Disgusted with Chinese manufactured products

[compactelectra]

Get Yourselves

A vintage classic Maytag set from Newton, IA.  Going on 50 years old and still going strong.  Generally parts are still available and repairs are straightforward when they are needed.  Plus - pushbuttons, lights and chrome trim!

 

[suckolux]

Great pic!

 

[floor-a-matic]

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">I don't like my 1995 White-Westinghouse toaster too much.  Although its made in China, it's served very good to this day.  However, I still miss the old 1970s/80s Proctor-Silex toaster with woodgrain & chrome finish.</span>


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<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Years ago, I also had a Mr. Coffee coffeemaker & Corningware (like Danemodsandy's collection); but my folks had to get rid of them when my family moved

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<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">@Compactelectra</span>


<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Nice beautiful Maytag washer/dryer pair</span>


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<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Its sad things aren't made like they used to be</span>


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<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">How many iPhones, iPads, Android devices & etc are made elsewhere other than China?</span>

 

[danemodsandy]

My Maytags....

Are the A806 washer and DE806 dryer, identical to Fred's (compactelectra) machines except for the controls.

Fred's 906 pair is the ultimate in automation - you push one button and the machine does the rest. My 806 pair has user-selectable settings, so that you can tailor a cycle to do whatever you like.

My Maytags were built when I was a sophomore in high school, 1968. None of the new machines I see being discussed here have much chance at lasting anything like the 45 years mine have already gone.

And they're not done yet!

 

[super-sweeper]

Don't you wish?

To stroll once more trough the isles of Montgomery Ward, Shoveling American-Made, quality goods into our carts, and never needing to replace an item again?


 


Let's see when that day comes.


My little Standard Eureka upright, 1929, still going strong at 84 years, all I've ever done was a new carbon brush. only 1 wore out!


Do you ever see a Kirby with a cracked housing? Perhaps a Electrolux with a toasted motor? No. Because it simply doesn't happen.


Do you ever see your average Wal-Mart special Bissell with busted handle releases and rattling busted bits? Perhaps a Dirt-Devil that split in half? Yes, Of course you have! I know I have, that Dirt-Devil wasn't pretty anymore (Or pretty to begin with!).


 


@ MadAboutHoovers, I remember reading about workers at a Chinese Electrics Factory rioting, holding their bosses and other important business members hostage. They did it over some new rule of sorts, stating employees have a Bathroom Break of under 1-minute (I forget), and they're deducted severely in payment for being late.

 

[beerad]

Beautiful

Set of Maytags!

 

[danemodsandy]

Brad:

If you're referring to Fred's set of 906s, those are the Holy Grail of Maytag collecting. 906s were not common even when new; they cost more than any other Maytags, and not everyone wanted that much automation; many users preferred the flexible cycles of the 806s like I own.

Fred's pair of 906s are the finest ones known to exist, I believe. They were found and restored by a collector in Omaha who does incredibly good work. My KitchenAid dishwasher was restored by the same person, and I believe it will outlast me.

Anyway, a lot of people would like to own a pair of 906s, including me, but very few people who dream of having a pair will ever get one.

 

[sebo_fan]

Well I think its great that some people have vintage machines but judging by those massive top loaders from Maytag I doubt a lot in Europe or the UK in general could house such big beasts. I think a lot of Brits in the 1960s to 1990s were jealous of the U.S as everything was so much bigger. My parents adored their Hoover Twin tub machine but it took up too much space. Even a travel mug of coffee UK style is something you can hold, not the size of a bucket that you put in your car for constant refills.

 

[turbo500]

My parents adored their Hoover Twin tub machine

Even still, Ryan, twin tubs fit under a kitchen worktop and were also on wheels for easy storage when not in use. You really need a utility room if you have a toploader.

Even when toploaders were more popular in the UK, everyone I knew who had one had them in a garage, utility room or cellar/basement which most houses at the time didn't have.

 

[sebo_fan]

True, Chris - but the other "appliance" that everyone had in the 1970s was the top load deep chest freezer, you can't have that under a worktop for obvious reasons. I always felt it was a pity that our 20 year old Electrolux freezer was left out in the garage because of the space it took up but the UK majorly benefitted from shops such as Farmfoods and other frozen freezer food shops when they came along. Everyone had to have a deep chest freezer to take advantage of the economy of freezing food as well as being able to freeze home made foods, which my late mother took full advantage of between her Kenwood Chef and the Electrolux deep chest freezer.

Now of course, the largest appliance that takes up space in UK homes are for families who adore the big American style double door fridge/freezer combination. I like the designs and I love the capacities, but I'm not sure I'd have one myself. So many people I know who have modern homes don't have doorways big enough to get the American style big units in the door - and end up, rather inconveniently being accommodated in the conservatory if homes have them, or the garage, yet again!

 

[caligula]

Dog treats.

On this morning's news it said there are making dog treats that are dangerous to pets. I only give treats made in America to my dog, Felecia, I urge all of you to avoid dog (and cat) treats from China.

Alex Taber.

