Nominations For Most Un-needed Consumer Products?

[luminast]

Marketing and advertising seem to be a lot about trying to get us to buy things we don't really need. Are there any common consumer products that you refuse to buy because you think that they exist mostly to take advantage of gullible consumers? What do you use in place of the commonly hyped product?

My own nomination is men's shaving cream. I haven't purchased any in about the last three decades. Mild face soap works just fine for me. Just dust up a few suds in my hands, soap my face, shave, and be done with it. I've tried hand lotion for the same thing, and find it works just as well in a pinch, although it doesn't rinse off the razor quite as easy.

I heard once that shaving lather was invented long ago by barbers just to keep the soap from drying out on the customer's face during the relatively long process of a careful straight razor shave. Gillette then proceeded to convince men that Gillette shave cream was essential to a shave. NOT!

I would sure like to hear your suggestions for simple alternatives to dollar intensive, and energy intensive, consumer goods.

[Jane]

Juicers. Why was I so easily convinced that I needed a juicer?

Jetted tubs. I used the jets once. Now they just get all goopy, and I have to clean them, and I hate them.

Stainless steel appliances. Yes, we all must have stainless steel appliances. At great expense. Now that I have stainless steel appliances (at great expense) I really prefer the plain ol' white ones.

My husband buys every chopper/dicer he sees, even the ones on late night tv, absoulutely sure that this one, this one will be the ultimate, the best, the finest, the last one he will ever need. Periodically, I clean out the chopper/dicer cupboard and, under cover of darkness, sneak to the GoodWill.

Granite countertops. Why? Who said? Why must I buy granite countertops in order to someday sell my house?

[liriodendron]

My sister does not buy Kleenex. Her family just pulls off a section of toilet paper when they need to blow their noses and her husband uses handkerchiefs.

[gailkate]

May 8, 2011 20:12:24 GMT -5 liriodendron said:

My sister does not buy Kleenex. Her family just pulls off a section of toilet paper when they need to blow their noses and her husband uses handkerchiefs.

Hmm... I was going to say paper towels (and I'm still going to say it) but this TP noseblowing business has me thinking. Do they carry carefully ripped-apart squares of TP for proboscial emergencies in public? I'm intrigued.

The paper towel thing is a point of contention in our house. I use 'em, but boy do I get mileage out of them. If I have a damp paper towel in my hand I wipe everything in sight until it starts to shred. I once accidentally called 9-1-1 just because I couldn't resist wiping down the phone and between the little keys. Jerry, however, uses a whole roll to wash a few windows. What did people do before paper towels? they used rags and sponges and got along fine. (Yes, this is shaky ground, because I certainly don't want to discourage him from washing windows, but really, the man is profligate.)

Jane, you know why people think they need the SS and granite, etc. - HGTV! what a racket that network has going.

And about the shaving cream. Women use soap and never think about it. Now I'm remembering a lengthy discussion led by Mike (the nomad) about his favorite soap, brush, mug, etc. He's very much in your camp. Maybe he'll pop in and remind us of the special order soap, or maybe our favorite librarian will find it for us.

[Nomad-wino]

Shaving! Did someone mention shaving?




I like to turn the daily chore into a daily plesure. I use a variety of shaving soaps and creams. My currant fav is made by Crabtree & Evelyn.

Mike

[BoatBabe]

;D



Great photo, Mike!





Mmmmmm, you all (well, most everyone) knows that I live on a boat, so things are different out here. I use a lot of paper towels. I can't wash off any grease in the galley sink. All grease, from pans or the butter dish, must be soaked up with paper towels, thrown away, hauled up the dock and put in the dumpster to protect the marine life. Soaps are all natural, phosphate free and used sparingly.

No Comet to clean the sinks and toilets. I use bleach wipes and throw the wipes in the garbage. Nothing can go down the drain. Nothing can go in the toilet if it didn't go in your mouth. It will clog our black water pipes, duck-billed valves or storage tank.

We don't buy lots of things that land dwellers buy. But mostly, we buy and use tiny quantities due to storage constraints.

[liriodendron]

May 8, 2011 23:46:06 GMT -5 gailkate said:

What did people do before paper towels?

At the dairy where I worked in high school, we washed the windows with vinegar & water in an old spray bottle and dried them with old newspapers. You ended up with newsprint all over your hands, but the windows sparkled!

Here at home I use the old cloth diapers left from our three kids for cleaning the mirrors and such. They're soft and absorbent and far preferable to using my dad's old undershirts, which is what we did when I was a kid.

