Cheap Products That We Use In Our Daily Lives That Are Surprisingly Well Engineered And Reliable

Not all that glitters is gold. Sometimes it's well-engineered plastic.

Ayoub

• Published in Interesting
• July 5, 2022

Companies typically make sure that the lifespan of a product is reasonably short, so people will have to buy it on a regular basis. They want consumers to buy their products as often as possible, so they have to eventually break.

Many companies would have filed for bankruptcy had they improved the quality of their products and made them more reliable. They choose an appropriate lifespan and expect people to buy more in the future.

However, some of the products we use daily are somehow so well engineered that they rarely or never break. They are cheap and mass-produced, but they are still very reliable and work as they are supposed to.

We don't give much importance to these products because we've been used to them working flawlessly. But as they say, you never know what you have until you lose it, and we hope that day never comes.

A Redditor who goes by the username u/Gourmet-Guy made a post on the r/AskReddit subReddit where he asked the community the following question: “Which cheap and mass-produced item is stupendously well-engineered?” The user got a lot of interesting replies, scroll down and check them out!

1. “The humble corrugated cardboard box.”

It's lightweight, strong, splash resistant, somewhat padded, doesn't break down in heat/cold, scratch resistant, recyclable, biodegradeable and able to be assembled cheaply into any size.

The basic design has existed for over 150 years. The retail shipping industry runs on cardboard boxes.

---throwaway-boxer

XYZ2ABC replied:

The Corrugated Fiberboard Association of America would like to remind you that it’s the humble Corrugated Fiberboard box you’re referring to; a cardboard box is what your shoes come in.

2. “The ballpoint pen, clearly”

---Raptorscars

Calphrick replied:

Give credit to the inventor, Laszlo Biro. He escaped the Nazis, invented the pen, then got ripped off and never made money.

3. “Toilets. They use nothing more than gravity to reliably flush. Doesn't use power at all.”

---ohz0pants

i-d-p replied:

And if you’ve ever used a poorly engineered toilet, you really learn to appreciate the well engineered ones.

4. “Screws, can you imagine what would happen if all the screws suddenly disappeared from world? Everything would fall apart”

---Paranomorte

FarmerMKultra replied:

We would be screwed.

Dahhhkness replied:

Tool puns, everyone, you know the drill.

ihlaking replied:

"you know the drill."

I mean, I know a bit.

UndercoverFBIAgent9 replied:

Time to ratchet up the laughter.

RiverShenismydad replied:

Y'all are nuts.

teeebax replied:

This is absolutely riveting.

Shonnyboy500 replied:

I find it boring.

olioli86 replied:

Too plane for you I guess.

BreakfastBright1999 replied:

Nah, just hammered.

5. “LEGO. When's the last time you got two bricks that didn't fit, or that were loose?”

---Torvaun

DneSokas replied:

TBF LEGO is actually quite expensive as far as toys go, but IIRC their manufacturing tolerance is literally tighter than some components used by NASA and in theory the first ever brick manufactured would work with one manufactured today.

HoraceBenbow replied:

"in theory the first ever brick manufactured would work with one manufactured today."

Can confirm. My son inherited some of his grandfather's bricks from the 1960s. They fit today's bricks perfectly.

6. “The zipper. It’s a very cheap mechanism that secures objects in a very neat fashion. No wonder it’s used in most objects that need to be opened and closed such as luggage and jackets.”

---wanderingsoul825

DonatellaVerpsyche replied:

Sewing person here adding: not all zippers are created equal. There is a big difference in quality. Those zippers in the top of a purse or a great jacket that just move smoothly like butter: yep, great quality. The cheap ones are the ones that will drive you nuts and get stuck. I always get the best quality for what I’m making. Huge difference. And those top quality zippers are also a lot more expensive, like $5-7/ each. (Vs Very roughly, a cheaper zipper can go for like $0.50-2.50/ ea.)

Added fun fact that includes zippers: (often) the most expensive part of a handbag is the hardware and this includes all the zippers.

