What Would Grandma Use to Get The Job Done?
My blow dryer broke last week. I had another one for backup. Actually, I had a third one I gave to my mother-in-law when her blow dryer broke. I have no idea why I had three of them sitting around. I tried to fix the broken dryer by unplugging it, plugging it back in and pushing the reset button on the outlet. I also tried cleaning out the spongy piece that captures lint. Nothing worked.
My husband’s cell phone also died last week. It was a little over two years old. When he brought it in to have it replaced the clerk said most phones do not last that long. Apparently our cell phone company’s “new every two” program is not an option but a necessity because the phone was not designed to last that long anyway.
It is a great marketing gimmick. Get people dependent on your product but design the product to break so people will need to replace it every couple of years. The other marketing scheme that seems to work well is to create enticing upgrades. I just bought a new lap top computer but it doesn’t work with my “old” printer. The printer is 5 years old and it does not recognize the operating system in my new lap top.
This is depressing because my house is filled with this kind of stuff.
Most of my stuff will not wind up in an antique store. Most of it will end up in a land fill. It was designed to break, and I don’t know how to fix it. It often costs more to repair a product than to buy a new one. My grandparents probably knew how to fix a lot of the things they owned. My husband and I are handy but we do not know how to fix a hair dryer, a fridge, a cell phone, a dishwasher, or a coffee maker. The list goes on and on.
I am glad only one thing usually breaks at a time. But what happens when every one’s cell phone takes a turn at breaking? Apparently 426,000 cells phones are “retired” in the US everyday. Some cell phones are recycled. But what about all of those broken hair dryers? There isn’t a recycling program for those.
My Grandma and Grandpa worked hard. Their hands and feet were their most dependable tools for getting the job done. They did not exercise because their bodies grew stronger with use, and when their hands and feet stopped working someone else stepped in to literally “lend a hand.” I like that warranty policy. What Would Grandma Use To Get The Job Done?
The link for the cell phone statistic will take you to www.chrisjordan.com. Chris Jordan does amazing photo art depicting products of mass consumption. His art leaves me speechless everytime I look at it.
http://www.thestoryofstuff.com
The “designed to break” ploy makes me so angry and turns my stomach every time I think about it. Your grandma and grandpa not only knew how to fix a lot of their stuff - but it *was possible* to fix! They were able to get parts and take care of their own things. Today we have cars on which you can’t open the hood without invalidating the warranty! What would grandpa say about that??
The washing machine we own is probably about 20 years old. Last year it stopped working and I called the Sears repair people. The guy got it “unstuck” gave me an explanation that didn’t make sense and told me it was probably going to give out any day if I didn’t have the motor replaced, which would cost two arms and a leg, then handed me a coupon for a shiny new one at Sears - but within 2 weeks of the service call. We decided to chance it and by the grace and favor of God, the old one is still going 16 months later. I now know not to call Sears for old machines. And I guess I feel like I’m pretty much on my own as far as keeping this one running, which is only a problem because I don’t know how!! But I feel that as soon as I trade my old standby machine for something new, we could be replacing it every 3-5 years, which is not on my list of fun things to do! If I were to buy a new washer, I would want it to be just like the one I have - a longlasting workhorse of a machine. I don’t care if it’s pretty. I don’t want a bunch of extra options. It just has to work.
Grandma and Grandpa didn’t have to worry so much about electronics because there just weren’t so many. They didn’t have cell phones and ipods and laptops and playstations and espresso makers and digital cameras. BUT the electronics they did have were built to last. I wonder how we can demand durable goods once more… that would be a huge improvement to everyone’s quality of life! And the other answer, of course, is to simplify the gadgets we do have by quelling the drive to get new things.
The other way is to recognize that if we want to buy one washing machine for 20 years, we need to pay enough to support the company that makes them until we’re ready for another.
I can buy a new washing machine for $179. It’s got a five-year warranty, and I would be surprised if it outlasts that by very much. In the 50s when people bought all those appliances that are still going, they were an investment. But even at those much higher (relative) prices, the manufacturers couldn’t survive. Dozens of old brands don’t exist any more.
Simple math. If I sell you an appliance for $179, and you don’t come back to me for another one for 20 years, I can’t survive. If I try to sell you one at a price that covers 20 years of profits, you won’t buy it.
Do you still have the first blow dryer? You can probably fix it. I fixed mine with the help of my dad and wrote a post about it on Fake Plastic Fish. Here’s the link:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2008/01/learning-to-fix-stuff-part-2.html
Hope it helps. Thanks for your comment on my blog.
Beth
I don’t have a solution to your hair dryer problem, but I just wanted to say I loved the comment about how most of our obsolete crap now will just end up in a landfill, wheres the “obsolete” stuff our grandparents got rid of ends up in antique stores (usually for an exorbitant price!). However, there are a few things I’ve picked up at antique stores to replace or stand-in for their modern counterparts, and one of my all time favorites is my stove-top coffee percolator. No cord. No electrical parts. And CHEAP. And, hands down, the coffee is better than anything I ever got out of an automatic drip coffee maker. It takes only minutes to set up, minutes to clean, and about 5-7 minutes for the coffee to boil. I love it, and I’m never going back (despite my mother’s repeated attempts to buy me the newest automatic electric models).
April, I came up with some more ideas for how Grandma would do things. She would buy quality leather shoes that she could replace the soles and heels on when they wore out, rather than have to keep buying new shoes constantly.
Another item that you can find on eBay rather than going to an antique store, is a flop-down door toaster. They are really neat and take only about 1 1/2 minutes to make 2 pieces of toast. You do have to watch the toast, but it gives the kids something to do while you are making breakfast.
For appliances, especially the old ones that are being kept going long past their prime, there is a website — http://www.appliance-parts-warehouse.com where you can find replacement parts. If they don’t have the exact model that you do, a lot of times you can find similar models that have the same parts in them.
A lot of small appliances (hair dryers, space heaters, etc.) have a time-delay fuse in them that goes out after a period of time. It looks like a little silver tube with a black pointy end on one side with wires coming out each end. If you can take it out or jumper a wire over it, that should fix the problem. (Find someone who knows how to do electrical repairs to help you with it.) We have repaired a number of small appliances that have had that problem, and that was all that was wrong with them.
April, Our electrician friend says that the “time-delay fuse” on the small appliances is called a “Thermal Safety Cutout” and should not be taken out or jumpered over because it is a saftey feature of the appliance. According to him, you should be able to get a replacement one from a small appliance repair shop if you take the old one with you so you get the right one. Then it gets soldered in. Just make sure you don’t get things too hot while you are soldering, or it will blow the fuse again.
Things like hair dryers are usually cheaper to replace than to pay someone else to repair it, but if you can do it yourself, then it won’t cost much, and you will have the experience to do it yourself the next time something like that breaks.