What is a product that you won’t accept a generic alternative for?
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
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.
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.
The technical datasheet for Loctite 404 is surprisingly detailed.
TIL, thanks!
I agree their bottle/applicator is the GOAT. Can't go back to other brands after trying a bottle of loctite.
I much prefer super glue with the brush applicator, but I can't find it in the U.S. anymore. When I saw some on a trip to Portugal, I bought it and brought it home with me. I'll try refilling it when it's gone.
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.
It's pretty weird to be basically shilling for brands in here but Nexcare bandages are superior to band-aids in pretty much every way; i agree that band-aids beat generic though
Band-Aids are a great call out!
I'm both active and clumsy with DIY stuff. Nothing else sticks "right" like Band-Aid brand. Yes, the off-brand shit is cheaper, better than nothing, but it's shit. And you're not saving any money by using twice as many.
And serious y'all, let me preach the gospel of Hydro Seal Band Aids. Game changing. No clue how they work, but they stick, puff up around the wound (infected bit) and come off when, and only when, you want them to. And taking them off don't hurt a tiny bit. Got a few in every med kit.
Any more than a paper cut, Hydro Seal. And even then, if I want it healed fast? Hydro Seal. They're also great for capping torn fingernails when you fucked it up too far down.
Tried the generic Amazon version. Meh, they're OK for half the price, "healing" tech seems the same. Doesn't stick quite right so you'll use twice as many. Worth it if you want that painful finger wound done with in 24-48 hours.
Caveat: They work a little too well on puncture wounds, seals the infection in, only treats the top. If you got poked deep, and congrats if that's your thing, it seals off the wound and makes it worse. Surface wounds like slices and scratches, go for it. Punched a drill bit 1/4" deep? Nope. Clean that one up and let it breathe a bit.
tl;dr $.70 for a band aid sounds crazy. I know. Just try it for me. Try it for yourself.
I love those things too!
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.
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.
What frozen pizza do you recommend? Every single time I have the misfortune of trying a frozen pizza, I regret my life choices because they taste like dogshit. Even the crappiest delivered pizza is way better than any frozen pizza I've tried. Granted, my experience is limited and I can never remember which ones I've tried.l
I'm a fan of Freschetta rising crust personally, with the caveat that you'll want some hot sauce or something for the crust.
There aren't really any good ones, just a few different quality tiers between "low" and "extremely low"
The ones with rising crusts usually have higher quality sauce, cheese and toppings and are more filling because they're breadier.
Honestly, Safeway Select frozen pizza is pretty good. I'd take it over most of the midrange name brands.
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.
Great Value used to have an amazing 5 cheese and bacon white pizza... can't find it anymore though.
I think Dawn dish soap gets mentioned in these often.
I use an Aldi version of Dawn. There is no difference.
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.
Stop pissing on my bonfire
My rule of thumb is does it smell good when it boils?
Dawn is the only soap I've found that smells good when it's poured onto a hot pan.
Yeah you should let your stuff cool before washing it.. but how many of us do that?
Dawn smells great boiling.. so that's the only soap I use.
Yeah you should let your stuff cool before washing it.. but how many of us do that?
I used to love putting hot pans in the sink with cool water. Loved the sizzle and steam it created, and it was faster than waiting for it to cool down.
Then I would complain about all my pans being cheap and warped. I couldn't cook evenly because there was one bulge that got direct contact with the oven and the rest of the pan rocked back and forth and either burned or undercooked all my food.
Until one day, my wife pointed out that putting a hot pan in cool/cold water causes them to warp. She got mad at me because some of the ruined pans were actually expensive quality brands. I've learned my lesson; no more hot pans in the sink for me. Let them cool a bit before you wash them.
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.
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.
SD cards, SSD, USB drives, any form of computer memory really and replacement batteries too eg for cameras. I suck up the cost and buy directly from a reputable manufacturer.
Electronics in general are you get what you pay for. It might work just as well for a while, but cheaper components will almost always fail quicker.
There's nothing quite as frustrating as loosing photos and footage before it's been ingested. Always use name brand media and always duplicate it asap. Ask me how I know.
Agree for the expensive stuff, but started buying cheap usb sticks a few years back and yet to have one go bad. They aren't as quality as fidget toys, no moving parts, but they do the job they were made for, unless you drive over them with a car or something.
