I also have another one that is a big help in the kitchen! Cut off the cord and you have a fantastic bacon press (fill with salt for weight).

Use as a press when gluing, or drying flowers. For extra weight, fill iron with salt instead of water.

Use as plastering tool on horizontal surface.

Glue or screw it to the wall in a closet or garage and hang scarves, belts, cables or rope through the handle.

Turn it into table lamp.

Use it as weight for exercise.

Iron with it by heating it on a stove.

Give it to a child to take it apart and put together. Children love it!

Donate it to a local school or theater to use in their plays as a prop.

Use as a press when gluing, or drying flowers. For extra weight, fill iron with salt instead of water.

Use as plastering tool on horizontal surface.

Glue or screw it to the wall in a closet or garage and hang scarves, belts, cables or rope through the handle.

Turn it into table lamp.

Use it as weight for exercise.

Iron with it by heating it on a stove.

Give it to a child to take it apart and put together. Children love it!

Of course if you can fix it, you should try to fix it – John always fiddles around with our stuff to try to repair it when it breaks, sometimes with success, other times not so much. I think at that point, you might as well try to fix it because you’re not going to break it any further – you might get it working again (at least for a little while) or it might stay broken, no loss.

Supporting local repair shops (where they still exist) is also a good thing if like me, you’re likely to get a capacitor lodged in your eye as soon as you even think about getting the soldering iron out – but the financial costs is often a snagging point there: this article is an interesting read about that side of things.

I think the key thing is to think long-term when you buy things: don’t go for the cheapest option, go for the one that will work for years and is easy to fix if something goes wrong.

-louisa