For example, if you insist on buying Advil instead of store brand ibuprofen. I mean, you’d be wasting your money in that example, but you do you

  • TheMechanic@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Super glue.

    Cyanocrylate adhesives were accidently discovered in WW2 while trying to develop a clear plastic. Later Eastman-Kodak held the patent and then sold it to Loctite on the 1960s.

    Loctite 404 is so much better than anything else available on the market. It bonds better, it’s stronger, it lasts longer and the bottle applicator is more controlled and easier to use. If you want it to last years, you can actually store in in the refrigerator when not being used.

    • kratoz29@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Ok, I know Lemmy doesn’t have a spying algorithm like pretty much any other company’s site, but it is a bit amazing that you brought that here just when I needed that product to glue a ceramic handle of a mug that I broke because of stupidity.

      As you seem to know about the subject, may I ask if it is prudent to still use the mug in the microwave? (Usually I heat my coffee or water there), the handle looks very well attached and I have used it once to drink… With fear.

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        1 year ago

        I’m just some guy who can maybe read minds?

        I don’t know about the microwave. Heat actually breaks the bond for these kinds of adhesives, so if it isn’t poisonous, it probably wouldn’t work well for that anyway.

      • LetterboxPancake@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Says? THE PROJECT FARM GUY YELLS AT THE CAMERA. VERY IMPRESSIVE!

        I didn’t know he tested super glue, have to look for it. I dig his videos for some reason I don’t really understand.

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      I agree their bottle/applicator is the GOAT. Can’t go back to other brands after trying a bottle of loctite.

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    I buy nearly everything generic but generic Band-Aids have terrible adhesive so I always buy name brand.

    Edit: Oh, and frozen pizza. I’ve had too many generics with crusts that might as well have been made of cardboard.

    • bestusername@aussie.zone
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      I find the cloth generic band aids to be identical to brand name, the plastic one of any brand, well they’re just crap and I don’t know why the even exist.

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      The problem with non-generic frozen pizza is they cost like a dollar less than a real pizza. Some of the fancier ones cost even more than a pizza from the place right next to the grocery store. Maybe I’m just blessed living in the pizza sphere but even the best frozen pizza is fucking disgusting next to even mediocre real pizza.

    • ZeroCool@feddit.ch
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      I buy nearly everything generic but generic Band-Aids have terrible adhesive so I always buy name brand.

      Yeah, this is a case of a brand that’s been subject to trademark genericization where the knock-offs and generic products genuinely aren’t as good.

    • Karak@kbin.social
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      Great Value used to have an amazing 5 cheese and bacon white pizza… can’t find it anymore though.

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        Choice Australia did a test of different washing liquid recently and found the Aldi stuff to be one of the best and a bunch of expensive brands to be no better than plain hot water.

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        Well Costco brand is absolutely shit. Smells horrrrrible. Bought it and did my best to convince myself it wasn’t that bad I’d just finish the bottle, ended up tossing the whole thing

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          At Costco, I decided to get the Dawn Ultra Advanced Power, and man it knocks the socks off of grease, with just a small dollop on a sponge. While my cooking is simplistic and I wash sparingly in large batches, I don’t eat out often and I’ve only used a 10th of the 2.66L bottle in 2 months.

          If you don’t use a sponge then I think any dishsoap will do, so long as you can tolerate the smell.

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      Dawn Powerwash is pretty great for general cleaning too, not just dishes. It’s great at removing soap scum. You can technically DIY it with dish soap, isopropyl alcohol, water, and a spray bottle, but the bottles they sell last a while and are cheap.

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        That’s not enough to do what powerwash does. Normal dishsoap has to maintain a consistency so certain additives are just not feasible. This allows powerwash to have a higher ph, stuff that goes after calcium deposits and stuff that hydrates stuck on food.

        Personally I really really like powerwash but the amount of plastic it needs is too much for me. They did to come out with bulk refills.