Huh, I've never had any problems going bottom of the barrel on anything PC related besides micro SD cards for home security and dashcams.
Most power supplies that aren't just ripped out of some unknown piece of tech are great these days too.
That is very highly dependent on your definition of great. Compared to cheap ass shit 20 years ago, sure. But compared to quality today, no.
Mine is Q-tips…. Let’s just say you shouldn’t put a flimsy cotton stick in your ear unless you trust it’ll come out in one piece
You shouldn't put cotton buds in your ears at all, honestly I don't know how an industry managed to trick so many people into doing something so potentially hazardous.
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. :(
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.
While I agree, where do we draw the line in our personal lives? There is no ethical consumption under capitalism.
I’ve never seen it go low in stock here in Aus.
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.
My Trader Joe’s knockoff is not great. Too much vinegar taste and hardly any of the sriracha bite. Sucks that it’s so hard to find the real deal now.
Underwood Ranches uses the peppers Huy Fong used to use. It's made by their old pepper supplier. It's what I buy now.
Indeed, I bought a different brand thinking it'd be the same because the recipe is public, boy was I wrong 🤮
Same. "It's basically spicy peppers and garlic, how hard can it be?"
Very hard, apparently.
Agree but also any non Hellmans mayonnaise is a fucking disgrace.
All the alternatives I've tried never get the flavor right, not even close. Most are way too sweet.
I prefer mine a bit sweet. I usually buy YellowBird Blue Agave Sriracha
Debian. All those off-brand derivatives just add cruft and instability.
But debian is the generic.
Zoop zoop!
Debian for the server, Fedora for the desktop. 💪
Irish butter, in particularly Kerrygold, are so much better than american butter.
in Australia you can get store brand butter that is every bit as good because it comes from NewZeland where every cow is grassfed.
Such a massive money saver that Woolworths now tells you where it's produced, for a long time it was an open secret.
And it’s probably fucking cheaper than exactly the same thing in New Zealand.
Yes, once I tried kerrygold, I never went back.
What's different about it?
It's deeper and richer. Sauteed onions in irish butter soften easier and taste more flavorful.
Kerrygold (and other imported-to-US/European, "fancy," etc.) butter just tastes better. It has more fat content than land o lakes, for example, which contributes. The unsalted version is also cultured, and that makes a difference too. It's definitely worth the price in any use where the butter flavor is important. In baking, maybe it's not as worth it, but even then I'd still use it over a US brand.
It’s got a bit o the Irish in it
Ireland gets a ton of rain, and all of our cattle is grass fed. Turns out, cows that eat organic grass from rainy parts of the world make great milk and butter.
I'm from Ireland and our milk, butter, cream and even yogurt is fantastic.
I'm 26 but will literally have bread and butter with a glass of milk as a bed time snack.
There are some iffy brands locally, but Kerrygold is god tier.
I've been toying with the idea of going full vegan now that there are good plant based alternatives. But I will always miss Irish dairy.
Irish are so much better than American. Word.
Irish butter is a generic category. Kerrygold is an irish butter name brand
Wait until you try french butter.
Garbage bags. I don't particularly care WHICH brand, but I won't do generic. The consequences if the bag rips open are horrifying.
Victorinox Swiss Army knives. If you want a tiny, multipurpose pocketknife, they cannot be beat.
And they're cheap enough from TSA eBay sales, why would you accept a crappy knockoff?!
They also do excellent small kitchen knives for under 10€, best money invested to carv out those vegetables or meat.
I'm pairing it with a cheap knife sharpener from a certain Swedish company
Their also (or at least used to) honor their warranty. I had problems with one of their knives several years after I bought it. It got replaced without a major hassle. Haven't had to use the warranty again in decades though, so it could be different now.
Had mine for over 20 years until it disappeared. Years later still no idea what happened to it. Only issue I had with it was the clock it had, broke halfway through owning it.
I can't agree with you more on this. I have used them for years, most recently got one with a scalloped side that fits in your hand so nicely. My son is a cub scout and just got one too, his first pocketknife.
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.
Verners ginger ale puts the rest to shame
Completely agree, but I wouldn’t call Vernors a generic. It’s a competing brand.
Canada dry, I will fist fight you over this.
