Are there any common household items or products that you think are designed incredibly poorly?
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I have no idea if you're a man or a woman, but I'm guessing based on your comment, you're a man? You're talking about those hooks/ indents like halfway between the hook and the end of the hanger? I think those are a lot more useful on women's clothes, which tend to have much wider necks which means they just slip right off hangers. The hooks help wide neck blouses and jackets stay on the hangers, and they're especially useful for tank top or spaghetti strap type tops and dresses.
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I've always thought that most toilet paper holders are over engineered. You don't need a little springy rod between 2 posts, you just need an L-shaped bar with the short end screwed to the wall and maybe a little knob on the end of the long side to keep the roll from sliding off. And it's not that the spring style is especially difficult to use or prone to failure or anything, it just seems like a no-brainer to me to use a one-piece holder with no moving parts instead of one that has at least 4 parts (the base, 2 halves of the roller, and a spring) I'm seeing more of that style around these days, which I appreciate.
Stove vent hoods that don't actually vent outside are fucking stupid. My over the range microwave basically just takes smoke from my stove and blows it back out over my head almost directly at the smoke detector.
I've frequently run into shelves, mounting brackets, etc. that seem to totally disregard stud spacing. We got one of those fancy Samsung frame TV's a while back, to get it to sit so flush to the wall it has its own special mounting brackets, 2 little plates with sort of a modified keyhole slot that you slot 2 little knobs on the back of the TV into. It's actually not a half bad way to mount a TV, probably one of the easier TV wall mounts I've ever personally used, the tv itself is actually pretty damn lightweight (because they moved all the heavy electronics into a separate box you need to hide somewhere) but still I wanted to make sure my fancy TV wouldn't fall off the wall, so I wanted to mount it to the studs, but of course the spacing of the brackets doesn't allow that option. I was able to bolt one side a stud but I had to get some toggle bolts for the other side. I'm pretty sure the whole TV is well within the rated weight capacity of one of those toggle bolts in drywall, let alone 2 in drywall and 2 in a stud, but still, it feels like a dumb design choice. (It's possible that other sizes or newer models do allow for mounting entirely to studs, the size and model I got didn't)
I helped a friend replace the wax ring on his toilet recently with one of the newer style rubber gaskets, which as it turns out made the toilet sit imperceptibly higher, which meant that the bolts holding it down were no longer quite long enough to screw the nut onto to tighten it down. With a quick trip to ace hardware and a minute perusing my options, I settled on some Danco zero cut bolts, and I definitely think that is a far superior design to the standard bolts that are probably holding down damn-near every toilet you've ever used.
On the subject of toilets, I can't think of any particularly good reason for the tank to be a separate piece from the rest of the throne like on most toilets. The gasket and bolts there just add more places for something to start leaking. It's probably an ease of manufacturing thing, but we have the technology to make one piece toilets now, the two piece style should be obsolete.
Stove vent hoods that don’t actually vent outside are fucking stupid. My over the range microwave basically just takes smoke from my stove and blows it back out over my head almost directly at the smoke detector.
Amen. The one non-negotiable item when we eventually renovate our kitchen is a vent fan so powerful you should be afraid to bring your small dog into the kitchen when it's on.
We had one of those downdraft ones and it was similarly useless, worse than useless even though it technically vented outside because it got so disgusting, the vent grate right in the middle of the stove so things fell in, and heat doesn't go down, it didn't pull anything when it ran.
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Oh wow, those really exist
That should be called a socket.
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I always thought this was super on purpose. Is it not intentional design for “child protection?”
I think it's for anti-tampering purposes. Imagine the consequences if some bad actor tainted those pills with something or replaced the pills with another.
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Reusable water bottles, especially their lids. They build up microorganisms faster than a petri dish and the more complex the bottles are, the worse it is.
Worst offender are the ones with integrated straws. Sure, they look nice and are a good idea, but cleaning them thoroughly is a nightmare. Also, I don't know how people tolerate the ones with exposed straws or mouthpieces. Isn't that incredibly unsanitary?
