Things that used to be common place in people’s homes

[SuspectUsual]

Flotex 21 carpet

 

[xotGD]

I only used to have one bath a week, with Fairy Liquid in the tub - I am not lying - but we also had to have two compulsory naked showers a week after PE or sport at school, so I don’t suppose we smelt that bad.

I also had washing up liquid in place of bubble bath. Once a week.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Handset rental only stopped around 2010 or so. Some people had spent £1.20 a month for 30+ years.

Indeed quite a few people were renting a long gone handset that they had replaced one or more times already. Woe betide you if BT asked for their property back !.

My parents had a brown pinstripe velour suite that was a wedding gift in 1972. They replaced it with a modern cream suite in about 2000, simply because they felt like a change. Despite nearly 30 years of daily use, including 2 boys building castles out of the cushions, jumping on it and the ministrations of a cat it still looked brand new, and because the thing was filled with foam rather than the wadding that is common these days, it was still in the same shape, not sagging and didn't need plumping up.
The replacement last about 10 years before it was knackered and had to be replaced in turn.

When I bought my house I was given a plain sofa that was two semi sofas and a corner table. So an equal L shaped. I could re-arrange it as a straight sofa with out the table part and then use it as a guest bed. After 15 years I replaced it with a proper sofa bed which was an uncomfortable sofa and a massive double bed. It quickly became worn and manky. I have now thrown it away even though I do not yet have a replacement. I now take the view that older furniture lasts longer. If it still looks reasonable as a secondhand then it is not going to wear out so fast when I have it.

I suppose that means something else that used to be common was things that were made before this disposable lifestyle came along. Repairable things.

I also had washing up liquid in place of bubble bath. Once a week.

Umm. Did your Mum wash the dishes before or after you had your wash ?.

 

[eoff]

I also had washing up liquid in place of bubble bath. Once a week.

Standard practice for parents, fun bubbles, cleans the bath at the same time and prevents a soap scum ring.

 

[PeterC]

I also had washing up liquid in place of bubble bath. Once a week.

So it wasn't just me then. I used to love the bubbles.

 

[trainophile]

My niece has a new baby and is apparently using traditional cloth nappies. My sister made the observation that it's probably just as bad for the environment as using disposables, as the washing machine is on constantly. You can't seem to win nowadays.

 

[najaB]

My sister made the observation that it's probably just as bad for the environment as using disposables, as the washing machine is on constantly.

It's not. Electricity is increasingly supplied from renewable sources and in most places sewage is treated. A disposable will go to landfill and still be there in ten years.

 

[Domh245]

It's not. Electricity is increasingly supplied from renewable sources and in most places sewage is treated. A disposable will go to landfill and still be there in ten years.

Indeed - a 2008 estimate put them near enough equal (550kg CO2 for disposables, 570kg for cloth over a 2.5 year period) predominantly because of the energy use associated with washing them - back then the grid average gco2/kWh was north of 500, last year was under 200

 

[PG]

Folks leaving the lights on if they went out in the evening, giving the impression that they were at home to deter burglars.

 

[najaB]

Folks leaving the lights on if they went out in the evening, giving the impression that they were at home to deter burglars.

That's a behaviour though, rather than a thing.

 

[birchesgreen]

Folks leaving the lights on if they went out in the evening, giving the impression that they were at home to deter burglars.

Doesn't it work then?

I've got a couple of those timeswitch things so it will turn a lamp on and off at certain times.

 

[najaB]

Doesn't it work then?

I've got a couple of those timeswitch things so it will turn a lamp on and off at certain times.

The timers that randomise the times are more effective, but nothing is as good as a pandemic that means you never go anywhere.

 

[birchesgreen]

The timers that randomise the times are more effective, but nothing is as good as a pandemic that means you never go anywhere.

Exactly, i think burglars are one of the many victims of this crisis.

 

[trainophile]

Folks leaving the lights on if they went out in the evening, giving the impression that they were at home to deter burglars.

Still do that . Although I don't really agree with OH about it, as if they keep knocking and no-one answers they will know we're out anyway.

 

[najaB]

Although I don't really agree with OH about it, as if they keep knocking and no-one answers they will know we're out anyway.

It will have some deterrent effect as most thieves are opportunistic - so if there's a house with lights on and one without they'll be much more likely to try the one without, if it's a time of night that you'd expect people to be awake. Now, if they all have lights on... that's where the latest craze for smart doorbells comes in. In theory you can respond to the doorbell even if you're not home.,

 

[PeterC]

Still do that . Although I don't really agree with OH about it, as if they keep knocking and no-one answers they will know we're out anyway.

One recommendation was to leave the toilet light on.

 

[PG]

One recommendation was to leave the toilet light on.

How many people turn off the rest of the lights while they go to the toilet though?