I actually prefer Royal Crown over Coke and Pepsi. It's not a generic, but it's not top-shelf either. It works out well with the sales at the Supermarket, too. Often they'll do a 12-pack mix-and-match with RC, Canada Dry, Squirt, etc. all very tasty sodas.
I buy Royal Crown and mix it with Crown Royal.
The perfect marraige of the king of middle shelf soda and the queen of middle shelf whisky.
Man, RC Cola is a Southern delicacy! Pair it with a Moon Pie, and you've got the breakfast of champions!
Germany has some great tasting cola brands that are nothing like Pepsi or Coke (and aren't trying to be either).
Yeah but with kroger generic I can get pineapple soda.
While I agree with this, the one except I've found is Sprite. Different genetics have different tastes but I've found I like my Kroger generic Sprite more than the name brand.
I actually prefer generics. But because I'm a fat ass, I haven't been keeping soda at the house.
Pop-Tarts. No store brand toaster pastry tastes like Pop-Tarts.
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.
Q-Tips. Paper shafts, plenty of fuzz on the ends.
Nutella,
I only buy it once or twice a year but no other chocolate spread tastes nearly as good.
no other chocolate spread tastes nearly as good
That's because it isn't a chocolate spread, but rather a nut and nougat spread.
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%
Trader Joe's would like a word
It actually has very little chocolate in it, that's why. It was made (i think) during WW2 when chocolate was in short supply, so they came up with a way to stretch it, by mixing a bunch of hazelnuts (and w/e else is in there) with it.
This is very true.
I live in France and there are lots of brands that are exactly like Nutella, or even more tasty. Nutella is cheaper yet.
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...
For nougat, the Milka stuff is better. If you want real chocolate, take Caotina.
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.
no other chocolate spread tastes nearly as good.
I could eat that as the fucking Whine Poo eats the honey ngl.
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.
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.
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?
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.
For consumables, I agree that generic almost always tastes nearly the same.
However, there are some snacks that the generic brands can't seem to get right for some reason. Generic Oreos? They taste great and almost exactly the same. Generic sour cream and cheddar potato chips? They taste like shit for some reason and I'm not sure why.
Wildly disagree about Oreos
That is how it is with many products. If you pay twice as much for wine it does not taste twice as good - but still noticably better.
My dad always bought the no-name cookies for us, according to him every major brand had a deal with discount supermarkets to sell their brand name product under a cheaper no-name alias.
That might be true in some cases but the stuff he bought was mostly just cheap knock-offs that didn't even come close to the original.
This is true for household appliances, rather than letting the factories go idle during slow sales they pump out the same machine under "generic" brand names. QC isn't as stringent I suppose.
You're absolutely wrong about Advil. Advil has a tasty candy coating.
The liquid gels are so profoundly better than the other types of pills that I've stopped purchasing any other brands or kinds of ibuprofen forever. Liquigels are the GOAT
I take Advil Cold and Sinus to help me breathe. LOL, the brand name certainly has a sweet coating vs. the generic! No difference in effect, and it's not like I'm chewing it up first.
Certain skin products for me. It makes such a big difference to get some well recommended brands rather than risk it with a random one.
Cetaphil and Cerave are usually solid, and otherwise I refer to the CDA when unsure:
https://dermatology.ca/recognized-products/skincare/ (note that you can scroll within the list to see everything)
The list is for stuff that is
- Low potential for irritation
- Fragrance free or unscented
- Do not contain the most common allergens
- Non-comedogenic
But I specifically look for non-comedogenic and fragrance free. The latter because my old workplace had this as a requirement, and now I prefer it
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.
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.
Fluoridex. Prescription-only and pricey (~$17 per tube) but worth it. My dentist prescribes it and also sells it from his office for a bit less than what drug stores charge. Health or dental insurance may cover it but probably not.
Upgrades to a pei bed. We ran 5 printers 20 hours per day for 3 months and the bed upgrade literally changed our lives.
Spam, off brand spam just isn’t worth it
There’s off-brand SPAM?
Quite a lot, actually.
Oreos
Contact lens solution (any name brand)
Fun fact: Oreos are the knock-off brand. Hydrox was the original.
HEB Twisters > Oreos
HEB > everything else*
*Except instant oatmeal. They dropped the ball on that one
Tried buying some organic Oreos once.
They were quickly referred to as "punishment cookies".