7. “Tough question, I'd say stainless steel cutlery.”

How many other things in life are used almost every day, then machine washed, thrown haphazardly into a drawer & regularly survive in a working condition for much more than a century.

---ramriot

8. “Metal pencil sharpeners (the manual kind, not electric).”

Don't buy the plastic ones in the school supply section. Go to the art section. Those metal sharpeners are CHOICE.

---This-Whomps-

normopathy replied:

I have a blackwing two-stage sharpener, I could do surgery with a pencil sharpened with it.

nether_wallop replied:

Please don't.

9. “As a new parent... diapers. Disposable diapers in particular.”

Imagine being told as an engineer, you need to design a device to contain the vilest, grossest materials known to man. Both liquids and goopy solids. This device must have 3 tight seals against a constantly moving and wiggling life form of inconsistent size. Said life form has notoriously delicate skin, so the materials you can use are drastically limited. It must be able to be removed and installed in seconds by amateurs running on approximately 14 minutes of sleep...

... and it has to cost about 30 cents a unit.

---StarManta

10. “Batteries are marvels of engineering packed tightly into a minuscule canister, even AA batteries are incredibly sophisticated internally.”

---HuntertheGoose

Toboloroner replied:

I saw a video of someone take apart a lithium energizer battery the other day - and it looks like cotton balls and folded foil just all jammed together.

Like, someone figured out how to harness so much energy into that thing???

It's me admitting that I can barely tie my shoes, and here are people just casually throwing atoms together to make my car go zoom.

11. “Zip ties. Such a simple piece of plastic but so versatile.”

I have one of the old fashioned chain link fences, some of the fasteners on the middle poles broke and in high winds the fence was swaying like crazy. A half dozen zip ties on the three posts and it doesn’t budge and nobody even knows they’re there.

---larryb78

loverlyone replied:

My son rebuilt the front of his car with them time and again. He’s a genius with a zip tie. With not hitting the car in front of him, not so much.

12. “Matches. They are underappreciated because people don't really understand how complex a match and striker are.”

From the Encyclopedia Britannica....

"The head of a match uses antimony trisulfide for fuel. Potassium chlorate helps that fuel burn and is basically the key to ignition, while ammonium phosphate prevents the match from smoking too much when it's extinguished. Wax helps the flame travel down the matchstick and glue holds all the stuff together. The dye-- well, that just makes it look pretty. On the striking surface, there's powdered glass for friction and red phosphorus to ignite the flame.

Now, the fun stuff-- striking a match against the powdered glass on the matchbox creates friction. Heat from this friction converts the red phosphorus into white phosphorus. That white phosphorus is extremely volatile and reacts with oxygen in the air, causing it to ignite. All this heat ignites the potassium chlorate, creating the flame you see here.

Oxidizers, like potassium chlorate, help fuels burn by giving them more oxygen. This oxygen combines with antimony trisulfide to produce a long-lasting flame so you have enough time to light a candle. The whole thing is coated with paraffin wax, which helps the flame travel down the match. Just don't burn the house down.

As antimony oxidizes, sulfur oxides form, creating that burnt-match scent. The smoke you're seeing is actually tiny unburned particles resulting from an incomplete combustion. Individually, they're a little bit too small to see but grouped together, they form smoke. There's also some water vapor in there.

By the way, all the stuff that we're explaining in 90 seconds, it all happens within tenths of a second. Chemistry's fast."

---the27thQuestioner

13. “Glass bottles. Let's melt this rock into a clear, brittle material and turn it into what? Windows? Decorations? Screens? No, we're making pressure vessels, baby!”

---Yoink_Tactics

DisownedByMother replied:

Glass in general. There is a Museum of Glass in Corning NY. It's pretty interesting and there are some very old pieces there with information on some of the ancient glass making techniques.

14. “LEDs. Cheap diodes. Even colours. Ok, I dislike the blue ones but tint them and you get warm white.”

