We traced home appliances that have been in service for more than a generation and asked why today’s white goods are falling apart so quickly

Last modified on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 10.57 EDT

It was 1963. John F Kennedy is the President of the United States. The Beatles released their first album. At the time, the 39-year-old Winifred Hughes of Crewe proudly owned an ultra-modern Belling Classic electric oven. For £79—more than £1,500 today—Hughes signed a hire purchase plan with the Mersey and North Wales Electricity Commission, paying £4 every three months for a period of four years. But it turned out that this was an amazing deal. Winifred, 92, has used it almost every day since then, she said, "It has never disappointed me."

For 53 years, it has been in order, cooking for her family of five, including barbecue dinners every Sunday. "In those days, everything was built to last," she said.

You can pull out the inner shell of the oven to clean it. She used to do this every Sunday after roasting the barbecue. The only thing Belling needed to repair was that the shelf fell on it, causing one of the rings to break and must be replaced. "We called the Manweb office in town and they took out a new office," she recalled. The timer also stops working, but this is not important. "

Belling brought a cookbook with the basic recipes she was still using. "People don't believe me, but I have never eaten takeaway in my life. I keep getting flyers from the door, but there is nothing I want." However, Winifred made concessions to modern convenience food: "I finally agreed Try baking fries with my fish because I am a little worried about using a fries plate."

Sadly, just last week, the thermostat finally gave up, Winifred said she was "heartbroken" and her beloved Belling is no longer there. More importantly, the oven was made when measuring the imperial system, and the new metric-sized alternative was slightly smaller than the 21-inch Belling, leaving a gap on the side of her kitchen in the 1960s.

Not many families would expect their ovens to last 50 years, but people are angry at how many home appliances will fail within a few years. A petition requesting manufacturers to publish life expectancy has received more than 11,000 signatures. It called on the government to legislate against "planned obsolescence"-companies accused of deliberately making their products fragile and irreparable.

Tara Button initiated a petition for "a simple law to prevent the pain of inferior products". He is the founder of BuyMeOnce, a website that specializes in providing lifetime warranty products. She said: "It is incomprehensible and almost criminal. In the age when we are talking about making machines that can send people to Mars, I can't find a kettle that I can trust that can be used for more than six years.

Manufacturers used to pride themselves on making durable products. It is the lack of willingness, not the lack of professional knowledge and technical skills, that has led to the increase in disposable electrical appliances. This is a short-sighted view of the environment. Consumers seem to accept the fact that their appliances will break after the one- or two-year warranty period ends. "

Kenneth Watt is the director of the trade association and engineer spare parts distributor UK Whitegoods and has been repairing appliances since the early 1980s. He agrees that the product will not last as long as before.

"White goods built in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s usually last 15 years or more. Now it's more like six or seven years," he said. "Consumers demand cheaper and cheaper products, so the quality has declined. Until the mid-1980s, washing machines were maintained like cars and were inspected every year or every two years.

"Now manufacturers are making products that cannot be repaired economically, or sealing parts that cannot be repaired at all. They often sell products in an'environmentally friendly' way, but if they cannot be repaired, they must be discarded after a few years. The damage to the environment is Astonishing."

As Guardian Money discovered when searching for the oldest household appliances, there are many items that can be used for decades, and the stories behind them:

35-year-old Nick Buckley, a television director in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, still uses the Rowenta steam iron labeled "Made in West Germany." He inherited it from his mother Sharon 16 years ago, but she remembers learning to iron it with it in 1960, using tea towels and handkerchiefs ("Yes, we did that back then," she said ).

Nick added: "This is great. I use it to iron shirts every day. Until recently, we even had the original ironing board, but then I was worried about asbestos, so we changed it."

38-year-old Chris Evans is the owner of Blighty, a cafe and workspace in Finsbury Park, London. He owns a Hoover donated by a client in the 1970s. In use.

Evans said: "It fits with our brand and the feel of the old neighborhood cafe we ​​are trying to rebuild. It's great to be able to use what customers who have lived in the area for decades give us."

