
Keep your blade sharp, your bowl clean, and your motor running

A place to share practical, durable and quality made products that are made to last, with an emphasis on upcycled and sustainable products!
Guidelines:
Things that are well-made and durable (even if they won't last a lifetime) are A-Okay!
Unlike that other BIFL place, Home-made and DIY items are encouraged here, as long as some form of instruction is included in the body of the post.
Videos links are not allowed as post titles, but you may use them in a text post.
A limited amount of self-promotion is accepted, IF the item you are selling aligns with this criteria:
Unsung Kitchen Hero: Binder Clips
Don't buy those crappy plastic bag-clips to hold chip bags, flour bags, etc closed. They're unsatisfying, they wear out and bend, and they just add more plastic pollution to the world.
Instead buy more binder clips. They're made from spring steel, they're strong as hell, they almost never wear out, they can be used to close bags, as small clamps, as hangers for almost anything in a pinch, and they're amazing for building pillow / blanket forts.
I have some from my grandma that she bought 30 years ago and they work just as well as the ones I bought a year ago. The only risk with them ever is rust, and you can just scrub that off with vinegar, add a brush of paint and it's fixed.
Truly some of my favourite robust little items.
Best water filter?
I'm leaning towards Amwater, but am not sure.
New community to track non-BifL goods
We canβt always find BifL products for everything. So itβs at least interesting to steer clear of the utter garbage known to be the opposite of BifL. I just created this community for that purpose:
Laser printer recommendations
Recommendations for a color, full duplex, laser printer?
Another printer company (Brother) has fallen to the allure of "remote disable" if they object to you using your own device in a way they don't like: trying to self-service, use third party inks, whatever. It's at their discretion. Given printers are the sorts of devices to which you tend to want to have network access, preventing this is a lot of work.
I've been looking at color duplex laser printers, and Brother has been at the top of the list, until they recently announcement that they'd disable printers using third party inks.
BIFL to me implies that the company isn't going to actively sabotage self-service, or restrict your usage of the thing, so I think this is an appropriate question for this c/.
Keep your blade sharp, your bowl clean, and your motor running
Recommendations for rainproof trousers
Hi everyone, not sure if BIFL, as textiles are generally prone to wear out. I'm looking for good rainproof trousers. A little background: I'm commuting by bike, 7 km back and forth plus train commute, all year. Due to the geographical region (Germany) there is a good chance of unforseen rain.
Now I'm looking for a well built, stable set of rainproof trousers. I'm not a fan of those standard trousers where you need to put your feet or shoes through, as I'd like to put them on spontaneously and without too much hassle. I recently found out about full zipper trousers which kind of have a side entry rather than a top entry. They seem interesting, but I'm unsure about the practicability.
I'd be glad to hear your experiences with rainproof trousers for commuting, and ideally a buy it for life very long recommendation.
Recommendations for a movable desk
I am own my own business and it is closed Mondays but I do a lot of ordering and paperwork from home on Mondays. I currently use TV trays as desk, one for my laptop and a second for my iPad and mouse/trackball. They are wobbly, and our cats like to jump onto them and I am always worried they will knock down my laptop.
I am looking for something more substantial, preferably adjustable height so I can sit on the couch or my office chair, and on wheels so I can move it out if the when way not in use.
It does not need drawers or storage, but I am not opposed to them.
Location: US
Why can I not see all the threads?
When I'm logged in, I can only see four threads in this community. If I go to the community in a private window without being logged in, I can read all the threads. My user is on the same instance, so I should be able to see all threads - this can't be a federation issue. What's going wrong?
Kitchen scales recommendations
My current digital kitchen scales (Brabantia) go through batteries faster than I would like. I use rechargeable batteries, but still.
I was looking for long-lasting mechanical kitchen scales or at least one of those kinetic energy scales (turn the knob to power it) to use in the kitchen. Any model that can measure in the ~1g to 5kg range with a tare function is more than enough.
Does anyone have any recommendations or experience with these types of scales (knob or mechanical)? E.g., does the knob thing break easily?
Reccomendations for Purchasing Undergarments?
Underwear is one of the things that I struggle to use second-hand, and I'm not sure if I intend to change that (lest some nowaste people teach me mystical ways and methods :P) But the fact is that I can only use what I've got currently for so long, and so I turn to you.
I am not looking for specific reccomendations exclusively, and the type of underwear (underpants, brasseries, undershirts) are all welcome for discussion! But I'm hoping to find advice which will help me find something that will last, and to a decent standard (i.e, don't use polyester socks, due to smell).
So please lend your advice for finding Bras, Briefs, Bobbysocks, and Bundershirts!
EDIT: Also advice on what materials are better suited to different climates is also well appreciated! (I tend to leave my posts personal detail agnostic so they can serve as resources for others :))
MNT Reform Next - A 12.5" modular, future-proof, open hardware laptop.
A new 12.5" open hardware laptop that is future-proof, modular, and highly performant
Is BIFL Still Possible Today?
Hi there, I came here to the BIFL Lemmy out of suspicion that the reddit posts are just unlabelled marketing, and I was wondering the possibility of sourcing goods that are more to a BIFL standard? In my area, second hand goods tend to be really quite poor in quality (reselling fast fashion) or otherwise not present, and I have not inherited anything that does last. So I would apprecite advice or reccomendations for finding goods at a BIFL standard. I was also wondering if maybe there would be anyone with good advice for finding sustainable, local textile production so that I may be able to tailor what I need without having to buy from the poor selection aforementioned, does anyone know of any of this?
TL:DR I am suspicious that a lot of what is claimed as 'BIFL' has been enshittified, and would like advice on being able to search for sustainable goods for a local area (not specified because I'm hoping for advice with searching, not exactly for specific reccs)
Kelvinator Opal C.2000 back from the dead.
Well it's not an overly inspiring photo, but then what white good is?
Purchased some time before 2000 this fridge survived a move from the outback to the city on the back of a cattle truck, along with cattle, a Simpson top loader and many other household effects.
In March 2022 it decided to stop cooling. I was away so the missus bought an Inalto fridge - quite similar to that red one that drove Technology Connections mental.
When I got back I took the old fridge apart to see if it was the thermostat that was sick. The tip had rusted off, letting out the gas that operates the bellows in the thermostat, so ordered and fitted a new one. Success. Kept it in the shed just in case.
Now the Inalto struggles to get below 11Β°C, so have dragged the Kelvinator out of storage and it's back to full time duty again.
As for the Inalto, it's freezing up at the top corner of the unit and only drawing 30 watts. Will do some research, but suspect it's not fixable. At under three years old, that's a
my glasses are almost unwearable
where could someone find a pair of sturdy, comfortable goggles that an optometrist can put a prescription into?
Sous vide cooker needed
Hello there!
Any recommendations for a sous vide thermoplongeur, like this one? It should be available in Europe, temperature from 30 - 60Β°C (90 - 140Β°F) and have a cooking time of up to 36h. Its main purpose will be yogurt making.
Winter Walking Boots
My big winter boots I have used for the last few years got a split in them today. I use them a lot as I walk about 1km a day to and from work. I have to walk up hills and on ice at times. Which boots should I buy that will be good quality, keep my feet warm and dry, and last repeated daily use?