 

[Bevan Price]

Still do that . Although I don't really agree with OH about it, as if they keep knocking and no-one answers they will know we're out anyway.

Not necessarily. I never open the door at night, unless I am expecting somebody to call.

 

[PG]

My sister made the observation that it's probably just as bad for the environment as using disposables, as the washing machine is on constantly. You can't seem to win nowadays.

Maybe the environmentally friendly folk wash them by hand in the sink... or take them down the river and use rocks

 

[Westcountryman]

Maybe the environmentally friendly folk wash them by hand in the sink... or take them down the river and use rocks

And pollute the river.

 

[PG]

And pollute the river.

That's what folks did many years ago, just like they used cloth nappies, though obviously disposable ones didn't exist!

Anyway this is veering off topic so we'd better leave it there as I can't imagine anyone treking down to the river to do their washing now!

 

[AY1975]

Coin-operated gas and electric meters used to be common in rented homes and in self-catering holiday accommodation in the 1970s and '80s. In those days you usually had to put 50p coins in them. Coin-operated gas and electric heaters also used to be quite common in hotel, guest house and B&B bedrooms.

It's years since I last saw a coin-operated meter - I don't know if they still exist in many places these days, although a few years ago I stayed in a hostel/bunkhouse type place that had one that you had to put £1 coins in (and the power went off when we were watching TV!). In my rented flat in the early 2000s I had a card-operated gas meter and had to put credit on my gas card at the Post Office.

 

[eMeS]

Coin-operated gas and electric meters used to be common in rented homes and in self-catering holiday accommodation in the 1970s and '80s. In those days you usually had to put 50p coins in them. Coin-operated gas and electric heaters also used to be quite common in hotel, guest house and B&B bedrooms.

It's years since I last saw a coin-operated meter - I don't know if they still exist in many places these days, although a few years ago I stayed in a hostel/bunkhouse type place that had one that you had to put £1 coins in (and the power went off when we were watching TV!). In my rented flat in the early 2000s I had a card-operated gas meter and had to put credit on my gas card at the Post Office.

I & my wife found coin-operated gas meters in a hotel in the centre of Portree, Skye in 1970 - not only in our bedroom, but also in the public lounge.

 

[adrock1976]

In my first flat back in 1995 when I resided in the West Midlands, the electric meter was a prepayment token card meter with the tokens being purchased from the post office that had the regional electricity board logo on them (mine was not surprisingly the MEB - Midlands Electricity Board).

When the National Grid was sold off back in 1995, a lot of people who had token meters were sent a letter with instructions to collect a three figure sum of tokens from their local Royal Mail delivery office, bring some ID and sign for the tokens. There was a time limit after signing for them where all of the tokens had to be dunked in the meter for them to register.

Such was the large sum involved I never had to purchase any tokens after that up to the time I left at the beginning of 1998 to relocate to Scotland. Also rather surprisingly for a local authority high rise flat, it had gas central heating with an indirect hot water supply where it was heated in a tank rather than being instantaneous.

The present flat I am in (and the second one that has a prepayment meter) has a prepayment meter that has a key that is used to purchase credit rather than a card size token.

 

[westv]

Coin-operated gas and electric meters used to be common in rented homes and in self-catering holiday accommodation in the 1970s and '80s.

My early years in the late 60s/early 70s were spent in a house with coin operates gas/electric. That home was owned by my parents.

 

[eoff]

My daughter had a prepayment meter (modern) in her last flat. After she left, the electricity company tried to claim she owed them money for unpaid electricity.

 

[dgl]

we have a prepayment key meter at our current premises, had a recent problem where it wouldn't accept the key, it was fixed but not until it had something like £2.50 left which was a bit annoying.

Supposedly my Nan had a coin meter many moons ago that was set too high so would get money back when the meter was emptied, something that her husband never found out about because he would have probably wasted it.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

we have a prepayment key meter at our current premises, had a recent problem where it wouldn't accept the key, it was fixed but not until it had something like £2.50 left which was a bit annoying.

Supposedly my Nan had a coin meter many moons ago that was set too high so would get money back when the meter was emptied, something that her husband never found out about because he would have probably wasted it.

Wasn't setting coin-operated meters wrong so that they overcharged you once a common trick that landlords etc. would use to get more money from tenants? Not sure if I've misremembered, and I'm also not sure if that practice ever became illegal? Obviously not so important for many people now that prepayment meters have become relatively rare.

 

[najaB]

Obviously not so important for many people now that prepayment meters have become relatively rare.

They're not that rare at all - something like 4 million households currently have them for electricity.

 

[xotGD]

I lived in a flat where there was a coin meter for leccy, but the gas was included in the rent. Naturally, when I wanted a cup of coffee I boiled the water in a pan on the gas hob!