On 13/10/2020 07:36, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:
Its not just kitchen appliances. my Bosch vacuums lugs that old the filter
pads on the back snapped. Who thought that hard plastic should be used as a
spring? so it now has two self tapping screws in the back instead.

My Shavers heads are held in or were by a push fit little double lug made
of plastic. This had one half break off on reassembly, plastic again. Had to
resort to just packing it out instead.
Garden lights where the globe bits push and twist on, the plastic goes
brittle in two years of uv and frost and breaks up.
As to what to do about food mixer bowl holders based on this principle.
Depending on the design, some can be fixed by merely gluing a few bits of
metal to the bottom and using those under the edge twist on flange. If its
the base that breaks then its a bit more of a problem in my experience since
there seems to be nowhere solid enough to mount anything, most ladies do not
like the look of such repairs as above and buy a new one.
I agree its a stupid way to design things, but its gone on for years.
Remember cassette recorders with lids that flew off on eject or Videos and
tellies where the station preset doors catch always broke. What about the
hinges on battery compartment doors on radios that broke or the catch
stopped catching. Plastic brittleness again.
Then there is that stupid rubbery material put onto hand grips of things
that goes so sticky it is unusable. Cameras binoculars and hand tools are
prone to that one.

But plastic lasts forever!

I bought a steamer from Argos and after a few years the plug
disintegrated. Then the steamer bowls started to crack up. Finally the
lid cracked to pieces. That was after about ten years, but why wait so long?

--
Max Demian