More generally, why doesn't anyone except for Nalgene make reusable bottles without rubber gaskets? Gaskets get stinky, then you have to peel them out, scrub like mad, and then awkwardly stretch them back in. I've been looking for a metal water bottle without a gasket for ages. They literally just need to shove the Nalgene-type screw-on top into a metal body.
Bonus points if someone designs a gasket-less bottle that opens in the middle so I don't have to fiddle with a bottle brush every time I wash it.
About ten years ago I found and ordered a glass bottle with a fitted silicone lid. It's not tight enough that the bottle can be tipped upside down without the water slowly dripping out, but it's great for keeping stuff out.
I always wanted to see a company make a glass bottle with silicone top that was completely leak-proof.
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I'll mention you can get detergent sheets and they work fine. No more messing with powders of liquids for me.
Sheets? For the washing machine? Wouldn't those require a plastic shell or base like the laundry pods do?
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Countertops should be just a couple of inches higher, they are calibrated for a 1930s housewife but most of us aren't 5'2" and it's easier to stand on a stool if it's too high than to stoop because it's too low.
OP I hate those low ziploc bag openings too, they are so stupid.
I have beef with counter tops too, especially where I'm at right now. I'm around 6 foot so and on top of that I live in a handicap accessible apartment (although i am not handicapped, i think they just gave it to me because it was the one that was available i guess), so they're lowered even more. Anytime I'm in the kitchen cooking or doing dishes i always leave with back pain
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Toilets seem to be getting smaller and I’m having trouble sitting on it without my penis touching the front.
Hey everyone get a load of this guy with his massive hog
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The issue you're highlighting is due to the different between metal and plastic. I have an Orca bottle that has a plastic lid that screws on without any rubber gasket and I end up with shreds of plastic in the bottle.
Plastic rubbing on metal leads to the plastic degrading and metal on metal does not make a good seal, so I think a rubber gasket is your only option.
Perhaps a design where both mating surfaces are plastic with metal for the rest of the body? A lot of vacuum insulated bottles have plastic bonded to metal in the cap, they just have to repeat that with the bottle itself
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For example, I'm incredibly confused about how you're supposedly to measure liquid laundry detergent with the cap. At least the kind that I have sits on it's side, so if you measure it with the cap it just leaks everywhere and makes a mess.
Or at my parents house they have a bag of captain crunch berries that has a new design, where instead of zipping along the top of the bag like normal, it has a zipper in the front slightly beneath the top. That way when you poor it you can't see what you're doing cuz the bag is in the way. Like what the heck who's idea was that?
I just replaced my windshield wipers last night and it was a nightmare. The wipers I got are supposed to be universal, which means the little plastic bit that connects to the wiper arms has a bunch of little sub parts that you're supposed to remove based on what wiper arm connection your car uses. Well, considering I'm not well versed in modern wiper arm connection standards, and I'm also stubborn and don't think you should need to dig out your car manual just to change your fucking wipers, coupled with the fact that the instructions that came with the wipers are just 6 wordless diagrams vaguely showing you what bits to remove based on which esoteric wiper style your car uses, I struggled with those sons of bitches for like 20 minutes in below freezing weather.
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For example, I'm incredibly confused about how you're supposedly to measure liquid laundry detergent with the cap. At least the kind that I have sits on it's side, so if you measure it with the cap it just leaks everywhere and makes a mess.
Or at my parents house they have a bag of captain crunch berries that has a new design, where instead of zipping along the top of the bag like normal, it has a zipper in the front slightly beneath the top. That way when you poor it you can't see what you're doing cuz the bag is in the way. Like what the heck who's idea was that?
Any mug that has a really hemispherical, smooth handle. You put a hot beverage in there, and the weight is enough to make your fingers slide down the handle, and then you burn yourself on the main body of the mug unless you really squeeze.
Any faucet that just barely sticks out over the sink, so you have to touch the back of the sink to wash your hands (british sinks are even worse, though).
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Anyone got good knife recommendations I'm in the market right now??
General purpose for meats and veggie cutting.
I'm currently using a victorinox fibrox. It's great but loses edge rather quickly requiring honing each meal and sometimes during cutting of ingredients.
Does victorinox offer sharpening services? Some knife manufacturers have programs where you can either send your knife in or take it in to a store and have it professionally sharpened.