That one box lasted almost 3 months rather than the 3day lifespan of a normal Oreo.
Really? I think the Great Value knockoff Oreos taste fantastic.
And also contact lenses themselves
I wear dailies now but when I didn't I used just generic saline solution and never felt any difference from the fancy stuff.
Kraft mac and cheese, all the store brands are superficially similar but taste bland and or have weird textures.
Growing up I always saw kids in American shows/movies enj it so I assumed it was delicious. I was 10 when the finally began selling it here, my parents were also curious so they bought enough for 5 people. IT TASTES LIKE VOMIT. My parents never bought it again. 12 years later my sister bought it again because she didn't remember the taste and I gave a try again because I thought maybe just maybe I would like it better since my tastes hace changed, AND IT STILL TASTES LIKE VOMIT. so we ended up making our own with real cheese and pasta and it was actually cheaper than the boxed crap
I had the exact same experience when they first started selling pop tarts here. I guess american nostalgia food only tastes good when you actually grow up with it. Even grilled cheese tasted only ok to me
Epicurious put out a fun video last week having a few chefs compare boxed mac and cheese products. You might find it interesting https://youtu.be/uambW2W6zmQ
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/uambW2W6zmQ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I prefer Velveeta shells and cheese to all the other boxed Mac and cheese dinners. That said, if I have someone to act as a dishwasher, I will make a banging baked Mac and cheese that blows any box out of the water. I don't mind the cooking, or prep. Cleanup is always a chore.
No doubt. Homemade is infinitely superior. Almost a different kind of food. Just comparing it to generic store brands.
What about compared to homemade Mac and Cheese?
Well I mean it's hard to compare. Homemade is clearly on another level. The boxed stuff is a very quick meal to put together out of the box. Homemade takes a while to do properly. I almost see them as like different foods.
Homemade mac n cheese tastes like regular old cheese. Kraft’s got something extra in there that makes it better.
Kenji’s 3 ingredients Mac and cheese. As fast (almost faster), as KD. Way better.
https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe
Netherlands represent!
Coca Cola
Hela curry ketchup
Albert Heijn frikadelbroodje
Ben & Jerry's ice cream
Hema rookworsten FTW
Zeisner curry ketchup is the best though! Don't know if you can buy it in the Netherlands.
I'm definitely trying the frikandelbroodje next time I'm at Albert Heijn. Don't know if the Belgian one has all the same products.
Trader Joe's stuff is hard to find emulated else where.
Which is kinda ironic since most TJs brand stuff is a knockoff of something else. But I get it, because TJs quality is awesome.
Most foods. Store brands are (nearly) always lacking in something. Be it tiny sized canned beans, or jam whose only flavour is ‘sweet’. That shit is cheap for a reason.
Doesn’t apply to everything (depending on where you live), some things you can’t cut corners on without advertising it. 2% Milk is 2% milk.
But largely, low cost food has been made low cost via haircuts and shortcuts.
Or just bulk purchasing.
Knew a fellow that worked for a food company - juices, nectars, preserved fruits, jams and compotes, baked goods with fruit, etc - that has a name brand. Most of the production is exported for so called "premium markets".
The largest supermarket chain here aproaches the company to have a few products made under their label. Not waterdowned versions of their recipes but completely new recipes or variations on the producers recipes.
Final product is as expensive or more to produce than name brand, which implies lower margins but still good money.
Supermarket product is not a waterdowned version but a completely separate product. If the end product is garbage, the supermarket gets the bad record.
I was comparing frozen diced veggies a couple of years back (in Australia) and noticed that the store-brand version was approximately 1/3 broccoli stems by volume, which certainly explained the cost difference.
Dr. Bronners liquid Castille soap. I've tried others but they are not as concentrated or as moisturizing. Great diluted for shaving legs.
Sensodyne Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair Toothpaste. I've reversed three cavities that were forming by using this toothpaste.
Persil detergent. I use other detergents but always have this on deck for tough stains or funky items.
Jockey women's cotton underwear. There's a specific cut that they have that's flattering and comfortable.
Ever made your own olive oil soap? It's easy and cheap. I won't buy bars ever again.
Heinz ketchup, everything else is garbage in a bottle!
No. Heinz rides on a name, not on quality.
I can name three local brands that dwarf that bottled red sludge in quality, sell cheaper and larger volumes.
