Oldstuffday! What's your oldest appliance that's still working?

PollyWollyDoodle

I have - and use - my grandmother's Frister & Rossman hand crank sewing machine, used to make my mum's baby clothes in 1916 so it's at least 100 years old, and was used at least weekly by my mum who hand-made all our clothes till we were teenagers. I had it serviced a couple of years ago and the chap said it's running as well as the day it was made. I use it less now I've got an electric machine but it's still my preference for anything fiddly.

Braun food processor from 1986, but the plastic bowl is starting to crack and they no longer make replacements; it still works perfectly though.

angeltreats

Deleted_User wrote: »

I notice how its mostly food processors and sewing machines. Obviously stuff that never gets used often compared to say a kettle or a washing machine.

My mum once had a kettle for about twenty years.

Around here, anything that involves water doesn't last long, our water is so hard that it ruins kettles and washing machines no matter how often they are descaled. Drives me absolutely mad. We've had our current washing machine six years and have looked after it but I wouldn't be surprised if we have to replace it in the next couple of years (although I very much hope I'm wrong). Keeping the bathrooms free of horrible white residue is a constant battle and when we replaced the toilet, we found actual stalactites and stalagmites in the soil pipe of the old one.

suki1964

morganlefay wrote: »

A gadget of my mother's called a 'tasty Toastie' (circa 1950s) a sort of two sided round metal thing (saucer sized) with long handles. You put buttered (on outside)bread into one 'saucer' filled with cheese, ham tomato etc, put another slice bread on top (butter out) then clamped the two 'saucers together and held it over the gas burner. You got a much better toasted sandwich than modern electric ones make as it sealed well, chopped off the crusts and emerged like a fat little fried bread parcel. Mmmmm, I still use it now, but hers were better !

Omg that took me down memory lane . We had one of those as well. The concoctions we made in those as kids, think we even put beans in them. We never had gas so had to put on the electric ring. Oh the mess if you over filled it, melted cheese everywhere

Ben84

Deleted_User wrote: »

I notice how its mostly food processors and sewing machines. Obviously stuff that never gets used often compared to say a kettle or a washing machine.

Most our stuff is used often. One of the most used things in the house however is the Gloworm back boiler, that makes hot water every day and heating in the winter. Never broken down for us. I don't know how old it is, but it's a Majorca 246 and is clearly pretty old. 70s I'd guess. We have a fridge too that's been running almost continuously since the early 80s. Power cuts being the only breaks.

The sewing machine that was hardly used however self destructed one day, and I just couldn't fix it, so we have a very modern replacement now. The life span of stuff is rather random.

Rainy-Days

I still have my last Mum's Singer sewing machine - probably 1950's, but it works fab and is in immaculate condition.

I still have some old pickling jars. I also have Mum's 1920's vintage glass cake stands which I still use.

When I had my first home in 1987 my Mum bought me an electric kitchen knife - I still use it and it is still in perfect working order. Not minded to ever get rid of it because Mum bought it for me

[Deleted User]

Ben84 wrote: »

Most our stuff is used often. One of the most used things in the house however is the Gloworm back boiler, that makes hot water every day and heating in the winter. Never broken down for us. I don't know how old it is, but it's a Majorca 246 and is clearly pretty old. 70s I'd guess. We have a fridge too that's been running almost continuously since the early 80s. Power cuts being the only breaks.

The sewing machine that was hardly used however self destructed one day, and I just couldn't fix it, so we have a very modern replacement now. The life span of stuff is rather random.

Back boilers are more reliable and much less likely to break down than a modern combi/system boiler. I know plenty of people who still use old 80s back boilers along with the horrid fire fronts.

MikeyMike69

I have a Siemens Serie IQ washing machine which is about 13 years old and still going strong. I look after it by cleaning it regularly with soda crystals and white vinegar.

I also have my Dual turntable which is nearly 20 years old. Last weekend I was using it and a friend commented on how good the sound quality was.

Finally I have some bits and bobs that I inherited from my gran which must be close on 50 years old, pyrex bowls, a trifle dish. an old cake slice and a rolling pin (that I used to make jam tarts with my gran when I was little - now I use it to crush ice to make mojitos). I also used to have a hand whisk of hers which I used almost daily to make my protein shakes until it packed up a few weeks ago. I now value these things so much and I look back at some of the items I have thrown out over the years with a tinge of regret.

Blue_Doggy

I never managed to get to grips with steam irons, so still use my old Morphy Richards dry iron which I bought around 1970. Last year a connection worked loose, and the flex cover looked a little frayed, so I took it to the local electrical repair man who mended it for me and said he hadn't seen one of those for years.

The next week I took my late Mum's M-R dry iron, which must be 10-15 years older than mine, for a new flex (Mum was a great one for mending things or joining flexes with insulting tape). The repair man nearly fell through the floor!

I'm happy, those two irons will well see me out. :rotfl:

Ben84

Deleted_User wrote: »

Back boilers are more reliable and much less likely to break down than a modern combi/system boiler. I know plenty of people who still use old 80s back boilers along with the horrid fire fronts.

The neighbours had an identical one, which although working well, they replaced some years ago. It's been in my garage since then in case we ever need a spare part. So far we haven't needed anything, but they're on their second replacement boiler already.

Many things are better than ever, but some things benefited from simpler designs in the past. I think the only moving part in these old boilers is the valve to send gas to the burner. No circuit boards, fans or anything like that.