Last month, Reddit updated their support page for "Redditor Highlights". You may have seen it on your feed already, the ads have started appearing for me this month.

It is an ad-campaign tool that allows advertisers to include an AI summary of only the positive redditor sentiments directly in a product ad, scraped directly from reddit threads about the brand.
Unfortunately, Vitamix caved to this feature for some bizarre reason despite already having great BIFL reviews in the past. The success story page literally references this sub. This has actually made more hesitant to purchase from them.

BIFL is already astroturfed by shittier brands daily because the whole internet relies on it for consumer purchases large and small. This feature will worsen it:

- Brands have already been trying to nudge the AI summaries of r/BuyItForLife on google and ChatGPT, and one way real redditors could previously combat that was just by posting negative feedback so the AI summary could consider it. It hilariously backfired in a few instances for the astroturfer. Reddit's feature negates this now because negative sentiments are not considered at all.

- The feature is currently only available to "brands and products that have already earned high positive sentiment among redditors". This encourages brands to manufacture their positive sentiment to access ad tools that are gatekept from them. And of course I don't believe for a second that they'll be transparent about what brands can/can't access this tool; they want advertisers to use it.

Reddit reviews are trusted because of nuance and discussion, and this feature saps all of that. But it's conveniently described as "real opinions" and "authentic community perspectives" while cutting a lot of the real stuff.

Any time a brand tries a new form of marketing, be suspicious of the product and what they traded to spend on their campaign. I wish there were more we could do besides just avoiding the feature, and telling our friends to stop trusting the AI summaries, but that's what we got.

Does your country make anything BIFL at all?

Edit: wow, I don't think commenters are aware this is the BIFL sub 😂

Replacing the sleds today. I have had the original pair for 5 years, wore them heavily first four of the five years with last year spending most of the time on the rack. Worth $210 ??? Ehhhhh hard to say but I’ve done it twice now. I don’t think footwear is meant to last.

Sent to cobblers direct at year three and in my opinion they made the shoes worse. I would not recommend sending sabahs to cobblers direct under any circumstance. They came back with a half glued insole, and a chalky new bottom that wore out quickly.

Despite my cobblers direct complaints, these are great shoes, which prompted my second purchase. If I get another five years out of them, I’ll most likely buy a third.

That is all.

I absolutely hate cutting vegetables. I know everyone says just get a sharp knife but I genuinely don't enjoy prep work and it makes me avoid cooking.

I'm looking for a really good mandoline/vegetable chopper that can handle multiple tasks dicing, shredding, slicing, julienne. The blades need to be sharp, like able to slice through ripe tomatoes without crushing them.

I'm okay spending more if it's genuinely worth it and durable. Any recommendations?

Looking for reasonably priced satin/silk sheets that don’t pill. We have three dogs who shed who sleep in our bed (my husband wants them in the bed). My husband is mildly allergic and cotton sheets hold the hair which makes his allergies flair up (red eyes, runny nose, etc.). We’ve started using satin sheets and pillowcases which the dog hair doesn’t stick to, and allergies have been much better! However, we got 2 sets from Amazon about 6 months ago (satin polyester), and they’re pilling everywhere. We typically machine wash sheets once a week and alternate the sheet sets (i.e., wash set 1 and put set 2 on the bed).

Any recommendations on a better quality that won’t break the bank and will also last a while? The Amazon ones were about $50 a piece, so not really cheap if we have to buy every 6 months.

So my wife's birthday is coming up soon and I was wondering if I can get some recommendations as to which curling iron to get her. Her last one broke recently and I know she's been looking them online but I haven't figured out which one she likes. So with that said I have come here to ask for help from the experts on bifl because I want this one to last her a lot longer than the previous one.

