I Don't Like Change

Photo by Niabot, Wikimedia Commons


I'll admit it. I don't like change. Especially when it comes to products I have used for years and am perfectly satisfied to keep on using for many more. Why is it that manufacturers often decide to pull a product that is performing well and replace it with something that isn't half as good?

First it was my Woodbury soap. I must have used those great smelling pink and green bars of soap that fit my hand perfectly for 35 years, give or take a few. It smelled nice and was fairly inexpensive. I couldn't see a reason in the world why it needed to be replaced. When our local Newberry store closed down a number of years ago, I made a special trip to load up on things that were selling at hugely discounted prices. There was my Woodbury soap at 10 cents a bar. Would you believe that I bought 50 bars of it? It was bundled in packages of 5 so 50 bars made a nice little stash sitting there in a cupboard serving me well for the last—well, for a long time now.

When I opened the last pack, I threatened other members of the family with dire consequences if they dared to touch one of my few remaining bars. I hoarded them like gold, but, alas, the very last bar finally disappeared. The only soap I could find that came close to equaling Woodbury was a bar with a silly shape that was way too big for my hand until I had used it for at least a month. I tried trimming it down to size with a paring knife but just ended up with a bunch of shavings that were good for nothing, so I settled for using each bar in the bathtub for a while to melt them down to size.

Another favorite of mine, women's knit pants with a permanent sewn in creases, have also disappeared on me. At least from the local stores. I have found the pants online, but after ordering them twice, once to receive such a flimsy product that I didn't want to appear in public wearing them, and the second time to pay three times what the product was worth and end up having to return it twice because the size wasn't right, I gave up on the online thing.

That brings me to my present dilemma; the GE hair dryer soft bonnet. I hate hand held hair dryers. My hair is thick and takes a long time to dry, so whichever hand is holding the dryer is about ready to drop off by the time my hair is finally dry. What I like is the old fashioned hair dryer with a hose that has a soft bonnet connected to it. When you are ready to dry your hair, you find a comfortable seat, preferably in front of your computer, place the dryer bonnet on your head, tighten the bonnet strings and tie them, turn on the dryer, and go about your business of writing at your computer, (or reading a book, etc.) until your hair is dry.

Over the years, I have had several GE hair dryers, and every one of them gave satisfactory service for a number of years. Unfortunately, the product ceased to be produced. Also unfortunately, the hair dryer bonnets are made of plastic, which at first is very supple and pliable, but as time goes on, the plastic ages and eventually begins to crack.

When GE first stopped producing its hairdryer, dealers could still order replacement bonnets for them. I ordered new bonnets several times and then, abruptly, they also became unavailable. Several times I found GE dryers at garage sales and thrift stores, and, if the bonnet inside was still in good shape, I snatched them up for $3-$5 . Recently, someone decided they are a collectors item, and you are lucky to find one for less than $50. I have even seen them going for as much as $75-$100 on eBay.

Of course, 40 or 50 year old dryers aren't the best answer to my problem. I have several dryers that run fine, but the bonnets are a total mess. It is the bonnet I need. I ordered what was called a replacement bonnet online, but it was a thin material that didn't hold heat inside at all. After an hour, my hair was still as wet as when I had started so I ended up using a hand-held dryer to finish the job. (Did I mention that I hate hand-held dryers? You can't do anything else while you have a hand full of a machine that you have to keep moving around to dry your hair evenly.) I have seen hoods that attach to hand-held dryers, but they are of the same construction as the one I just described—flimsy material that doesn't hold heat in.

I checked out two dryers, Conair and Hot Tools, on Amazon.com. Both were advertised as having soft bonnets, but when I read the comments by purchasers of those products, I decided I wouldn't waste my money. The comments describe problems such as the dryers shutting off after a few minutes and refusing to start for 10 minutes or more until it cooled completely down; the bonnets ripped easily or didn't distribute the heat evenly and had to be rotated while in use.

Today I called GE's 800 number. After being routed and re-routed by phone to several places, I finally scented success when a recorded voice said, "To order replacement parts for small appliances, press 2." I eagerly pressed 2, and was told to consult my local yellow pages for a GE repair person. Do they really think I hadn't already tried that?

Well, folks, I'm about to give up. If you know anyone who needs 6 cheap GE dryers with no bonnets, let me know. And, If anyone has found a really good solution to this problem (or knows where to buy Woodbury soap) I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'm thinking about starting a new hair style for older ladies; one that doesn't need drying, or combing, either, for that matter. I plan to call my new hair style "the mop." (See photo, above)

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The article above spurred many comments when it was first published on Associated Content. I have since found a used G.E. dryer, complete with hood that make take care of me for a few more years. After that, I guess I will have to resign myself to the fact that some change is inevitable. Maybe I'll settle for the hot pink, hand-held dryer shown here from Amazon.