Sometimes cheaper is better

When I say cheap, I don't mean just a lower price but actually lower quality.
When Jason and I married, we got these really nice knives. Well, we registered for them then bought them ourselves; they were some of the most expensive things on our registry. I am happy to report that 15 years later they are still excellent knives that sharpen well and hold their edge. They are the counter to the rest of this entry.

We also received some deluxe bath towels. They lasted as long as bath towels last while being always frustratingly damp. They were so soft that they did not feel like they picked up water, just smeared it around. Then, they held that moisture long enough that they would begin to smell after just one use. When hung on the clothes line in hundred degree weather (in Texas, of course), they took longer to dry than any other item on the line. The skimpy towels that we already had dried in a snap and were ready to use again.

Right now, I have a nice mop. The head is big enough to theoretically save me time mopping, because the larger mophead should be able to cover more floor in fewer strokes.  The kink in this excellent design is congenital; I have really small hands, so I cannot squeeze the excess water out of this mass of mop dreads. The cheaper head I had before was easy to squeeze out, so I could get the head cleaner which meant the floor could be cleaner, too.

I find the cheap bakeware I picked up in a panic at the HEB on Riverside however many years ago still does the job I was panicking over in college. The nice stuff with the nonstick coating went into the garbage within two years of purchase because the questionable coating began to glom onto the outside of breads and cakes.

There are more examples. like beach towels, washcloths, cooking spoons, and tshirts, but I think you get my drift. Now, I have to decide whether to replace the mop head with one I can actually squeeze out.