 

[paulg]

I have seen a Kirby with a damaged fan housing

However there is a story...
Years ago I worked with a man who, sadly, had a war injury and a metal plate in his head. His behavior was erratic to say the least.
He was the janitor and would damage many things. I found an old 1950's era Kirby in the basement, fixed it up and gave it to him to use.
He had a habit of SLAMMING vacuum cleaners into walls repeatedly. He did bend the fan housing. In that case I did have the Kirby Company fix the unit. Tech said he had never seen it happen before.
However, while the Kirby was being repaired I fixed up a 1970's era ORECK. Toy-like in appearance and weight as compared to the Kirby. However the man couldn't break it! Literally on the backstroke the unit was so light it would fly backwards and not touch the carpet. It was still working when I left.
Regardless, I doubt any of today's vacuums could hold up to such abuse. He even broke the baseplate on a CLARKE!
Kirby, Clarke, Oreck are all of fine quality but not invincible. the Chinese feel USA manufacturers over-engineer products to last TOO long. In such extreme cases one needs extreme quality. So... where is it now?
... And don't suggest we get rid of the janitor. He was a neighborhood charity case and ruining vacuum cleaners was better than being on the street!

 

[luxman107]

Richard, I agree 100%. The good thing is it has fueled my passion for vintage items, especially small appliances mad in the USA

 

[anthony]

i refuse point blank

to buy any new appliances i will keep my old ones going for as long as possible for exa&#92mple my lawn mower packed up this summer [20 year old flymo]i just went on ebay and got another for 6 pounds it was filthy and the blade was blunt i soon put that right a good clean and its fine .Also this year the pump went on my 17 year old hotpoint washer i bought a cheap pump of an indesit machjne and with a bit of doctoring i fitted that to the hotpoint its also working well i simply will not buy any of the rubbish thats on offer today .Only last week my daughter asked me to look at her week old steam iron when i asked what was wrong with it she said nothing dad but can you put a longer flex on it it only had 1 metre of cable fitted and a cheap plug need i go on

 

[jaker15]

The times have changed, haven't they?

Well, it's no wonder why my 1949 Electrolux Model XXX still works almost like new...it's made to last! It has more metal than our $1000 Miele, which, despite being German-made, still has that cheap, plastic feel to it.

 

[sebo_fan]

Well.. I took to tidying out my large spare room last night and discovered two things that are unselfishly made in China. One was bought two years ago and still works as good as new, the other is 10 years old and made in China - both are still made in China and they're not rubbish.

What are they?

A 3 speed desk fan and a slow cooker.

 

[vintagerepairer]

In the UK a number of agencies were out & about telling all and sundry that we were paying too much for large items, indeed we even got labelled "rip off Britain". Thus, demands were made for retail prices to be lowered, and this was done.

We are now all paying the "price" of the savings which had to be made in order to achieve the lower retail prices.

 

[suckolux]

I hope this makes sense, 90 mins sleep. They can make pretty good stuff, IF you want to pay for it, they just make a lot more cheap sh-t. Of course for that money you could have bought it made here to start with.

 

[gmerkt]

We've been inundated with shoddy Chinese-made products for long enough now that an entire generation doesn't know the difference between crap and quality. It's pathetic. They take the u-put-it-together thing out of the box, fumble with cheap fittings, and when it's "together" don't even realize what a waste of money it was.

I think there is some degree of opportunism involved in this, too. Sometimes the price is way more than it should be because X number of buyers simply don't know the difference.

Then there has always been some part of the population that doesn't know sh*t from Shinola anyway. But now that mindset has become fairly universal.

Re. the comment about their (I forget the exact words used) tried and true LG finally giving up the ghost after eight years. That's way too short a life for a laundry machine. In my own view, anyway. I expect laundry machines to have a life in service of significantly more than eight years. Is LG really thought of as a premium brand? Their vacuum cleaners are just more Korean/Chinese krap.

When we moved into the place we're in, some 27+ years ago, we needed new laundry machines. We abandoned our former Norge units when we moved from California and those were about 12 years old. We couldn't bring them with us. The need for new machines here caused me to "go Maytag" and it was a wise decision. We still have the same machines, fairly basic units and by no means top of the line. The washing machine has never been worked on. The electric drier I've had to replace the belt once and service the drum rollers three times. All the other stuff including timers is original. Maytag used to be a unique product made in its own factory, and I realize that Maytag no longer enjoys this reality nor their former reputation. And that is unfortunate.

I learned the lesson all over again with diswashing machines. This house had a Kitchenaid in it when be bought the place. When it reached about 18 years of age, it became uneconomically repairable. I'd already repaired the pump a couple of times. Then I replaced it with a Hotpoint, one of those that is like 90% of the other dishwashers in the USA. It was a noisy piece of junk that lasted about four years and I was glad it wore out. I replaced it with a Swedish Asko, which has been a great machine. Should I say mechanical timer? Yes!! I put it in over 13 years ago and it's still going strong. When my mother needed to buy a new one, Asko wasn't available in her area but Bosch was, I recommended it, and that's what she's got. People go to Home Depot, see what's for sale and think the higher priced units are the best. Not necessarily. The Asko and the Bosch were not the most expensive, but they cost more than comparable machines. People might shrink at spending more $ for a machine with no more visible capability, but longer life in service usually more than makes up for the additional up-front cost.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well in the UK

...it has got to the point that some white goods are so cheap to buy that consumers simply will not pay for a better quality, rather they favour something very cheap, with a view to changing it more often than they may have done in the past.

I do not like this idea per-se, but then no consumer can be blamed for being in this mind set when you see the minimal prices which some goods can be bought for.