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Products you will/won't buy in their generic versions?

Sugar and spoiled milk is a good description for Miracle Whip. I used to dread being handed a sandwich at a social gathering or friend's house, with the realization that there are a LOT of people out there who erroneously refer to Miracle Whip as mayo, and that the sandwich I was just handed may have been made by one of THOSE people!

Generic cream cheese......I attempted to use it once; it looked and felt like a block of white Dial soap....I had to microwave it to soften it for mixing.

Bad Idea....the stuff separates into several different substances that seem to float in opposite ends of the corningware bowl...:confused:

I was trying to "re-mix" all the different little puddles of goo back into something resembling cream cheese and the end result something closer to bio-warfare window putty...my daughter stated that if I left it alone a few days, it would eventually evolve into a higher life form.

From that point on it was Philadelphia Cream cheese only.

Edit*

Oh, yeah......never, ever get Christmas fruitcake from the dollar store; it comes in two varieties.....armor piercing, and anti-personnel. :blastem:

I once used one to kill a Volkswagen....true story.
 
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Obviously there are products that most people would never buy in their off brand form, such as the plumbus. **Side note: Here's an entertaining 1 minute 'how they do it' video illustrating the manufacture of a standard plumbus: https://youtu.be/eMJk4y9NGvE

But anyway, what products do you buy in off brand, generic form, and which products do you never purchase in generic form(aside from the plumbus. Lol)? :lamo

Never generic:
1. I'll be the one to list one of the more discreet, personal products NOT to be purchased in generic form: toilet paper! The generic form is usually as absorbent as Saran wrap, and as 'durable' as, uhm, cheap toilet paper!

2. Saran wrap.

3. Boots(although there ARE also some lousy brand name boot choices, ie: Timberlands).


Generic yes!:
1. Paper towels(in some cases)
2. Trash bags(in some cases)
3. Generic Roundup: generic version of Roundup is identical(Glyphosate), but often more concentrated, AND at literally 30%- 50% the cost of the name brand.

For herbicides the majority of generics will work just like the name brand. I work in the industry producing them. We made generic versions of Glyphosate and many other herbicides and the differences are slight. Monsanto/Bayer, might add a different surfactant/adjuvant to make it rain fast sooner or penetrate the plant easier, but the acid itself is the same, the concentration by law has to meet the label guarantee +/- 3 % for any specific batch
 
Generic yes's

Medicine, all are made and inspected by federal government agencies no matter the brand or manufacturer
Chemicals
Garbage bags (I just won't fill to the same level as the plastic strength is not there)
Paper (not TP)
Other non critical roles, with zero stress applied
Pasta

No Generics.
Nothing that has to have taste (except cheap cookies). I tried generic Hamburger Helper once and could not eat it
Any safety part, cheap price, cheap build, cheap life.
Tires

I will use private label store brands. Like Presidents Choice, Safeway Select, and Kirkland, the quality is very high, often made by the name brands in the same factory. I know a local grocery store has their private label beer made by a local brewery (Big Rock) but using a cheaper feed stock (or at least one person I interviewed to work for me said)
 
Batteries for sure.

One thing some don't realize about batteries is that you have to check the date on them. The expiration date ideally needs to be about 10 years in the future. They lose their charge when they sit on the shelf. I ran by Family Dollar the other day to grab some AAs (so I wouldn't have to go all the way into town), and they actually had a package on the shelf that had an expiration date of 2017. :lol:

I'll refer people back to my rechargeable battery encouragement & advice thread:
https://www.debatepolitics.com/off-...itely-time-switch-rechargeable-batteries.html
 
Generic cream cheese......I attempted to use it once; it looked and felt like a block of white Dial soap....I had to microwave it to soften it for mixing.

Bad Idea....the stuff separates into several different substances that seem to float in opposite ends of the corningware bowl...:confused:

I was trying to "re-mix" all the different little puddles of goo back into something resembling cream cheese and the end result something closer to bio-warfare window putty...my daughter stated that if I left it alone a few days, it would eventually evolve into a higher life form.

From that point on it was Philadelphia Cream cheese only.

Edit*

Oh, yeah......never, ever get Christmas fruitcake from the dollar store; it comes in two varieties.....armor piercing, and anti-personnel. :blastem:

I once used one to kill a Volkswagen....true story.

LMAO! That generic cream cheese description was hilarious.
 
For herbicides the majority of generics will work just like the name brand. I work in the industry producing them. We made generic versions of Glyphosate and many other herbicides and the differences are slight. Monsanto/Bayer, might add a different surfactant/adjuvant to make it rain fast sooner or penetrate the plant easier, but the acid itself is the same, the concentration by law has to meet the label guarantee +/- 3 % for any specific batch

Yeah, I've never been able to discern any significant difference between name brand pesticides vs off brand. I pay attention to the various labels, and I've even learned that you can save money by doing that, because often you'll find the same active ingredient being packaged and sold for use for different purposes. Also the concentrations will often be higher in the off brand product.

I've never been able to tell a significant difference when it comes to herbicides like 2,4-D, dicamba, MCPP, triclopyr, sulfentrazone, quinclorac from one brand to another. But like you pointed out, it's possible that one brand may contain a more effective surfactant than another. So that particular brand may do a better job of controlling weeds with waxy surfaces, like oxalis and clover, because it stuck to the weed surfaces as opposed to just beading up and rolling off, like what happens to water when sprayed on a freshly waxed car hood.

But you can take steps to improve the odds of wetting weeds with waxy surfaces, by adding surfactants, spreader stickers. I knew a guy who often squirted a little liquid dish soap into the broadleaf weed control mixture, to improve 'sticking'. I don't know for sure how effective it was. He claimed it works.

These days, I avoid using any pesticides unless absolutely necessary, and I've practically stopped using chemical insecticides altogether. I used to use preventative insecticides, such as isofenphos(80s) and imidicloprid. Used curative products like Dursban, Triumph, dylox, sevin etc.

Although it's very effective for protecting ornamentals and lawns for most of a season, and its actually more environmentally friendly due to not needing to be applied to entire plants/shrubs, which would kill even beneficial insects. But imidicloprid is bad for bees.
 
I am really surprised that by page 4 there hasn't been a side discussion of Heinz vs Hunt's ketchup.

I'm not wedded to any brand names but do keep only septic-safe TP in the house. Well, Helmann's, I guess. partly because of my mother and partly because I don't buy Kraft products.

How many of you choose based on what your mom or grandmother used?
 
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