Hello! My electric kettle died. This makes number 4 in about twelve years. Not terrible I guess considering I’m a heavy user of it, but I’d really like a solid workhorse that lasts a long time. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I bought two of these Swan "Soft & Supple" 75-foot hoses back in 2000, and they're still going strong. A couple of years ago, I wanted to get another set for a different house and was disappointed to see that online reviews and discussions here reveal they haven't been BIFL-quality for a number of years now (apparently, Continental and Eley are the BIFL hose leaders these days). Using the "Vintage" flair is kinda silly, but fit the best.

Some of you might notice the hose end isn't original and think "Wait a minute, that hose end apparently wasn't BIFL-quality!" However, that's not correct. Only about a week after I bought these hoses, my now-ex-wife and her daughter were trying to get the hose up to a 2nd-story deck to water some plants. My ex explained their success in getting the hose up to the deck by her daughter lowering her jump rope and my ex tying them together and pulling it up, but that was after they tried about a dozen times to throw the end of the hose up to the deck and catch it. The thing is, each time it fell, it was onto a brick patio. They didn't notice the end getting damaged, but I did when I went to screw a nozzle on a couple of days later. The end was mangled beyond repair, so, I cut it down to the least-damaged part (only two threads remaining) and epoxied on a garden hose thread to pipe taper adapter (GHT-to-NPT), then put an NPT-to-GHT adapter onto that. The fix has worked great since then, and TBH is much more sturdy than the original end.

I had my first washer and dryer for ages. They started crapping out at the start of covid and so I panicked and replaced them, because, germs. I had to leave them when I moved.

The house I'm in has nightmare Samsung smart washer and dryer, without the smart toggled on. I hate these things so much. Very throttled on water, heat, time, etc. And they play a stupid electronic song at the end of each cycle. It's such a troll.​​

I'm looking to purchase a washer/dryer that let's me decide water level, temperature, duration, has a big load capacity, is not *"smart"*, and will last.

But, after looking around, this seems as likely as finding a unicorn. Any suggestions?

It has been through a lot. The fork was bent inward, and bent back again. I just changed the tires, rusted cables and housings, brake pads, the rusted chain and greased up the bearings.

I'm baffled by the fact that the cassette and chain ring are barely worn. My modern Scott gravel bike's chain ring was done after less than 4000 miles with weekly chain cleansing.

So I’ve been trying to get a low platform bed for a while made of solid wood. I gave it a go on The Futon Shop. But…

Package arrived completely busted open (whatever, delivery happens, but it was packed on a thin foam sheeting, so I can’t blame delivery), but when I open it up, it was not only a delivery problem … the actual product is trash:

Finger marks on fresh stain and smudges all over it.
Completely wrong stain color, giving peach/pink. And I also wanted to ask you all, do you see it pink? If it’s my impression please say so
The joinery is crooked and parts of the wood are literally busted.
Wood filler everywhere! In roles, in cracks… like a refurbished bed
The middle panel is so thin I think a punch would bust it

Emailed the guy saying it showed up damaged, the quality, the stain is not accurate to the picture. Can I return it?
Cue the most childish email argument ever. The guy kept insisting "that's just how wood looks" (ignoring the literal wrong stain) and refused a return. After stating finish issue over 4 times. I tried to solve with him, very politely, on about 6 emails. He kept pointing to their return policy, claiming it’s the natural wood and won’t covers for my "regret" their color choice. Told me that if I wanted a new one, I had to pay out of pocket to ship the heavy damaged crap back, eat a 20% restocking fee, and I'd only get store credit, and pay again to ship another new bed.
No refunds, ever.

Disclaimer: there is a part of the bed legs that the stain is scratched as well the finger marks, where I can see the wood tone, and looks perfect for me, yellow. Not pink. And I shared that with him, with pictures.

I tried to solve with him, because I knew I would open a chargeback, would make me keep the goods and get the money back, and I didn’t want to be unfair. And I told him that, I truly want to solve it with you, but unfortunately if we can’t arrive to the conclusion return + refund I will open a dispute with my credit card.

He refused again. While playing the ‘you are not gonna win the dispute because I offered returning placements’ which wouldn’t solve the stain problem, I claimed many times. It’s not only about color, it’s application, it’s wood material, cuts,

Opened a chargeback with my CC company instead. Won the dispute. Now he's out the money and the bed. Like, why?
I just wanted to make things fair.