I shall have to ask my sister what she carries for noseblowing while away from home. I hadn't paid a lot of attention when I visited her except to notice that my room had the only box of Kleenex in the entire house. When I asked her about it she said that she'd bought them specifically for my visit, since she knew that I used them at home, but that they just used toilet paper. Perhaps, when she is out and about, she just finds the nearest public bathroom and uses their toilet paper.

[booklady]

I don't buy Kleenex either. Or shaving cream. They're both very nice products but just un-needed, IMO. I do buy paper towels but don't use them much. Cloth napkins, nice ones for company and old ones for everyday. Like Lirio, I used to use cloth diapers for dusting but they eventually wore out (my youngest is 22). Old towels and other rags are fine, and I'm told old socks worn on the hands are great for dusting blinds. I think a lot of stuff for sale in the frozen food section of the grocery story is pretty unnecessary, too! Just cook it yourself!

[doctork]

The rental car that I have does not have an ignition slot for the key. Nooooo, it has a key fob to push to unlock the door, and then you push a button to start the car. Then what do you do with the key ring? The key itself is hidden since it is unnecessary, but the key ring has important stuff like my library cards, my grocery store cards (quite a few of those - one or two each for WA, WV, ME, NC, AZ), the house keys, the mailbox key, etc.

I don't know about other people, but I lose mine - it falls on the floor or hides behind the Kleenex box (yes I have Kleenex boxes everywhere, and you would too if you had allergies like I do), or something. Not in the cupholder of course because I have a cup in one of them and my spare change in the other, and sometimes two cups if I am really thirsty. This is a desert you know!.

A solution in search of a problem if you ask me. The ignition key should go in the ignition where I can't lose it, even if I do not need it to unlock or start the car!

[BoatBabe]

Yes, chopper/dicers, Jane! My Dahhlink loves them. I have one now on my very small galley counter that I bought him one Christmas. (Which gave me the excuse to dump all the other dull ones.)


It hasn't been touched since he left last July.





;D

[joew]

When running very late, I've occasionally shaved without any sudser of any sort — just hot water and a razor. But I think if we see something sudsy as needed for a good and comfortable shave, whether it's ordinary hand soap, a cake of shaving soap in a cup, or cream from a tube really doesn't matter, IMO. One thing I did on my trip to Europe this year is buy several tubes of shaving cream (as I did in Quebec three years ago), because in these parts, it's "not sold in stores." The unnecessary consumer product is the shaving stuff that comes in pressurized cans.

[BoatBabe]

Vinegar, water and newspapers for windows, indeed. The Best, Lirio.



And I agree with Booky: anything in the frozen "food" section is completely off my radar.

If I make too much soup or spaghetti sauce, I put it in my freezer.

[TheDude]

I think the stupidest, most overthought and useless product I've seen in awhile was that hand sanitizer dispenser that you didn't have to touch.

You don't wash your hands before the squirt of chemicals, you wash them after.

P.S. I never buy frozen "meals" but I must say that there is nothing wrong with frozen peas or corn if you don't overnuke them in the microwave or boil them to oblivion on the stovetop.

[gailkate]

Frozen veggies are actually more nutritious than some supposedly fresh that may have spent days in transportation or sat too long in the store. Some are possibly dyed to look right out of the field.
But yeah, yoiu probably shouldn't buy the veggies in fake cheese and suspicious "butter."

[TheDude]

Thanks for the backup on the frozen peas and corn front, GailK! =)

Yet, I have to admit that I am more concerned with flavor, texture and color as a "plate decoration" than I am with nutrition.*

Another Worthless Invention: CheeZ-WiZ "Nachos" (especially the frozen version).
Did I forget "Totinos Pizza Blobs" and/or "Hot Pockets" (of any description)?

*Why, just this morning, at the local grocery store--a convenient Market that was in the middle of a major "re-set" apparently to lure consumers into mindless choices (made even more mindless than was already the case) thanks to "upscale decor" changes--I rejected both the Broccoli Rabe and the Brocolini as far past "Good Eats" conditionwise . . . and then, after directing "The Critical Eye" in the direction of the regular ol' broccoli and asparagus, dug through expired bags of "Baby Spinach" until I found one that hadn't expired last week. (As a side/plate decoration (Mushrooms and Greens) for "Rustic Spaghetti" that will hit the plate tonight.)

I am certain that the Marketing Reset will correct all of the deficiencies. (And make the stuff more expensive =).

Hardwood Floors in the Produce Section . . .
Where do these people think they are?
The Hamptons?
Tralfamadore?

Sorry . . . TMI . . . =)