Only thing I will grant to Heinz: glass bottles.
There was a big scandal in canada a few years ago in cananda where heinz moved its ketchup manufacturing from Canada to the US. Many people switched to french's, a lot of people seemed to prefer french's. I'm not sure if it was the boycott but heinz eventually returned to Canada.
Bahlsen Schoko-leibniz. The store brand ones don't have nearly as nice chocolate.
Conversely, after eights are garbage and the supermarket version comes with nicely tempered chocolate that does a very satisfying crackle when you bite.
Milk. Great Value’s brand just tastes so darned awful for some reason I can’t place. I live in the midwest, and Prairie Farms is pretty common as a brand here.
There are some others, many dairy products now that I think about it, but there’s also some medicines like Mucinex which I prefer to use over generic brands. I’m otherwise not very picky.
You're right. The dual-action 12-hour Mucinex is far superior to the slow 12-hour generics, but it's quite a bit more expensive.
Here in the South the store brands are coming from the same processor as the ones that cost 3x. Check the codes by the date that are used for traceability.
Tool. I only use Dewalt and Kobalt
DeWalt and Milwaukee. Milwaukee doesn't last long but with their lifetime warranty I basically start every other project with a new set of tools so w/e
This has become a rarity for me but I don't like any french onion dip other than Dean's French onion dip.
I don't eat it very often because my tastes have changed but if I had to go to the store and buy some right now if they didn't have deans I wouldn't get it.
This is a combined list from my wife and I.
Most of that list is not brand specific.
I think he meant they don't go for genetic brands for those products
doesn't really need to be brand specific... We just don't go for the generic versions of any of these items. Like energizer or duracell, doesn't matter, but cheap ones included with a remote absolutely not. same for tampons. the generic versions all use cardboard, not plastic, so they're painful. toilet paper and paper towels, once again, the generic versions are all bad, none of the name brand ones are bad.
Off brand Bagel Bites are a big nope for me.
Birth control
Huh? Lol most birth control I've ever used or seen my friends use has been generic? Name brand is much more expensive and sometimes not entirely covered by insurance. Excepting IUDS.
Coffee and tea. Otherwise I always buy store brand because it comes from the same factory.
Coffee and tea doesn't?
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
This shit was asked a week or two ago. Go away advertiser.
It was a common question on Reddit too. Just thought it would be fun
Mortons salt. Somehow that little metal spout is just worse in every store brand I've tried.
Black Diamond salt for me, which is what a lot of restaurants use. Worth the extra cost, especially given how potent a small bit of salt is.
Sel de Camargue here in the EU.
I've tried a lot of generic ibuprofen meds (E: including gel ones) but nothing acts both as fast and effectively as advil gel pills. It very well may be a placebo, but I don't really care so long as it works.
I think that's just them being gel. There are generic gel pills that in my experience work just as fast.
Most places have a generic gel version. It's literally the same thing, so it's worth saving the money.
But of course, you do you.
Can agree with the gel pills. I still do go for the normal compacted powder pills if I'm not doing much, but for a faster set-in the advil gel works the fastest.
Coffee. It's always from a proper indie roaster and not the store brand
Switched to beans years ago. Now I can't drink instant coffee anymore or else I got stomachache.
Yes! This is the only way to go 😀
Top The Tater. Accept no substitutes
No idea what this is, but ok!
From what I've heard, it's exclusively available in the Midwest. It's one of the best dips out there, especially with ruffles
I've never seen it. I struggle to believe it's better than DIY with a container of sour cream + one of the Hidden Valley Ranch packets. That's the true ranch dip of the gods.
Interestingly, I learned how to make ranch dressing from scratch a few years ago. I always have the ingredients on hand, so I can make ranch dressing whenever I want.
The proportions are NOT super important. At least 1 teaspoon of each of the main dry ingredients but you can use more if you want.
Shave gel. Some soaps. Some said Old Baby Bay seasoning and I am 100% behind them on that. Toilet paper. Menstrual pads. Ritz crackers (the consistency, the flavour, the texture/mouth feel). Certain electronics. Definitely tools (I've broken so many pairs of diagonal side cutters and the ones that have held up the best and had the best warranty are knipex). And yeah. I buy Advil (the candy coating makes it easier for me to swallow dry and I'm pretty prone to need it for lots of pains because I'm basically a walking talking broken vessel).
