down the road. The person who ran into me only wanted to pay for the scratched paint, my insurance jumped in and advocated to get the wheel repaired also. My understanding is it was out of alignment plus some other damage, and would have caused uneven tire wear, or worse, could have caused an eventual blow out. So it was a safety issue to not repair it.

So Toyotas are reliable, and they tend to not rust. The interior looks really clean. I prefer cloth interior over leather. It looks like it wasn't being used to haul a bunch of kids around. For safety reasons, I would definitely heed the recommendation on the Carfax and get it checked out by a collision specialist.

Unfortunately the textile industry is a big offender in modern slavery/human trafficking and bending regulations to pollute the environment. Clothing manufacturing didn't only move overseas for cheaper labor, but because it took the pollution involved outside of western countries and their stricter regulations also.

So it's good to make what you do have last. I wash most clothes in cold water, on the gentle cycle, and my clothes that aren't visibly dirty, I wash them in Woolite, which helps them last longer. One of the most basic things you can learn is mending clothes and basic repairs like sewing on buttons and zippers. You can do most repairs by hand, with just a needle and thread. Darning is a very easy method to repair clothes. I can't afford many of the more ethical and quality brands new, so I thrift a lot. There's a lot of advice on here about thrifting. I shop at benefit and charity thrift stores, not Good Will, so at least my money isn't directly supporting an unethical fast fashion company.

Kirby (in my opinion the models prior to the Sentria) or for a basic upright the commercial Sanitaires. I'm sure there's plenty of info out there on the Kirbys, and I love my Ultimate G, but she's very heavy, and her attachments take up a lot of room. She's like the spend the whole day removing all the dust bunnies vacuum, kinda cumbersome.

But the Sanitaires clean carpets and clean carpets well for half the price of a professionally refurbished Kirby (so just grab a canister vacuum for the attachments to clean above the floor, like an old Kenmore Progressive canister). My Kirby, idk, the price point makes me worried I'll hurt it, even though I know that's probably almost impossible.

The Sanitaires are the same design as the mid century Eurekas, my family's Eureka was from the 1960's, and still worked perfectly when my mom rolled it out to the curb in the early 00's. No idea why she did that, aside from "the FiLtRaTiOn", but I bought a commercial Sanitaire last year, it's a workhorse, and it's like, oh I remember all of this from that old vacuum. It's the definition of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", the design hasn't needed to change, because it works. Except it has an upgraded allergy filtration bag, and seems to be heavier duty since it's commercial grade not residential grade. The parts are extremely easy to come by, it's direct air, so it will clean the carpet and the padding underneath the carpet, it has insane CFM. The brushroll is metal and has bristles and a beater bar, but it vibrates the carpet clean, it doesn't damage carpet fibers for such a powerful machine. Both the Kirby and the Sanitaire will get all the sand out of your carpet, which is what cuts the carpet fibers like tiny pieces of glass. The only parts you'll probably ever have to replace are the bags, the belt, and maybe the fan if you vacuum up bullets and bolts. VacLab on YouTube does good reviews on vacuums.

I've also found Ann Taylor brand to be good quality second hand for women's clothing. I could never afford to shop there first hand. Classic stuff that doesn't go in or out of style. I've found some brands from Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus Marcus too. The Nordstrom stuff is hit or miss, some of it is lower tier/fast fashion, some of it is very good quality.

It's mainly getting a feel for the fabric. Does it feel thick and durable, or thin, stretchy and brittle? Are the seams sewn straight and evenly? Hold them up to the light and see if the light shines through the fabric evenly, or if there are thin patches, this is likely where the item will tear. Like I want t-shirts that wash well and wear out evenly, so they get that super soft feeling as they get older. Has the fabric aged nicely, or is there a lot of fuzzballs and pilling, especially on synthetics, which might also suggest the previous owner didn't care for it properly (like washed and dried it at too high of a temperature). If it's something that is supposed to have some stretch like athletic wear, you can sometimes see that the threads of the stretch material have snapped like little broken rubber bands, the fabric should look uniform and smooth. Check how it's supposed to be cared for, personally, I am against dry cleaning from the environmental impact, but it's important to look at how it's cared for. Older clothing often required ironing, starching, and pressing, but there was also permanent press which usually didn't wrinkle as easily and had pre-set seams. Now clothes are more wash and wear friendly. Will the garment care require more time than you are willing to commit to it?

I will lay clothes out, fold them multiple ways, see if the garment is symmetrical and the seams line up. Lower quality clothing from overseas, it amazes me how uneven they are, no offense to the people who made them. Older clothing may have a union label or logo on the tags. There might also be quality control or inspector numbers on the tag, which means someone actually hand inspected the garment for quality. Prior to about the 1980's, a lot of clothing was handmade, and I've found those clothes to be superior quality, since hours of work was usually put into making a single garment. So they'll feel very well made but not have any identifying tags.

Also with thrifting and BIFL on a budget; I learned how to hand sew and am trying to learn how to use my sewing machine so I can tailor and alter my clothing. Nothing makes a garment look more flattering than tailoring it to you, especially dressier or business attire and jeans. It's also helpful to repair things like buttons, zippers, and patch items. Upscale department stores used to have an in-store tailoring service. You would buy a garment, know your measurements, and the tailor would personalize it to you. Now, you can learn to do it yourself and give your clothes a very customized fit. It's good if you find an item slightly too large, you can take in the seams a bit, or add darts, for example.

You also want to look up tricks to identifying and removing different stains. Most food stains can be removed, but I'd avoid anything that looks like mold or a possible bodily fluid. Yellowing of white fabric is also often permanent, but there is a product called bluing that will tint whites slightly bluish to make them look a brighter white if the yellowing/dingy color is only slight. Sometimes hanging them outside on a sunny day also brightens fabric, and remove some odors that washing didn't get out. Maybe it has been in a dark closet for too long and picked up a musty odor, but airing it outside can help. Heat from the dryer will often set in stains and odors, so if one wash didn't get it out, try washing it again before drying it.

It's helpful to go to the thrift store often, know when they put out new items, sometimes expect you'll go home empty handed. It seems like thrifting gets almost competitive during economic recessions.

If there was one that would fit a female's figure also??? 👀 I've been wearing men's clothes to work for the past decade, but I'm not box shaped. Just buy men's clothes because that is what will last longer than a week and be long enough to cover up my butt. I've been wearing Gildan t-shirts, and Hanes hoodies, better if I can find ones made in the US from the thrift store, because they're not anymore. American Apparel built solid t-shirts when they were still made in the US, but they're also not anymore, so they have to be a lucky find at the thrift store. Would be nice to know a brand still making quality apparel that doesn't have to be purchased secondhand.

I think the ones from discount stores like Target have more plastic. Some of them have more metal. I've worked in various kitchen stores and can tell the difference in the weight. I hope you got a good one that lasts a long time! I love their Empire Red line 🙂

Next hair dryer clean the intake filter, and maybe it will last even longer. The cover should screw or pop off, then wash it with warm soapy water and let it air dry 🙂

Tbh, I bonked mine on the countertop and that must have knocked something lose, got another 2 years out of that hair dryer 😂 But only bang/hit it as a last resort. It also might have overheated and just needs to sit around unplugged for a few days.

It still works? Phew. I was worried about that when I heard they discontinued support for iPod. Mine from 2005 still works.