In principal I agree with all of the suggestions, in practice I don't (won't say never) dosom of them very often. Like washing fabric, for instance. You may cringe at the thought of buying old clothing at a thrift store, but I simply love some of the colors and designs and I make many different kinds of quilts. Anything bought at a thrift store gets washed in HOT water, no matter the fabric content, even though I try to stay with cottons, wools and natural fabrics. I'm a nut for buying new gadgets. Unfortunately, many of them I haven't used and probably never will. They make all those new things look soooo easy, but often the opposite is true. Mainly, I just have FUN, that is why I quilt.