If your blade is losing its edge quickly, it probably needs to have a new edge put on it with an actual sharpening, v rather than just the touch up it gets from a honing rod.
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I'm curious about how you propose this would be done...
I don't know,I'm not a cocksmith.
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For example, I'm incredibly confused about how you're supposedly to measure liquid laundry detergent with the cap. At least the kind that I have sits on it's side, so if you measure it with the cap it just leaks everywhere and makes a mess.
Or at my parents house they have a bag of captain crunch berries that has a new design, where instead of zipping along the top of the bag like normal, it has a zipper in the front slightly beneath the top. That way when you poor it you can't see what you're doing cuz the bag is in the way. Like what the heck who's idea was that?
In general, I wish more things would have a common design that manufacturers get to reuse and incrementally improve upon. Take, for example, plastic chairs and office chairs. There's probably million variations in existence and someone had to model, prototype, and make tooling for each and every one of them. Sure, there's varying price points, design languages, and use cases. But even for the same price point there's at least several thousand chairs with the same overall look and feel. All of that duplicated work and effort, only to make several thousand variations, none of which have a distinct advantage, and each with their own completely solvable problems. Why don't they just pool their efforts and design one example with as few flaws as possible for that overall design and price?
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Any mug that has a really hemispherical, smooth handle. You put a hot beverage in there, and the weight is enough to make your fingers slide down the handle, and then you burn yourself on the main body of the mug unless you really squeeze.
Any faucet that just barely sticks out over the sink, so you have to touch the back of the sink to wash your hands (british sinks are even worse, though).
I bought a set of mugs like that recently. It's a shame because they are pretty nice looking, and comfortable to hold when empty. But when full of hot liquid, the handle just is totally inadequate.
They are from IKEA, so at least they didn't cost too much, but I am a little surprised because their stuff is generally pretty well thought out from an ergonomics and usability perspective--it's only really the sturdiness/durability I ever worry about.
The best mugs I have are still a pair of the stereotypical featureless cylinder type I got from a giveaway 10 or 15 years ago--they are utterly boring, but the handle fits 3 fingers for a perfectly stable grip!
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Toilets seem to be getting smaller and I’m having trouble sitting on it without my penis touching the front.
Given your instance, I'm guessing you're not from the US... but here there are two generally standard shapes for residential toilets--round and oblong. The round ones fit better in small bathrooms, but man when you are used to the oblong shape it feels like sitting on a child-size toilet or something.
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Toilets seem to be getting smaller and I’m having trouble sitting on it without my penis touching the front.
Rounded toilets are the worst for this. Elongated is the way to go.
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Does victorinox offer sharpening services? Some knife manufacturers have programs where you can either send your knife in or take it in to a store and have it professionally sharpened.
If your blade is losing its edge quickly, it probably needs to have a new edge put on it with an actual sharpening, v rather than just the touch up it gets from a honing rod.
I actually do sharpen it with a kitchen sharpener and when it's needed sharpening blocks. It's an excellent knife large useful handle and thin slimmer blade it's a major improvement from any stores chef knife. I considered shopping their other knives as well. But I wanted to branch out a bit too.
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Everyone seems to have a cup plunger for sinksnext to their toilet instead of a toilet plunger near their toilet.
A toilet plunger has flanges:
I have seen this plunger close to zero times when visiting people and using their bathroom.
I have one of those...in my bathroom and I really don't care for it. It turns itself inside out when you use it.
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To be fair, most are. At the end of the day, today's economy makes it far more profitable to choose either extremely cheap or extremely expensive, making good, lasting, but not perfect products is just not what consumers seem to want. People eother want something cheap that works okay, or something really well made that justifies the price.
I feel like 99% of products I interact with get me frustrated with their simple-to-fix design flaws.
But as for your question: fucking toothpaste containers! Could you make a more frustrating and intentionally bad design?? Why is it that if I cut them open I can get like another few days to a week of brushing? Why not put tooth paste in a jar with a little spoon? Or an opening that is small so that the amount that is left after squeezing your best, is truly insignificant? Why. Must. I. Suffer?
You can get tooth powder in jars.
