Search results

The current Fairy / Dreft capsules made by P&G Europe in Belgium are extremely good. They seem to have solved the over foaming issue. I have found they clean far better than any other brand I’ve used. It’s very likely they’re the same as Cascade but you can never be sure if the formulations in...

Take care & get well soon!

The biggest issue I have to deal with is the very long grass growing season and the relatively high growth rate. My last mow was in late November and first one was in early March and if I don’t mow the grass almost weekly it’s pretty out of hand in mid summer. What I’ve been doing is letting...

Anyone finding robotic lawn mowers any good? I’ve been thinking about installing. My lawn is on a slope so there’s a lot of hills and stuff to deal with. There are a couple of models that seem to be able to deal with steeper gardens.

This is the brand I grew up with:     they were VERY funky in the 70 .. bit of an ABBA meets Blake’s 7 vibe with a touch of space disco … The 70s were before my time, but such an odd decade!! I don’t think a lawnmower has ever been marketed like this before or since … (don’t worry this was...

I’ve always used an electric mower, long before battery powered models became a realistic option. It’s way less noisy - just find petrol (gas) mowers a bit obnoxiously loud. I’ve a fairly big lawn but we’ve a number of strategically placed outdoor sockets and a VERY long set of extension reels -...

They were everywhere in that era!

Wash them (by hand) with dish soap, as it’s very cutting to oil based products which are likely to be the source of the odour. Soak them for a while. Rinse well and then machine wash at hot as the item will take, and use a decent detergent. If that doesn’t remove the odour I don’t know what...

The old AEGs were superb machines before they were rolled into the same platform as the rest of Electrolux. They’re still decent machines but they’re nothing like what they once were.

I'm not sure how the mechanism works on those locks, but if it’s anything like a simple front loader washing machine, use a long run of strong fishing line or strimmer (weed whacker) line. Pull it through the door seal and out the top and bottom of the door - you might be best to attach it to...

It’s totally off topic but there used to be a vast array of proprietary and non standardised connectors used as appliance couplers. Often manufacturer specific or ad hoc standards that emerged. They were largely standardised by the IEC over the years. There’s an website maintained by Oof Oud...

Actually forgot, speaking of Sweden. I’ve an Electrolux Model 12 1930s vacuum in the attic, including its original wooden box and accessories.

The main reason for it was that old flexible cords were extremely prone to fraying and breaking. So they had to be easily replaceable / maintainable. I wouldn’t be surprised in this day and age if a large % of small appliances would end up being disposed of because of a minor fault like that...

Not to go way off topic, but it was an Schuko implementation of what is known as a 'Cooker Control Unit'. There's a lever/rotary switch on the right hand side of the device, which you pulled down to switch on the power. The fuse was there to protect the socket at 16amps max. They were a...

For comparison ... This was from an ESB Country Living exhibition back in the 1960s sometime. I think 1961 may be the wrong date, as the washing machines featured are slightly later. It is soooo much starchier than the Swedish film clips! ESB was (and still is) the state owned power utility...

It depends on the hospital here, but just looking though the dress code for my local major public teaching hospital and basically every role seems to have a different colour coded uniform, ranging from scrubs to tunic with different trims and so on for quick identification. Huge range of...

I think people have lost all sense of perspective on that era, other than seeing it through pretty sepia photographs, all of which were showing the best of it. It's far enough out of the collective memory that it's forgotten. If you consider that when KFC in England ran out of chicken, due to...

Vacuum cleaners aren’t major appliances, but I could more or less live without one if I had to, especially in a house with hardwood floors. You can sweep and wet mop most surfaces and other surfaces can be dusted. It’s also worth remembering that wall to wall carpets probably came about because...

A well known company of electrical contractors …

My freezer is often more like some kind of cryogenic graveyard for stuff I forgot that I had! It’s great for ice cream and maybe the odd frozen pizza and a few specific items like frozen pastries, but I find I buy stuff, put it in the freezer when I realise I won’t be likely to use it. Then I...