Regular readers of this blog recognise that Brian and I are each big enthusiasts of IKEA. We've offered all types of chocolates there?Patio fixtures, towels, foodstuffs, rechargeable batteries, kitchen devices, and tour gives. We've hacked IKEA furniture to healthy over our area heaters and to make a sitting/popularity desk for Brian. We've even celebrated our anniversary there, who prefer an afternoon of bouncing on POANG chairs, exploring the model apartment layouts, browsing the collection of kitchen equipment and youngsters' toys, and eating Swedish delicacies to such conventional, pricey entertainments as dining and dancing.
But currently, I've started out to sense like IKEA has been letting us down. It began remaining year, while we observed that its desire of LED mild bulbs wasn't that stunning. The bulbs were not absolutely any cheaper than the ones at Home Depot, and they did not have any which have been mainly vibrant. Then, on our closing anniversary adventure there, we decided that severa of the things on our purchasing list were now not to be had. My loved MELLANROST decaf coffee, which I'd been making plans to inventory up on, have been supplanted with the useful resource of a brand new line of organic coffee calledP?T?R, which does not are to be had a decaffeinated version. And worse though, at the same time as we went searching out a top off brush for our vintage LILLHOLMEN rest room brush holder, we determined that every the holder and the LOSSNEN refills that in form it were not to be had. Instead, they'd a today's brush insert, referred to as HEJAREN, which became sized for its extra moderen relaxation room brush holders and probably wouldn't healthy our vintage one. This modified into a exquisite bummer, due to the fact the whole motive we'd supplied the LILLHOLMEN inside the first location was because it emerge as so much greater ecofrugal to update the comb with a cheap replenish whilst it wore out, in region of being compelled to discard brush and contend with together. If the refills had been no longer to be had, the whole piece have become now useless?Even although the screw-on control and holder had been still perfectly proper.
However, we idea there was a hazard we could make the LILLHOLMEN work with the brand new HEJAREN inserts, so we decided to take a $three risk and buy a couple. After a bit of tinkering, Brian become capable of get the today's insert screwed into vicinity, and it became simply brief sufficient to fit into the bottom?But it wasn't exactly constant. Every time I tried to sweep the toilet bowl with it, the slightest amount of strain introduced on the brush to bend and threaten to snap. And subsequently, on maybe the 0.33 or fourth use, it is precisely what it did, breaking off proper on the aspect wherein the insert attached to the deal with.
To upload insult to injury, any other IKEA tool that we used all of the time in our toilet, our little bathe squeegee, decided on the identical week to break. I simply went to wipe the shower walls with it as everyday, and it snapped right off on the address. I anticipate I cannot complain an excessive amount of approximately this one, because it best charge us $2 to begin with and we'd been the usage of it for numerous years, but it did experience like several our IKEA products had been failing us immediately.
Our first perception grow to be to try and repair the damaged gadgets, due to the fact that it clearly is commonly (despite the fact that not commonly) more ecofrugal than shopping for new ones. Brian attempted solving the squeegee with epoxy, becoming it across the be part of and molding it into all of the cracks, however to no avail; the primary time I tried to apply it, it snapped right within the equal region. As for the toilet brush, we should in all likelihood have glued the broken give up of the insert again on, however we fast determined available wasn't an lousy lot component, as it nonetheless could now not in shape the cope with. It might although be trouble to the same pressure every time we used it, so it'd almost virtually damage once more.
So then we headed out to Bed Bath & Beyond to try and find replacements for the two damaged items. And there, we got a quick, sharp reminder of just why IKEA, despite its shortcomings, is still our favorite place to shop for small items like these. The store had a fairly large assortment of shower squeegees, but none for less than $10, when the perfectly functional IKEA one that we'd been using for years had cost only $2. (Even with inflation, a similar item there—made with recycled plastic, no less—costs the same today.) As for the toilet brushes, Bed Bath & Beyond was charging $15 and up for a perfectly plain, utilitarian model such as you could buy at IKEA for under a dollar. At those prices, we could spend the $8.50 in tolls for a trip up to IKEA and spend the same amount (and we'd be able to get a new toilet brush that would be refillable, so it would cost less in the long run).
So we walked out of Bed Bath & Beyond pretty much convinced that there was no reason ever to go back; nothing there, as far as we can tell, is ever going to be a good deal, even with the inevitable 20% off coupon that arrives regularly in our mail. But on the other hand, making a trip up to IKEA for a cheaper alternative is a much bigger undertaking, and we wouldn't have time for it until the next weekend at least. Letting water build up on our shower walls for a whole week didn't seem like a good option.