The bed costed a bit over than $1300 for who asked

I returned some DT socks a couple weeks ago to exchange for a larger size.

When I put in my order number, it says returned, but so far I haven’t received the replacement or an email.

How long does it usually take?

Not complaining, just wondering if I did something wrong.

For years we have loved the kids LLBean rash guards. They are very high quality, not floppy or thin, retain their shape and last through multiple kids despite my kids wearing them daily in the summer. I was very disappointed to see that LLbean is discontinuing kids swim wear. What are your suggestions for alternative? Every other brand we’ve tried is not thick, and stretches out really quickly. TY.

I'm fed up.

There is the mental load of constant repairs. The frustration of vacuuming only to have to sweep again immediately after because the vacuum doesn't vacuum anymore. The disappointment when your well-researched expensive cutting board cracks after two months of normal use. The anger when the highly-praised sewing machine you bought to mend all your falling-apart-after-a-few-wears clothing shows up on your doorstep and only runs at maximum speed. The worry that the one brand left that is supposed to make things of quality might have just been bought and will be enshittified next in the name of shareholder value. And the squeaky car dashboard that serves as a constant reminder that everything you own, including your car you spent a year's salary on and that is probably spying on you, is destined for a landfill.

I'm tired. When will it end?

Hi all,

I am in the process of buying a house and am currently looking at sofa recommendations. I would love a stylish beige sofa, L shaped and slightly bigger BUT also easy to clean (not sure if this even exists haha). I am a clumsy person but I want a beige sofa for the living room as it’s quite a dark room…

Going to have a look around some sofa shops and would love some potential online recommendations. I love some of the sofas on Dusk/Daals however worried about the cleaning of these!

Please let me know if you love your sofa (regardless of colour) as I would love to check it out!

Thank you all :) x

Im taking care of my parents house and I hired someone to do yard cleanup because it’s too much work for one person. The gardener tried some of my hoses and saw they were leaky when he hooked them up to my pressure washer. Found it somewhat suspicious because I’m not a gardener and I was able to figure out they could easily be repaired. I bought a set of 6 repair kit and fixed all 4 hoses in about 15 minutes. Hoses are probably 20-30 years old. Still have some adapters left over.

I am trying to buy fewer things that die after a year, and wellness gear has been weirdly frustrating. A heating pad I owned started heating unevenly after one winter, and a friend's massage gun became useless once the battery stopped holding a charge. The plastic shell looked fine, but the electronics made the whole thing feel disposable.

For the BIFL crowd, have you found any heating pads, massage guns, or simple recovery tools that have lasted 5+ years with regular use? I am more interested in boring durability, replaceable parts, solid switches, and repairability than extra app features.

TL;DR: 15 years old backpack with PU coated 1000D Cordura started delaminating. Cleaned it up with isopropyl alcohol and microfiber towel.

---

I bought this beast of a backpack in 2016 for 80 € from its original owner, who said it was bought by him in 2011. Back then I thought this backpack might actually last me a lifetime for how rugged it is.

Fast forward to summer of 2024 I noticed some black flakes in my packing cubes after using this backpack. Upon further inspection I noticed the inside of the 1000D Cordura wasn't so smooth anymore and would flake more if I brushed it with my hand. Upon some research it turned out to be delamination of the Cordura PU backing caused by probably age, as I've always stored the backpack in dry room temperature. Contacting Camelbak for tips or maintenance service to remove the flaky coating led to nowhere as this happens over time as materials degrade and isn't included in the Got Your Bak warranty. There also wasn't any paid service available for this.

I was adviced to wash the backpack with mild soap and it only made the thing worse. I left the backpack on a balcony with glass windows to dry out in the heat of the sun hoping the sunlight and heat would do the trick and help the PU coating to dry or break it up so it would be easier to remove. Unfortunately it didn't help. Soon came fall and winter and I just left the backpack out in the freezing temperatures hoping that would help, but the material was stuck. After being outside through the heat and cold the PU coating turned a little sticky so I gave up for the time being and left the backpack out on the balcony.