---notanotherbreach

Tactical_Moonstone replied:

Blue LEDs are a Nobel Prize-winning invention for how revolutionary they have been in lighting.

15. “A red brick”

---XG2L5TM3WK

DjangoVanTango replied:

Great Answer. There’s a great book called At Home by Bill Bryson which explains the history behind the way we live in our homes. Things like why it’s salt and pepper on our tables, why forks have four tines (a word I learned on the book) m and it includes a whole chapter (admittedly not the highlight of the book) on the history of bricks and how the humble brick literally shaped the way we lived from building our houses to the manufacturing process. The sort of thing that is both utterly fascinating and painfully dull at the same time.

16. “Road reflectors. Countless lives saved.”

---OurLadyOfWalsingham

Rit_Zien replied:

Similarly, rumble strips. On the shoulders and in the center. I'm sure they've saved my Dad's life many times over.

17. “Those thermic isolated cups you see construction workers drinking from, you can’t say Stanley or Yeti is just junk after trying it out.”

---Much_Committee_9355

MaxDamage1 replied:

I bought the Stanley granpa-going-fishing thermos. If you follow the instructions, it's ungodly how well it works. I actually started using their method with my cold yeti can thingy and it's amazing.

For those unfamiliar with how to use a thermos properly, you fill the thermos with boiling water for about 15 minutes, dump that water out, and then put in your coffee/tea. By preheating your thermos, it will keep that drink hotter than hell for hours beyond the already long heat containment you get using a room temp thermos. If you fill a can with water, freeze it, and put it in your yeti can cooler for a bit before you put your drink in it, it will extend its cooling abilities too.

Secondary fun fact: you can also use a thermos as a slow cooker. I'd preheat my thermos, put my stew ingredients in a pan and bring it to a boil, dump it all into my thermos, and leave it in my lunch box for the 5-6 hours until lunch. It's still steaming hot and all the ingredients have cooked down. It even worked with those ultra tough beef stew chunks and raw barley. Both were soft and slow cooked to perfection.

18. “Velcro”

---Hugh_JaRod

Pinkbeans1 replied:

This made my kids’ shoes so much easier to deal with!

Of course, Dad (Grandpa) insisted on teaching them to tie shoelaces anyway. My kids were tying everyone else’s shoelaces for them in kindergarten.

19. “The lighter. Spontaneously ignite fire basically whenever you want.”

---LefterisLegend

raitalin replied:

Specifically, Bic lighters are incredibly reliable. You can find one on the ground that's been outside for months and they still work. Cheaper disposables break in a million ways and more expensive refillable lighters will leave you disappointed if you store them, but you can always keep a Bic handy and know it'll work when you need it.

20. “Hinges! I had to [do] a study on them for my engineering class.”

---TriggeredSnake

MagnusBruce replied:

I bet that bit of work opened some doors for you.

GreatPlagiarist replied:

I always get a laugh when you swing by.

[But in all seriousness...]

DonatellaVerpsyche replied:

Are we talking only metal hinges or are we talking bookbinding / box hinges, like the 2 hinges holding a 3 ring binder together? I did a massive project of recycling 3 ring binders and made all my own fabric and leather hinges. FASCINATING STUFF! How flexible/ not flexible the fabric had to be +how much glue to both create and hold the shape of the binder while letting it open completely like a plastic hinge. It was honestly fascinating nerdy stuff. I have a whole new appreciation for hinges (the wrap around and displacement of the main panels).

21. “The intermodal shipping container, a/k/a the Connex box. There are millions of the damned things all over the world, in use every single day.”

They are stackable, can be locked together, attach readily to ships, truck trailer frames, and rail cars, and can bear enormous loads.

The cost of their manufacture compared to their economic use value over their useful lives is next to nothing.

---MrBarraclough

When you think about it, we kind of take these products for granted since they work so well and we never have to complain about them. They could have made them extremely fragile so you would have to buy them regularly, but thankfully, we can enjoy the quality of these products without going broke.

Ayoub