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Useful, Simple, Household Objects.

(37 Posts)
Calendargirl Tue 30-Jun-20 10:08:12

Setting off to do a bit of shopping this morning, I automatically used my trusty shoe horn to put my quite snug trainers on.
It’s black metal, with Salter’s for Boots embossed on the inside.
Inherited from my mum, probably my grandma before that.
Always been around throughout my childhood, always in use, just taken for granted.

A cheap little heirloom, but oh, so useful. It sits on its own little hook amongst the coats.

Wouldn’t be without it.

?????

Calendargirl Mon 06-Jul-20 09:55:29

£8 for a glass lemon squeezer!

Strewth!

Bet you can buy one for 50p in a charity shop or car boot sale.

Framilode Mon 06-Jul-20 09:45:59

I mash my potatoes with an electric hand mixer, a la Delia. Smooth potatoes and quick and easy.

Chewbacca Mon 06-Jul-20 09:14:45

Potato peeler. Does the usual job but has also come in useful as a emergency small screwdriver when a pan handle had worked loose. I've also used the pointy end of a spud peeler to prise out heavy duty staples in a cardboard box.

travelsafar Mon 06-Jul-20 09:06:29

My electric can opener my mum bought me many years ago.

Like others, a circular piece of rubbery material which helps open bottles etc.

A small and pretty container for putting pills in for the day. It was my mum's. Sometimes forget if i have taken a pill or not. Each morning i put three into it , take one and the others are for lunch time and teatime. smile

Kittye Mon 06-Jul-20 08:58:50

Witzend John Lewis stock the glass lemon squeezer. They cost £8. I’ve got one that I’ve had for years but can’t remember where I bought it from or what it cost. Just love the look and feel of it. So much better than metal or plastic
I have a Jamie Oliver potato masher rather expensive but it does a good job..no lumps ?

Witzend Mon 06-Jul-20 08:49:30

I love my bog-standard old glass lemon squeezer, too.
Fancier ones that work no better cost £££.

I found a standard glass one for a dd in a small hardware shop - dept.stores don’t seem to stock them any more (I did look) - presumably not trendy or expensive enough.

DanniRae Mon 06-Jul-20 08:32:20

Ever since a Gransnetter recommended bags of frozen mashed potato (Sainsburys) I have no need of my potato masher. My home made mash was always lumpy anyway!! smile

grandtanteJE65 Wed 01-Jul-20 13:22:54

I have ye original potato masher! It belonged to my grandmother, and I have always suspected it came from the hotel in Leith that her parents owned and ran.

Evie, it sounds as if you have the same bottle opener as the one my husband liberated from a boat club. He was gallant enough to say she resembles me!

Purpledaffodil Tue 30-Jun-20 19:10:06

Viners stainless steel tongs which were wedding presents x 2 more than 50 years ago, I think they were intended as salad servers as the ends are shaped like that. I use them as servers for anything and also for serving out sausages etc .

DanniRae Tue 30-Jun-20 18:55:54

My favourite kitchen things - my klippits for sealing any sort of bags from cereals to frozen peas to plastic bread bags. Brought from Lakeland years ago.
Also from Lakeland my metal tongs - so useful for turning hot things, serving hot things like chips, roast potatoes or spaghetti
Finally a metal tablespoon that was my mum's - the end is worn away from years of stirring. Every time I use it I have such happy memories of my mum! smile

Franbern Tue 30-Jun-20 18:44:52

Glass lemon squeezer,- had mine since I married in 1964,the second one belonged to my parents - gave to my eldest daughter. Easy to use, and works so well.

Wonderful Lakeland Zester, which is easy to use, does not scrape my fingers, and holds all the zest in its own container.

Charleygirl, many years back (in the 1940's) I can remember my Mother using one of those can openers, it slipped and she nearly completely lost her thumb. After that, only my Dad was permitted to open cans in our home, until the arrival of safety openers.

Evie64 Tue 30-Jun-20 18:09:08

My MiL gave me a lovely brass bottle opener in the shape of a naked lady. I know it sounds odd, but it's beautiful and looks like something from the 1920s

lemongrove Tue 30-Jun-20 17:41:23

shysal

My boiled egg decapitator.
Onion comb.
'Thumb' for holding my book in the bath.

You must have the neatest onions shysal ( I had never thought of combing them)?

I have an egg slicer bought for me by my Grandma nearly fifty years ago, at the time I thought ‘what the!’ But actually I have used it loads over the years.

Fernbergien Tue 30-Jun-20 17:34:26

Elegran-I have one of those things. Mine also has a curved end as well with lever under. So good for loosening jar lids when trusty purple circle did not work.

Nortsat Tue 30-Jun-20 17:20:26

Lucca I have two of those purple circles for getting the tops off jars. They are marvellous.
My cousin bought them for me, after she tried them herself.
They are from Lakeland.

My egg slicer belonged to my lovely mother and it must be 50 years old. It still slices and dices boiled eggs perfectly and is in regular use.

JenniferEccles Tue 30-Jun-20 16:28:20

What a lovely manicured thumbnail shysal !

gillybob Tue 30-Jun-20 15:38:41

I love mine shysal I bought it after seeing the Hairy Bikers using one on a TV program . Since then I have bought one each for my DS and DD . They are marvellous little gadgets.

shysal Tue 30-Jun-20 15:31:10

I read about the Zyllis manual pull food processor on GN. It is so much easier than the electric full size one, for small quantities.

Elegran Tue 30-Jun-20 13:53:43

I've bought one of those pastry blenders. Very useful, I don't get my fingers clagged up now when I make pastry.

NfkDumpling Tue 30-Jun-20 13:47:31

A good nailbrush. And my old bottle/jar opener which opens most things. It’s showing its age but I can’t find another like it.

aggie Tue 30-Jun-20 13:42:47

Oh Lucca I had one of those in green , but it has gone walkies, how I miss it and keep forgetting to buy another

Trisha57 Tue 30-Jun-20 13:42:08

My mum's "thingy" for blending fat and flour when I make pastry. Wooden handle with attached wires to cut through the fat. She bought it just before she got married at the Ideal Homes Exhibition in 1948! I remember using it when I was a child and am still using it regularly smile

lovebeigecardigans1955 Tue 30-Jun-20 13:41:21

I've got a little hook which I can use to hang my handbag on the edge of a table instead of the floor - when I'm allowed out again. I'm sure I git it at a garden centre.

Your plastic disc, Lucca can also be used if you go abroad as a 'plug' if the sink is without one - I found that very useful in the days when we went camping.

You know those little brushes that men get with their electric shavers - which they hardly ever use? They're small enough to put in a toilet bag to brush your nails as they take up very little space.

Cabbie21 Tue 30-Jun-20 13:36:13

I struggle with ring pulls, even with a gadget. I would welcome a gadget that really works.
I have the same gadget as Elgran and Auntieflo, really useful.

Also useful is the remains of an old palette knife which I use to scrape spills off the ceramic hob.

Lucca Tue 30-Jun-20 13:19:04

This plastic disc for opening jars. Invaluable.