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5spd4wd t1_j9ebsrh wrote

Reply to comment by nderflow in Linen bedsheets that last more than 2 years by eyelinerandicecream

I'm old enough to remember buying sheets myself back in those days. There weren't the hundreds of brands like there today. There maybe a dozen or so name brands. They were all made in the U.S at the big cotton mills that exited then. They didn't turn out inferior quality. Things made then were made to last. Of course things such as sheets and towels would wear out eventually but it took the many years, being always washed in the hottest water, often with bleach.

Fabrics in those days were nothing like the throwaway stuff of today

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Kedarelona t1_j9f2bcl wrote

They soon learned if they made things to last, people wouldn’t be back to buy more any time soon. It’s gross how the throw away quality of everything is by design. Gotta keep profit margins up.

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complywood t1_j9hit92 wrote

Following this line of logic, I think small shops are the only ones with aligned incentives. A single person or small team is never going to run out of people to sell to, provided they can ship far enough. Of course just being a small shop isn't a guarantee of quality. Probably the opposite— there's a lot more variability between good and bad between small shops, or even between different batches from the same shop. But at least the possibility is there. So I guess that points to… something like etsy? Or local, if it exists in your area.

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Blastercorps t1_j9id2qk wrote

Other way around, this is what consumers demand. People have become less cost tolerant. They will buy crap if it's a buck cheaper. Companies that make long lasting stuff go out of business because no one buys their more expensive products. The rhetoric of planned obsolescence is blaming the wrong people.

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Kedarelona t1_j9ieqi0 wrote

Interesting take. I bought the most expensive fridge for quality. 3 years later it stops cooling. I called to have it repaired and was basically laughed at and told 3-5 years is about right for a fridge. Meanwhile my 30 year old olive colored one in the basement still purrs like a kitten.

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Blastercorps t1_j9iez2u wrote

Which fridge?

Also, when it comes to refrigerators there have been such advancements in efficiency that even 3-5 years you'll still save money on a new one. Which is my focus in BIFL, buy it good once or cheap over and over.

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