  • Fullest@sh.itjust.works
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    Garbage bags. I don’t particularly care WHICH brand, but I won’t do generic. The consequences if the bag rips open are horrifying.

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    1 year ago

    Huy Fong Sriracha. As the shortage has made painfully clear. When I dream at night, I’m eating food covered in sriracha and tinkering with my roomful of Raspberry Pi projects.

    And don’t talk to me about disgruntled pepper farmer rivalries or whatever bullshit. Just please give me back my sriracha. :(

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      Fuck Huy Fong Foods. Chinese-American businessman appropriates a traditional Thai sauce and uses marketing to brainwash the world into thinking they’re the only ones that can make it. They tried to use their size to squeeze their longterm supplier and lost a $28 million judgement because they were objectively wrong as proven in a court of law.

      They started their own shortage trying to fuck over farmers when they already had over $150 mil/year in sales and they deserve to die off.

      The only meaningful impact we have against these predatory businesses is by voting with our dollars and if you cant give up a fuckin sauce that has hundreds of excellent options available from other companies then you are part of the problem.

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        While I agree, where do we draw the line in our personal lives? There is no ethical consumption under capitalism.

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      Yes this is it absolutely. There are 5-6 sauces in my fridge that are ok but I don’t use. Need the good stuff.

      • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml
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        The owner of the company and the the farmer that exclusively sold to them began to feud. Then came a drought and the variety of pepper they use went off the market. They are recovering now and product is coming out in smaller batches but not at previous volume. It’s still really hard to find.

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        I haven’t seen a bottle in a grocery store in maybe two years? Your comment made me think maybe I just haven’t looked hard enough, but I just checked my local Walmart delivery and Instacart and neither has Huy Fong Sriracha available anywhere nearby. I’m in Utah, U.S.

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      Underwood Ranches uses the peppers Huy Fong used to use. It’s made by their old pepper supplier. It’s what I buy now.

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      It seems like half the time I buy them these days, pop-tarts don’t even taste like pop-tarts. So I stopped buying them :(

      I would definitely never consider the off-brand a viable alternative though, those things are pretty gross.

      • nudny ekscentryk@szmer.info
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        oh I’m sure it does but in my experience tea and coffee are the only products where you can cut corners by reducing costs of production and it’s actually tangible, and not merely abstract like removing brand name logo from the box

  • GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee
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    Coffee. I found a coffee shop I loved 20 years ago and have been buying beans from them ever since. Sure, it’s 2x-3x times more expensive, but it’s worth it to me.

    Toothpaste. I have sensitive teeth and the off brands just don’t cut it. Heck, some of the name brands don’t.

    3d printing filament. Printed Solid named their line after their dog, so I have to. I will still branch out for stuff on sale, but the majority of my stock is Printed Solid.

    • robotopera@sh.itjust.works
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      Upgrades to a pei bed. We ran 5 printers 20 hours per day for 3 months and the bed upgrade literally changed our lives.

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      Any tips for the toothpaste? For me I have to get the sensitive ones because they put a shit ton of menthol in the non sensitive ones and it knocks the feel of my mouth out of balanace (read: too damn minty)

      I have found the natural mineral toothpaste tends to work best but unsure if the lack of flouride can be an issue. Had some lovely lemony ones though. Bicarb can go suck it.

        • Mossheart@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Sensodyne but the variant with novamin. Not seen it in the US but it’s available in Canada so it’s an easy Amazon order.

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    I honestly can’t think of anything. I own many “name brand” products but it’s usually a pay-once-cry-once situation. It’s not like I keep buying more of the same product after I already have one.

    For consumables pretty much every product I use is the generic version of some well known one. I’m not paying double the price for something that’s 20% better. For example the generic version of my favourite cookies is 95 cents and the name brand is 3.4€. It’s not that much better.

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      pay-once-cry-once situation

      I’ve never heard this phrase, and I’m struggling to figure it out from context. Does it mean that you regret the purchase after finding out it’s not as good as you thought, but then don’t replace it with something better because you don’t want to spend more?

