Somethings in life are just gagging to replaced. Your mate who’s always scabbing crap off you? Whack ’em straight in the bin. That five-year-old pair of grey undies riddled with holes? Ciao. Other things, however, ain’t as glaringly obvious.
Sure, life would be all sunshine and rainbows if these particular items didn’t directly impact your health / general existence, but they do. Like, they severely affect your wellbeing across the board which is pretty frightening in and of itself. Given this, it’s no small wonder why we should all get educated on what’s chill to keep 5eva, and what should be swapped out ASAP.
Besides, who doesn’t love nice ‘n new things all up in their noise?!
1. NON-STICK POTS ‘N PANS
Generally speaking, you’ll wanna give your pots and pans the flick after two years if they’re on the cheaper side. Oh, and if they’ve copped a chip or scratch recently then toss them immediately – failing to do so might mean you’re cooking in some real flavour-enhancing shards of toxic metals and such. Not game on replacing them that often? Suss some premium cookware like Scanpan or Circulon that you won’t have to replace nearly as often.
2. YO’ KITCHEN SPONGE
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that sponges collect millions of nasty ass bacterias during its lifecycle. But what is its lifecycle? A week y’all. You can extend this out a lil’ if you’re insanely frugal by microwaving ’em on high for a minute, or by fanging them in the dishwasher, but don’t push your luck. Surely dodging food poisoning is worth splashing out a few dollars here and there. Think about investing in bulk sponges from HERE.
3. THE DETECTOR OF THE SMOKE
Smoke detectors need replacing every ten years, but the hard part is sussing whether they’ve been replaced in the past ten years (especially in a rental situation). Not sure how long it’s been? Replace it. You can get one from HERE for around $30 – a small price to pay for, y’know, staying alive.
4. YE OL’ TOOTHBRUSH
Grab yourself a new toothbrush every three to four months as a guide or risk ingesting some pretty foul stuff (unless ‘microorganisms’ is an appetiser you’re down for). Given their usual vicinity to your shitter, this should kinda go without saying. In terms of making your brush work its ass off, however, you should swap it out as soon as there’s some serious fraying – those bent bristles aren’t doing diddly for the health of your chompers. Might be time to invest in an electric toothbrush like the one from Shaver Shop HERE? Replacing its heads is a cinch.
5. YA SECRET HERBS & SPICES
Toss ’em after a year. Like, they’ll be fine to consume, but they won’t pack a whole lotta punch flavour wise (which kinda defeats the purpose of using them, y’know?).
6. ALL THE BEAUTY THINGS
Expired beauty products (yes, they expire) are NASTY. They can cause you to cop allergic reactions, rashes, inflammation and a whole lot of other things you’re best to avoid. Here’s a run down of how well things hold up by time frame:
2-3 MONTHS
Acne pads
Nail file
Loofah
Mascara
Face peels and masks
6-12 MONTHS
Serum
Face wash
Eye cream
Concealer
Liquid eyeliner
1-1.5 YEARS
Shower gel
Bar soap
Sunscreen
Lip gloss
You can replace your old stuff by heading HERE.
7. THE THING YOU SLEEP ON
Okay, have a think about how much of your life is spent sleeping. Now add insanely long Netflix binges + hangover lays into the equation, and it becomes clear how much time you actually spend on your mattress. Given this hefty amount of interaction, you should not only have a mattress protector, but make sure you change it about once a year. You can suss replacements from HERE.
8. THE OTHER THING YOU SLEEP ON
Yes, we’re sure you would’ve been told by some rogue drunk aunt that pillows need to be replaced every 18 months during your adult life. Why? ‘Cos they directly interact with that beautiful face of yours – a beautiful face that flakes off dead skin cells and transfers mould particles. Suss some new ones from HERE.
As you can see, it’s not easy living your best / non-gross life. Oh, and that’s not even factoring the costs involved either.
Be the best version of you (and keep some of your hard-earned dollars in your back pocket) by shopping with eBay.
