Sales Shopping

[ditchdwellers]

All the Autumn and Winter season I have been hankering for a new pair of boots. I'm limited to buying my shoes from just one UK supplier that makes shoes wide enough to fit my flipper size feet so my choice is very limited.
This year, they have made a pair of mid calf length leather boots that caught my eye but I really couldn't afford £129 on a pair. I do get a  VAT exemption on the price so that reduces it a bit, but even then they were too much for me.


So today I received an email and the sale had begun and they had a whopping £50 off! I snapped up a pair straight away and now I'm so excited as I'll have two pairs of winter shoes rather than the one I have been relying on.


Has anyone else bought items in the sales they have wanted for ages?
There's nothing quite like a bargain!

[Fiz]

I did browse the sales for bargains for my grandaughters but there was nothing left worth having. Is it Hotter boots you've bought? Pavers are quite reasonable too.

[lankou]

We will be looking for a new washing washing machine in January. The current one is "only" 20 years old.

[ditchdwellers]

Fiz, I can only buy shoes from DB Shoes who make my size, which is 6E. I think Hotter only go up to 2E! I have exceptionally wide feet and bar having my shoes custom made I have very limited choice.


Iankou, that's pretty good going for a washing machine. I hope your next one does just as well 

[lankou]

Fiz, I can only buy shoes from DB Shoes who make my size, which is 6E. I think Hotter only go up to 2E! I have exceptionally wide feet and bar having my shoes custom made I have very limited choice.


Iankou, that's pretty good going for a washing machine. I hope your next one does just as well 

We do not buy new domestic appliances until the old ones blow up, catch fire, or wear out.

[Fiz]

Washing machines aren't as well made nowadays as they used to be in my experience. My current Panasonic is naff, if the load isn't "right" it refuses to spin so I end up carrying up dripping wet washing into the wet room to drip dry in there for a couple of weeks and it stinks as it won't even spin the rinse water out. Hopeless machine.


Which makes me think, I have actually ordered a new Henry vacuum cleaner as my Dyson has died. When I am well enough I will take the Dyson apart, wash it, dry it and reassemble it and see if it will work again. That worked once before. Meanwhile I need something more reliable and Henrys are generally that. It was reduced by £40 in the January sale. I was hankering after the pink version but that wasn't in the sale! That's sex discrimination! 😉

[Sunny Clouds]

(Whinge about my washing machine, not bought in sales.)

I bought a new Bosch washing machine a few months ago to replace an old Bosch top-loader.  The old one, which was around 15 years old, washed excellently.

The new one doesn't seem to wash very well and always seems to have a puddle of foam in the bottom of the door seal.  Even if one supposes that all the detergent has been washed out of the clothes, I can't find how to get them out without dragging them across the foam.  I typically add an extra rinse to the wash but that doesn't always sort it.

What I realised recently, though, was that if I hand wash my cotton face masks, using handwash liquid, they are ok.  If I stick them through the machine and put them on, they make my face itch and trigger my sebhorroeic dermatitis.

I wondered whether it was the powder, but that's just plain non-bio powder and I've tried more than one brand.  I wondered whether it was putting them through the tumble dryer that was the problem, but if I handwash and put them through the dryer, there's no problem.

So basically, the machine is rubbish.  I'm keeping my eye open for a secondhand old toploader.

I'm particularly annoyed because it took me a long time to pick a machine because I wanted one that didn't rely on a digital display for settings.  Dial and buttons only, i.e. I need to be able to set it by touch.

 

[Fiz]

Persil non-bio is the powder recommended by the ezcema society and was the only one my daughter could tolerate without an ezcema flare.
I use a fraction of the detergent than is recommended on the container. They definitely state you need more than you actually do. They want you buying lots more, rather than just enough.

[Sunny Clouds]

I kept reducing the powder more and more with my new machine, until the clothes weren't even coming out clean, and even then there was still foam round the seal.

I think the machine is rubbish. As it is, it's a replacement because the first one they delivered was damaged.

I've no idea how I could ever prove to the manufacturers or the shop I bought it off that it's so useless.

[Fiz]

Same with my Panasonic refusing to spin. They sent an engineer out as it was under warranty and I had bought it from John Lewis and the engineer just said that the drum was computerised and set to weigh and balance the drum before spinning and suggested that if it refuses to spin to simply add a large towel to the wash and try a cycle again! And he left. I have washed many clean large bath sheets in order to make the machine spin! But sometimes it doesn't work and my wet room is full of dripping things. Whenever it packs up I won't be choosing a Panasonic.

[ally]

Fizz thanks for the washing powder recommendation.   Is there anything similar for conditioner, for the washing machine?  I have been itching all over my body.   My husband stopped using the conditioner, and, the itching has stopped.  I have eczema, and, certain detergents, soaps, etc set it off.   I can’t use various shower gels as I break out. 

[Fiz]

My daughter had horrendous ezcema as a child, hence the research on washing powders. I didn't use any conditioner when her ezcema was at its worst but in her teens I started using fairy gentle conditioner and at that stage she was okay with that. It's non scented and I suspect is the gentlest around. Boots used to make baby washing powder that the ezcema society recommended but they stopped making it so then persil non bio was then the lone recommendation and she was always fine with that.


Through her childhood she used to be given smellies as presents that she'd hand straight to me to dispose of because she knew she couldn't use them, same with most make up in her teens. Boots number 7/17 was the only make up she could use. It's actually such a pain.

[ditchdwellers]

I have wanted to make my own natural cleaning and washing products for a long time. I bought a book a couple of years ago but hadn't felt well enough to start making anything.
Last month I bought the ingredients necessary to begin so in the New Year I'm going to try making dishwasher tablets!


Anyway here's a recipe for fabric softener from the book:
1 litre white vinegar
10 drops of citrus or lavender essential oil.
Pour the vinegar into the glass container and add chosen essential oil.
Shake well before use.
Add 125ml to the softener dispenser for a medium load and 250ml for a large load.
Store in a jar or bottle. Storage time up to three months.


Source: Natural Home Cleaning by Fern Green


If anyone tries it before I do, please report back!

[Sunny Clouds]

I don't use fabric conditioner usually, but ironically I had a bottle that I bought ages ago and never used and used yesterday.  I'm not sure it made a lot of difference, but it was well worth playing around with washing stuff.

Vinegar is something I use intermittently to clean my machine and I hadn't thought of using a bit as a fabric softener.  I'm not really fussed about the softener aspect so much as what I'll call a 'kill the foam and keep the machine clean' aspect.

Anyway, you've prompted me to play with various things.  Now where's my bottle of white vinegar?