‘Our vintage appliances will outlast any we can buy today’

Telegraph readers reveal the household design classics that continue to do the job decades later. By Blathnaid Corless

From hoovers to blenders, they are the electrical appliances that have stood the test of time – in some cases up to 70 years – and outlasted many modern equivalents.

And as figures show that many new appliances have a shorter life expectancy than a decade ago, some experts say that consumers should not fear buying second-hand household electricals, let alone hanging on to existing ones.

Here are the appliances that have served Telegraph readers for decades, and the stories behind them.

FOOD PROCESSORS

In an apparent win for British-made goods, the appliance that has stood by the greatest number of readers over time – based on the abundance of letters and comments we received singing its praises – is the trusty Kenwood Chef.

Shona Dempster, from Chichester, West Sussex, received her Kenwood food mixer as a wedding present in 1977.

Having needed just one repair after becoming jammed, the almost 50-year-old appliance continues to faultlessly whisk batter and whip cream for her Victoria sandwich cakes, which are “much appreciated” by her grandchildren.

As Mrs Dempster, 71, writes: “It is still going strong – and so are we.”

Telegraph reader Eileen Burridge, 83, received a Kenwood Chef as a present from her husband Michael in 1963, shortly after they were married, while he was a captain in the Royal Corps of Signals on a training mission to Aden in Yemen with his squadron.

As Mrs Burridge wrote in her letter to the paper: “It has survived the vicissitudes of 21 military moves and it and we are still around!”

Susan Dudley, 67, from Buckinghamshire, also received her Kenwood Chef as a wedding present from her parents-in-law in 1979.

“It’s sort of a family stalwart,” she says. “I shouldn’t say this, but I would divorce my husband before my Kenwood!”

Matthew Marchant, who runs a home appliance repair shop in West Sussex, says that the durability of older models of Kenwood Chefs is partly down to their British components and manufacturing.

Mr Marchant, who has developed a niche in repairing food mixers, adds: “Old Kenwood mixers were made wholly in the UK, in Havant, Hampshire, by local people, using British-made parts.

“The whole life-cycle of the product was contained on the island, so you’ve got traceability and a small carbon footprint.”

“Whereas today, with more modern appliances, you’ve got components that are sourced from all over the world, assembled in the Far East and then shipped to the UK with a supply chain which is equally as fragile.”

Kenwood closed its 12-acre production plant in Havant in 1999, with its then chief executive saying UK manufacturing was “no longer a competitive option” for most of its product lines.

Vintage Kenwood products appear to be in high demand on resale websites such as eBay, with older models of the Kenwood Chef selling for anywhere between £50 and £120.

SEWING MACHINES

Susan Stiff, 84, from the South Downs in West Sussex, has been using her Elna sewing machine since the 1960s.

She says: “My daughter was born in 1966 and I had it to make baby dresses for her. So it was about then that I got it.” Today, Mrs Stiff uses her Elna to make clothes for her nine-month-old granddaughter, as well as curtains and cushion covers, and occasionally some dresses for herself.

“I’ve never had anything done to repair it. I just clean the fluff out of it with a little brush and boil it from time to time – that’s it.” Meanwhile, some of today’s young sewing specialists are turning their backs on newer, hi-tech machines and instead opting for vintage models.

Christina Cauley, a 38-year-old part-time sewing teacher, uses four vintage Singer machines – all from the 1960s – to teach children the craft.

She says the simplicity of the old machines, which she was given by residents in Bexleyheath, south-east London, who had them sitting in their lofts, are ideal for young people learning the intricate skill.

“I feel very passionate about getting children to learn this brilliant skill, and the vintage machines are excellent for that,” she says.

MICROWAVES

Bruce van Biene and his wife Lorna, both 74 from Berkshire, bought their Sanyo microwave in 1979, and they still use it most mornings to make porridge for their breakfast.

“We bought it from Iceland. It was quite a lot of money at the time – about £230 – from what I remember.

“The only thing we’ve had to do with it is replace the little lightbulb inside, as that died about 10 years ago,” he recalls. “The ironic thing is, about five years ago we tried to replace it. We bought a combi-microwave oven but the first time we used it, it broke.”

Another reader, 84-year-old Anna Burns, from Windsor, bought her “faithful” Proline Micro Chef ST23S microwave back in the 1980s.

It has survived almost 50 years, including an overseas move to France, where Ms Burns still lives, without ever needing a repair. “It’s been with me in this house for the last 23 years,” she says. “All I’ve done is change the plug and clean it regularly. It’s never given me a moment’s trouble.”

FREEZERS

Susan Elsey’s Scandinova chest freezer, which once belonged to her mother-in-law, is between 40 and 50 years old and remains in constant use, in her garage.

Having survived two house moves, the freezer has not once needed a repair in that time.

“I am thinking of replacing it as the seal is going and I find I have to defrost it more often – and it’s probably less economical to run nowadays. But I have still got it.”

Rosemary and David Corbin, from Wiltshire, now use their fridge freezer, which they bought in 1979, as a drinks fridge in the garage.

“It’s still working. It is quite extraordinary,” Mrs Corbin, 73, says. The appliance, which remains in “perfectly working order”, has truly defied the odds, having been hauled through seven different house moves in its almost 50-year lifetime.

VACUUM CLEANERS

Stephen Woodbridge-Smith, a reader from Tavistock in Devon, continues to use a Hoover Junior vacuum cleaner his mother bought in 1956, when he was just six years old.

“After I got married and left home and my mother died, I took it and we still use it today,” he says.

Amazingly, the vacuum has lasted almost 70 years without needing a repair. “All I’ve had to do is get a new rubber band for a couple of pounds,” Mr Woodbridge-Smith said.

“We’ve also got a sewing machine my wife bought in 1966 that she still uses. We’ve got a hand mixer we got in 1968 when we got married. We’ve got all these things and they still work.”

Mr Marchant says many vintage Hoover Junior vacuums can still be found working today, thanks to the company’s durable engineering.

“Back in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Hoover was making quality products. The Hoover Junior motor is a serious piece of kit. It’s heavy, it’s got big solid bearings in there. It’s the sort of machine you might find being used in a hotel today,” he says.

“Is it efficient as a modern vacuum cleaner? Of course it’s not, but in terms of build and quality, they’re still working 50 years later.”

It is even possible to find some Hoover Juniors on the secondhand market that date all the way back to wartime, and apparently still work today.

One UK-based eBay seller is advertising a “Vintage Retro 1940s Hoover Junior 375 Vacuum Cleaner” for £60, while another, on sale for £29.99, dates back to the 1930s, with the seller claiming it remains in working condition.

Susan Dudley

Mrs Dudley, above, received her Kenwood Chef, right, as a wedding present in 1979

‘I shouldn’t say this, but I would divorce my husband before my Kenwood’

Stephen Woodbridge-Smith

His Hoover vacuum cleaner has lasted for nearly 70 years

‘All I’ve had to get is a new rubber band for a couple of pounds’

Built to last: Matthew Marchant, pictured in his West Sussex repair shop, below, says the durability of older models of Kenwood Chefs owes much to their British components