…to a reasonable degree, at least.
Apparentlyv Mr Clean MagicErasers are just melamine sponges which are actually mucho cheapo
I buy the giant blocks of 100 generic melamine sponges from Amazon.
However, having a couple of the Mr clean versions around is prudent. They are slightly different. They deform more easily and disintegrate faster but they get deeper into crevices. It’s super rare that I find something that generic ones won’t do a great job on but it’s good to have a couple of the name brand ones for that time when they don’t cut it.
Possibly an unpopular opinion among parents, but: Diapers. I’ve noticed no negative effect on my kids when going offbrand.
I remember the expensive ones, Pampers, being way worse, the pee is so absorbed the kid doesn’t feel it but is still in it and get irritated skin, and poo leaked way more easily.
If you’re not a contractor, power tools. Buy the harbor freight version first when you need it. If you end up using it enough to break it, then you get a quality one.
I have never broken a 10 mm wrench, but I have lost a few. So I bought a ten pack on Amazon.
It’s always the 10!
I keep one in my center console, my keychain, and random cheapies mixed in around loose tools, on top of whatever is part of the sets. Periodically we’ll still have a hard time finding one when its needed and have to replenish.
Are they hanging out with the lost socks?
That is something I would disagree with. Especially when it comes to battery powered tools which seems to be everything nowadays.
If you go with one of the big brands you are almost guaranteed to get a spare part later. If you only use your drill once a year, the battery might be dead in a few years if you don’t take care of it. Of course your battery might cost the same as a no name drill, but that is still a fair point IMO.
Now that you have a drill maybe you need a saw later. If you went with a big brand they typically have a large range of devices that work with the same batteries. So you can reuse your battery from the drill and also don’t need another charger for that single device. This is also not limited to tools only. Maybe you need a light or a battery powered radio for something totally unrelated.
Pretty good for anything that can kill you if it fails. Even beyond power tools.
So, for example, yes to drill. No to compressors, jacks, etc.
For jacks I always assume that it can break at any moment. That is why I put the spare tire under the car when I have the car lifted. If the jack breaks, the car will fall on the tire and not on my face.
This is very situational. I’m not a contractor, but I spend a significant portion of my time doing hobbies that require power tools. I don’t need a drill that will last for an entire day at a jobsite. Ryobi works fine for me. On the other hand, I wish I had never spent $600 on a cheap planer; I knew I’d want a better one eventually, and sure enough, I found a need to upgrade after a few years. Now I’ve spent $3600 on planers. I could have just gone with the $3k one and saved myself $600.
If I’m going to use it once, I borrow it. If I’m going to use it every few months, I buy a cheap one. If I’m going to use it every week, then it’s worth it to me to buy something I can keep for at least a decade or two.
Sorry, but this only applies to drills and sanding machines. Maybe a bench grinder also you can cheap out on. Hand tools are fine to cheap out on also.
Circular saw, table saws, miter saws, angle grinders, etc…
Any spinning blade, if you cheap out, don’t be surprised if you get life-alteringly injured when you “use it enough to break it”. I was just helping some friends renovate where they had a dirt cheap miter saw and it was just about the most dangerous experience of my life.
If you are doing any big renovations, at least get makita, Milwaukee, or dewalt. You can get a TON of cheaper stuff second hand. Quality at a lower price. I got a professional older model hilti hammer drill at a tiny fraction of the price.
It really depends anymore…it can be a tough call.
I grew up using only quality tools, because cheap tools were truly shit until perhaps the 90’s, at the earliest.
HF tools used to be utter shit, but their “branded” tools are good these days. The wrenches and sockets are as good a Craftsman used to be, and equal to the store brands from Home Depot and Lowes. And overpriced Matco/Snap On can kiss my ass. I have some of their tools, they’re nice, but not worth the price.
Their branded cordless tools are good too. One thing they do differently is put the battery controller in the tool, while Milwaukee puts one in the battery. So don’t do anything foolish with the battery.
I don’t think they’re as durable as Milwaukee, the plastic seems harder, so more prone to cracking. And the warranty isn’t very long.
But with the massive cost difference, it’s a good place to start.
But exactly, that is the difference between a drill and spinning sharp metal at high speeds.
If a drill breaks, it isn’t going to send shards of metal-cutting fiber disc 20 meters per second at your face.
If a saw sucks ass like the one I used a few days ago, you can’t safely cut through wood and you end up doing dangerous things like putting your body weight on the top of the miter saw to get it down all the way, gripping the piece closer to the blade to try to get it to cut better with less tear out or to not slip, etc… which can easily lead to a finger being cut off. It is MUCH more expensive in the US especially to have to deal with a dismembered finger than the cost difference between a chinese amazon $100 miter saw and $200 entry level 10 inch dewalt.
There are a ton of people who can’t afford that. That is fine. Then spend $100 on good quality assorted hand saws. a $40 japanese pull saw, $30 for a Spear & Jackson hand saw, $40 for a pair of bacco chisels, and an angle cut box and you can do a lot more than that $100 miter saw much more safely at the cost of it being at half the speed.
Mascara. There are some $6 mascaras that are way better than the $25 ones.
The trial and error is important, so you might end up buying a bunch anyway
As someone that often doesn’t wear makeup but keeps some on hand anyways in event of special occasions, can you point me out some $6 brands?
Not op, but i personally like this one: https://a.co/d/73OQhwB It clumps up a little bit, but a lash brush helps.
Toothbrush. Anything you’ll use comfortably will do the job.
Same goes for toothpaste, apparently. I asked my dentist once, and according to her the type or brand doesn’t matter that much as long as it has fluoride in it.
as long as it has fluoride in it.
that’s the standard dentist answer for that question, except when you ask the 10th one
We’ve been brainwashed by advertising to think that the paste and mouthwash are what matter. They help, yes, but brushing is what matters most. The toothbrush is not just an applicator.
That said, I personally find Sensodyne to work better than other brand’s product for sensitive teeth.
I have to disagree. A good electric toothbrush makes a big difference, personally.
Sonicare might be expensive but it leaves my teeth feeling cleaner. It’s like having that perfectly smooth clean feeling after a dentist visit every day. No way I’ll ever go back to manual scrubbing like some sort of troglodyte.
It can, yes, but even a cheap toothbrush used properly will do the job. No need to buy brand name when the store brand will do.
Electric toothbrushes with the rotating head collect germs behind the brush head. Enjoy your tasty germ colonies…