Finally in the spring of 2026 I wanted to rescue the backpack as it just was too good to be thrown away, so I looked online for how to remove the PU coating, and there were these few main ingredients mentioned in many places: Isopropyl alcohol and elbow grease along with your preferred scrubbing tool.

I had a small bottle of IPA (not the beer) for cleaning electronics, so I took it with me along with an old toothbrush to try and scrup a small section of one of the side pockets to see if the isopropyl alcohol actually works. Lo and behold there soon was a patch of clean Cordura without the now sticky coating. Unfortunately the toothbrush was too small and soft for the whole backpack, and using it would take ages. I also noticed that the sticky PU coating would start to clog up the brush, so it might not be the best tool for the job.

I went and purchased a 400 ml spray bottle if IPA, some microfiber towels and a nailbrush. I started with the nail brush hoping a harder brush would remove the degrading PU coating much quicker than with the toothbrush. It didn't. The stickiness of the PU coating clogged up the brush in no time leading me to try out the microfiber towel. That did the trick way better than the brushes did, and I was on my way to a cleaner backpack.

It took me a total of 4 pcs of 400 ml IPA spray bottles, 5 microfiber towels (I washed one three times before I threw it away) and 12 hours in several patches to finally consider the PU coating removed from anywhere that it was sticky or flaking.

After the PU was removed I then soaked the backpack in a warm bath and gave it a good scrub with dishwashing soap mixed with baking soda. After drying the backpack in front of a fan for a few days it finally felt dry and there was no stickiness found anywhere anymore. The plastic hardware and zippers also function without issues.

Pictures contain some of the phases of the cleaning process. I couldn't change their order on mobile, so they are from newest to oldest (from clean to toothbrush test). Can't say I'd recommend it just for the fun of it, as it was quite hard on your fingers to continually apply firm pressure on the microfiber towel to remove the coating. If however the product is worth the time and effort then it's definitely worth it to do the cleaning.

Let's hope the backpack lasts at least as many more years as it has lasted up until now!

Planning on buying a new mattress soon. I want to find something that will knock me out like a light and is really soft to sleep on. I have a really bad habit of waking up multiple times in the middle of the night.

When I was younger I always wanted a sleep number mattress but couldn't afford one. I've been using the same bed for almost 20 years now and I'm in desperate need for an upgrade. But there's just so many overwhelming options I don't know what to buy. I've never bought a mattress on my own before.

What's also a reasonable price to spend on a mattress? Because I'm looking at purple mattress and they range anywhere from a few grand to almost $20k and I don't know if I want to spend $20k on a mattress lol.

Went to a state surplus warehouse to get my elder parents a better laptop. They had a collection of office chairs. In this pool of chairs I found the steelcase in the picture. Sticker says it’s been there three weeks. V2 as far as I can tell. $20. All functions work just fine.

I have been fawning over Crandall chairs for over a year. Came close to buying several times, just couldn’t get myself to justify ~$800 every time it came to the goal line. This has been a quiet item on my wish list because who gets excited about an office chair……

I sent a pic to my wife and she just couldn’t understand the excitement. Then she had a good chuckle at my excitement over this chair I got for $20. She doesn’t get it.

They also had a Herman Miller for $20 but it was pretty busted up.

If I lived here, I think that warehouse group would see a lot of me…….

Shoutout to Dexter, Southbridge MA for being categorized as "What to buy instead:"

I’ve built up a pretty big mug collection over the years and I’m always looking for new ones that actually feel good to drink from.

I’ve also picked up a few from local ceramic shops and some random ones from bigger stores, but a lot of those ended up chipping or just feeling cheap after a while.

Where have you found your best mugs? Looking for ones that are sturdy, good size, and don’t lose their design after a bunch of washes.