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        I’ve only ever heard buy-once-cry-once and it’s usually in the context of eating the bullet and paying more out of the gate for a good product that you know will last you years and years. Like a Miele vacuum or a kitchen aid dishwasher or something. Premium prices, but hopefully the only one you’ll ever need for decades if you take care of it.

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    Pretty much every signature soda drink. Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew… none of the knock-offs taste right and some are just nasty. Oddly, root beer seems to be the one flavor everyone can do well, maybe because it’s a more common flavor with no patents on the general idea? I dunno but I don’t think I’ve ever had a ‘bad’ root beer.

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    Nutella,

    I only buy it once or twice a year but no other chocolate spread tastes nearly as good.

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      no other chocolate spread tastes nearly as good

      That’s because it isn’t a chocolate spread, but rather a nut and nougat spread.

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        It has 13% hazelnut, the same as many other brands, but also the lowest amount I can buy. There’s a really pricy one that has 30%

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      For nougat, the Milka stuff is better. If you want real chocolate, take Caotina.

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      The Kraft one isn’t half bad

      But then note I said “isn’t half bad”, not that it’s great. But I’d say it works in a pinch, or if it’s on sale…

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      no other chocolate spread tastes nearly as good.

      I could eat that as the fucking Whine Poo eats the honey ngl.

    • TheSun@slrpnk.net
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      I used to agree but after finding Kirkland hazelnut spread at costco i’ve switched to that. Its palm oil free and every bit as delicious as nutella.

    • RecallMadness@lemmy.nz
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      The Kirklands one is good, but doesn’t hold an emulsion. And trying to stir a 3000 litre tub of “hazelnut spread” to re-emulsify it isn’t on my list of desirable morning activities.

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      I live in France and there are lots of brands that are exactly like Nutella, or even more tasty. Nutella is cheaper yet.

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    Tech products. It’s not worth the risk of getting some Chinese spying crap. Even chargers and cables have the risk of damaging your hardware.

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        Lots of them, yes. But most of them aren’t designed there. And yes, I am aware that there are reputable Chinese brands, but the Chinese genetics are not those.

          • Pirasp@lemmy.world
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            Yes, I meant generics. Spelling on phone keyboards is rather difficult when your thumbs are as wide as mine…

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            Now, is all these news nothing but propaganda?

            Literally yes, not because chinese companies don’t spy on you, literally all companies spy on you. You prove it by linking a video about samsung. Google and Apple do the same shit. The fact that software is riddled with spyware has nothing to do with the hardware being manufactured in China. China isn’t some big bad, moving production elsewhere will change nothing. Lastly you should be far more concerned about western companies spying on you, the ones that cooperate with your local government and leave backdoors in their OS for NSA and the like. What do you think the CCP is gonna do to you? You’re outside of their jurisdiction completely.

            So yes it js just propaganda, in a sense that it’s trying to make you think this kind of behavior is somehow unique to Chinese companies or a result of tech being manufactured in China.

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                especially when you know that that country is heavily invested in cyberwarfare, espionage and censorship.

                Which country isn’t? The US does more spying on its own citizens than China could ever dream of doing. The UK is currently trying to pass a bill to break e2ee.

                Even their constitution states that every Chinese product ( software or hardware ), must send data it collects to the government.

                This is false as far as I know, can you provide a source? China has some of the strictest laws on data protection, you can read more about it here: https://academic.oup.com/idpl/article/12/2/75/6537091?login=false

                This is like Apple saying your Android spies on you… lol ( I believe they did say that )

                Not sure where you were going with this. My point is you don’t hear any of these concerns raised about any other and as we both agree it’s not something unique to China.

                The real reason why you hear a lot of talk about moving production out of China lately is simply because Chinese manufacurers have narrowed the the gap a lot in terms of chip designs and are becoming an actual threat to western comanies’ profit margins.