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What's the most useless gadget you ever bought?

2

Posts

  • SalixGoldSalixGold Posts: 450
    edited July 2023
    I bought myself one of those hoses that is supposed to enable you to transfer water from the bath upstairs, to a container outside at ground level.
    I suspect you didn't set it up right.

    I love eyelash curlers. My Dyson vacuum was pretty useless, yes. I just sold it. I've got through four wireless doorbell systems in four years. They have all broken. I hate binning pointless tech. I've gone high end now, but haven't the energy to set it up.
  • pr1mr0sepr1mr0se Posts: 1,193
    Most useless gadget ever - a spiraliser.

  • plant pauperplant pauper Posts: 6,904
    I thought my most useless gadget might be my Robovac.
    I now have two. One for upstairs and one for downstairs...just little ones......in a bungalow. 😳
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    @B3, I found one of those green things in the bathroom cleaning drawer last week, and couldn’t think what it was for! At least I now know what it’s supposed to do! 

    Surprised at some of the items mentioned, we have a couple of Dyson vacuum cleaners ( and a hair dryer and a fan) and find them all brilliant. And if my air fryer packed up, I’d be straight out for a replacement. I’ve even had good use out of my spiraliser, mainly on carrots and courgettes. 

    Annoyingly, the most useless gadget I’ve bought was a Chillington hoe I ordered during lockdown. Despite following all the instructions on how to keep the head seated on the handle, it still persists in coming loose after a few minutes. I may have to ignore all the advice against this, and get OH to put a nail in the wooden handle to keep it together. Otherwise, it’ll sit in the shed for years to come, gathering dust and making me cross. 
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I have to agree above Dyson Hoovers @philippasmith2, mine never worked properly and was very heavy. 
    My electric hair curler didn't work either, but my hair is thick and doesn't want to curl.

    The leaf gatherer that towed behind the garden tractor never worked unless the leaves were newly fallen and very dry.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    edited July 2023
    A leaf collector/shredder with a collection bag attached. Took three times as long as raking up the leaves, didn’t shred properly, the bag filled up far too quickly and was a pitta to empty.

    A handy rechargeable hoover for the car. Pathetic suction. Since when do I ever hoover the car anyway?
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Nollie said:

    A handy rechargeable hoover for the car. Pathetic suction. 
    I agree with you on this. Waste of time and money. I'd rather run an extension lead out the back door, and plug in the everyday vacuum cleaner.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Or turn the mat upside down and whack it in the pavement
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Anything with the 'Hotpoint' logo on it.
    I have two washing machines, a Hotpoint and a Bosch. The hotpoint one is much better
    Devon.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    I agree about the Dyson vac.  My main gripe was the difficulty of replacing the drive band when it snapped/flew off - it happened often because of the number of family members with long hair.  I'm pretty strong, thanks to a lot of gardening, wall building etc, but my hands weren't big or strong enough to stretch the drive band over the spindle.  I had to do cunning things with a wooden spoon handle, wedging the vac behind a piece of furniture so it wouldn't run away - or wait for my husband to be around, which felt like failure...  Oh, and it was hopeless on the stairs, too.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
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