Yummmm Baby season
i know they prolly come from the same tap, but im not chuggin' a bottle of generic pepto
Clancy’s Cheese Curls. I dislike all other brands of cheese curls.
holy shit i thought i was the only one
all other cheese curls taste greasy and overseasoned in comparison
Cheeto’s brand tastes kind of stale too
Used to be 3M duck tape. But that has totally gone to shit.
Metamucil Bulk Fiber
All the generics are awful in taste or consistency (for instance not being as finely ground it seems). And weirdly in Kirkland Signature's case, foamy.
Stupid expensive for what it is. But the effect is worth it.
Edit: sigh, autocorrect, you are the worst.
Genetics, or generics?
Generic Bulk Fiber night be fine, Genetic Bulk Fiber sounds scary.
That sounds awesome. Call me Captain Regular
Redbull.
Cottage Cheese. Prairie Farms is my go to
The problem I keep running into with cottage cheese is finding large curd. I went to the supermarket today and only managed to swipe one off of the restocking cart. There wasn't a single container on the shelf. I'm just not a fan of the smooth texture of the small curd, might as well eat ricotta.
Old Bay seasoning
batteries (when I have to use disposables)
Command hooks
Idk dude, I don’t think old bay seasoning batteries sound very reliable.
blasphemy. they're powered by tiny crabs
Legit 3M command hooks are the shit. 3M products seem to be like that. Yeah, more expensive, but always worth it. Nice to see a company stay focused on quality vs. last quarter's spreadsheets.
I think it's more likely that the consistent quality is a side bonus from most of 3M's customers being other corporations, not individual consumers
If 3M only sold painter's tape to the public, most of the public will buy it whether it's crap or not because most of the public only needs to put up with painter's tape occasionally
However if a large commercial real estate company who goes through palettes of painters tape suddenly has to start ordering 1.5x as many palettes because some of the tape is defective, they'll threaten 3M with cancelling a multi-million-dollar contract that will hurt 3M's quarterly spreadsheets.
That is until inevitably someone at 3M gets the idea to start producing a cheaper "consumer grade" painters tape and then everyone who doesn't have a relative in building maintenance who can swipe a pro grade roll for you is SOL
Dude, 3M Extreme Mounting Tape is the stuff. I bought a portable CarPlay unit for my work vehicle, and I mounted it on the dash with the included mounting tape. It didn't stay up there a day before it was falling off anytime I hit a bump. I went to Lowe's and got some Extreme Mounting Tape and put it on, and it doesn't move. AT ALL. The one time I had to take it off, I thought I was gonna pull parts of the dash off with the tape! I live in the south, and not even the summer heat affects it.
Condoms
Not me. I ordered a pallet of Sam's Choice when I hit puberty and should be set for life. Got so many I double them up sometimes.
Tempo. Every other tissue I tried messes up the whole laundry, if I missed only one pant pocket.
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.
Hanes crew socks. All the alternatives just don't feel good on my feet.
That's interesting because Hanes is a "cheap" brand to me. I've never had socks that properly fit my feet my entire life and recently I treated myself to some Feetures and holy shit I'll never wear another brand of socks again.
Yeah, I don't pretend that they're premium socks or anything, they're just not the generic socks that're like, "value premium" or whatever store brand sock. Or even just the unlabeled.
Socks are another good answer, but there, it’s nothing but gold toe for me. They’re just so comfortable.
Used to be Heinz but now they've replaced tomato with more brown sugar or something so it tastes bland.
Try the Heinz Simply line. Personally, I find it tastes better than the classic which has turned bland.
VH soy sauce over store brand. Has to be. VH is king, store brand is so bad it doesn't even count as soy sauce, and I'm a broke dude who buys store brand everything possible. Also mini-wheats, store brand mini wheats are terrible. Other store brand cereals are good but with mini-wheats they dropped the ball.
You misspelled Kikkoman. Lol
Kikkoman for cooking but for rice and stir fry VH is king. Kikkoman is too watery, VH is salty af.
SOS Pads and Scotch Tape
I've never had trouble with off-brand SOS pads. But damn, shitty off-brand scotch tape? Yeah that stuff sucks. You have to watch cheap masking tape too. Some of them leave horrible residue behind.