Saturday 29 August 2020

Bang!

I've had my 0.5litre Thermos Mondial flask for ages. I even got a second cup to sit on the top, so we can both have a cuppa when travelling. During Grandma's Nursery School, I've made a cafetiere each morning, drunk some coffee before Rosie arrived, then had easily accessible caffeine to keep me going through the day.

But last Saturday I was washing it, and I realised the bottom was coming loose and water was inside. I unscrewed it a little more and BANG!!!

There was an explosion of silvery shards of glass everywhere-all over the kitchen. I'd quite forgotten how bad it is when a glass flask shatters.


Most of it went into the washing up bowl, which was half full of water. Clearing it up was not going to be easy. 

I lined my sieve with two coffee filters and gently poured the water through. That collected the shards and the water drained away. With a brush and dustpan I swept everywhere else - floor, windowsill, worktop, even top-of-the-microwave. Unfortunately the silvery grey glass was well camouflaged on the worktop. Despite my diligence I was finding bits two days later. It's all cleared up now [I hope]

I haven't decided what to do about replacing it. It was a brilliant flask, especially on long Dorset-Norfolk journeys, when it truly kept our coffee hot for hours. And it was properly leak proof, unlike many "thermal cups" But the glass liner is so fragile. Any recommendations for a good replacement? 

12 comments:

  1. A good make Stainless steel. had ours for years, even Col didn't break it using it for work

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  2. We bought an excellent stainless steel flask for about £10 from Ikea earlier this year.
    This was to replace our old but reliable stainless Thermos which was fine except that the seal had become smelly, tainting the contents. If anybody knows where to get a replacement seal I'd be thrilled!

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  3. I would be inclined to replace it like for like. In my experience the stainless steel flasks do not keep drinks hot for the same length of time as the glass lined type.

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  4. I gave up on glass lined flasks a long time ago and have now had my 1/2 litre steel walled flask for over 12 years. Try something from Stanley ! Love the blog by the way !

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  5. We changed to stainless steel ones years ago when the last glass ones broke. They keep the water hot for ages. Bought the same brand, it’s the best.

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  6. Stainless steel seems to be winning here (but I think I agree with Pam, they are not always as efficient as the glass ones)

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    1. Our stainless ones have kept coffee hot enough for at least 8 hours.

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  7. I have a couple of stainless steel thermos flasks, different sizes, but I do know what people mean about them being a bit smelly sometimes. I'm also tempted to say Like for Like might work. Why not see if you can find something in the charity shop?

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  8. I would go with what you know. I've never had any luck with stainless steel keeping things hot either and sometimes they get too hot to handle! Have a good weekend.x

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  9. I find that my stainless stel one keeps water hot for many hours, used yesterday when we had an electricity cut. the water was still hot the next morning, not boiling , but hot.

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  10. Hope you find a good replacement flask.

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  11. Fill the stainless steel ones with boiling water from the kettle and let it sit as you make your coffee. Dump the hot water and fill- it was stay hot for a very long time.
    Barb

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