Anne White, 61, from Kinross, Scotland, is a director of a real estate company. She is still using the vacuum cleaner she bought in the early 1970s. Her is Nilfisk GS90. "My two children are both over 30 years old, and I had them when they were very young. I did not replace it with newer equipment because it is still as efficient as before.

“I’ve always been eager for a cool Dyson model that takes up very little space, but I can’t justify spending the money before it’s fully filled, and I doubt it will never be. I believe that the newer electrical design has a limited lifespan. To drive further sales."

Anna Niman, a 36-year-old artist and photographer from Camden, London, uses her mother's old Singer sewing machine. Its history can be traced back to 1923. It was later converted into an electric pedal, and it was given to her mother as a 21st birthday gift in 1966.

Anna said: "In the 1960s, my mother used to make clothes and accessories for sale on Carnaby Street. She also made clothes for me when I was young, and made costumes for my work in dance school.

"I learned to sew, starting with doll clothes, and then I made my martial arts equipment. Now, whenever I need to make cushion covers, aprons, pencil boxes or gifts, I take them out."

In our search for old appliances, we also listened to the opinions of several readers, including the Kenwood chef in the 1960s, the tea lady who still brewed every morning in the 1970s, the Hoover Dustette in the 1950s, and the Tricity refrigerator in 1965. And more no space to list.

Has your appliance been used for such a long time or even longer? Email us: consumer.champions@theguardian.com

For reporter Leah Milner, when she moved back to her home, life became a sad journey of nostalgia.

"While I was saving money to buy my own house, I lived at home, surrounded by things I had known since I was a child, and some old things that can be traced back farther.

"The Bosch S210 dishwasher and Creda tumble dryer are still working and in use almost every day. They were both a wedding gift to my parents in 1980. At an impressive 36 years of age, they lasted for a long time. It is more than three times the marriage itself, who knows how many cycles they can rotate?

"Then my mother's Frister & Rossmann sewing machine in the 1960s. She used to sew her own clothes with Biba patterns, bringing the Kensington style to the streets of Cardiff where she and my father went to college. Now she uses it for her Grandson makes quilts and clothes.

"There is also the Philips electric egg beater from the 1960s. I inherited it from my late grandmother. I know her name is Nana Milner. As everyone knows, Joan died about 15 years ago, but I still remember the one made with it in the 1980s. Cake. She will make a whole plate of snacks on weekends.

"This egg beater was bought when my grandfather's pharmacy started operating, and their suburban houses were suddenly filled with 1960s gadgets.

"There are many new models of flash memory that may complete the work in half the time and are much less noisy. But, like she would do, it is very sad to stir the meringue into hard peaks. This It’s the fragile connection with the past; the food and life shared by the people we miss.”

According to which? , Consumer groups, if you purchase goods from October 1, 2015, the Consumer Rights Law applies. If you purchased a product on or before September 30, 2015, your rights are regulated by the "Commodity Sales Law".

According to the Consumer Rights Law, you have the right to reject products that are of substandard quality, unsuitable for use, or inconsistent with the description as soon as possible, and get a full refund.

But this is limited to 30 days from the date of purchase. After the first 30 days, you cannot request a full refund at the beginning, but you still have the right to repair or replace.

If your product was purchased after October 1, 2015, and in addition to the 30-day rejection right, you must give the retailer a chance to repair or replace any product-which one you can choose. However, if the retailer can prove that your choice is too costly compared to the alternatives, they can refuse.

If the repair or replacement is unsuccessful, if you want to keep the product, you can apply for a refund or a price reduction.

Many products come with a manufacturer's guarantee (or warranty), usually for one year. Manufacturers must abide by their commitments in this contract. Usually, this will be repair or replacement of the faulty item.

However, even if your guarantee has expired, you still enjoy the rights under the Consumer Rights Law or the Commodity Sales Law. This will depend on the product and the malfunction, but you are legally entitled to free repairs, or in some cases, to be replaced by the retailer within a period of time after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.