The tap cleaner you never knew you needed:  It’s a bit of an insiders’ favourite even though it’s not glamorous… these are our top five life-changing gadgets from Lakeland

• The YOU team samples out the best gadgets at UK’s high street staple Lakeland
• READ MORE: Interior design guru reveals the three major mistakes you should avoid when decorating your home 

Banana guards, toastabags and flowerpot cupcake cases… These are just a few of the bizarre yet supremely practical items you never knew you wanted (or knew even existed). It’s this kind of ‘How did I ever live without a pineapple corer?’ response that has helped turn UK home shop Lakeland into a domestic heaven.

First known as Lakeland Plastics, it was started by Alan Rayner in the early 1960s as a mail-order business selling plastic sheets and bags for agricultural use and home freezing from his garage in Windermere, Cumbria.

Fast forward to 2023 and Lakeland now stocks more than 4,000 quirky gizmos across 68 stores nationwide, with a cult following of kitchen-savvy fans (including Kirstie Allsopp and Mary Berry) who love its simple but game-changing gizmos.

Eager to find the one thing that’s going to make our own lives easier, the YOU team heads to its Brent Cross branch in Northwest London to check out its latest kitchen gadgets.

In between losing several members of the team in the rolling pin aisle and getting far too distracted by collapsible jelly moulds, we come across the brand’s bestsellers, including a very practical 6.5 litre Searing Slow Cooker and the Dry:Soon Drying Pod, an electric clothes dryer that looks like a punchbag on legs.

SonicScrubber Cleaning Tool, £18.99, lakeland. co.uk

Thanks to jolly Gary in customer care, we discover there is also a new air fryer in the pipeline. (Rumour has it, it’s so big you can fit an entire roast in it.)

As for my ‘life-changing’ find, after being tempted by items such as a mango splitter and Jar Busters – bendy spatulas that enable you to reach those last morsels of peanut butter – I finally settle on Oxo Good Grips Spiralize, Grate and Slice Set (2). 

As I’m an eater, not a cook, the thought of slaving over several chopping board after a day at work makes my eyes glaze over and it’s never long before I start scrolling through Deliveroo.

Enter this fuss-free contraption with three blades ready to make short work of everything from cheddar and courgettes to chocolate, not only saving you prep time, but also, as it’s no bigger than a small box, kitchen space too.

Deputy beauty editor Alice Robertson had pre-researched our trip and went straight for the SonicScrubber Cleaning Tool (1), which looks like an electric toothbrush meets something you’d buy in Soho.

But it’s genius. Manoeuvre the brush head around the base of taps, oven corners and grouting (all those easy-to-ignore areas that love gathering grime) and you’ve just spent the most satisfying half hour of your life. Kind of.

Anyone familiar with finding half a bone-dry onion at the back of a very smelly fridge after forgetting you’d used the rest in a stew will be tempted by deputy picture editor Luisa Avietti’s choice.

The Fresh Stretch Silicone Onion Pod (3) may not win any beauty prizes but it will keep leftover onion fresh and cuts down on single-use plastic wrap – so long, clingfilm.

Oxo Good Grips Spiralize, Grate and Slice set, £31.99

Fresh Stretch Silicone Onion Pod, £4.99

Oxo Good Grips Garlic Press, £17.49

Bubbly Bung Champagne Bottle Stopper, £8.99, all lakeland.co.uk

Fashion writer Stephanie Sofokleous’s eyes lit up when she saw the Oxo Good Grips Garlic Press (4), an industrial-looking device that can crush multiple cloves at once: ‘It has a clever contraption that removes the sticky leftover skin.

Winner-winner garlic dinner!’

Social media editor Kanika Banwait opted for the stainless steel Bubbly Bung Champagne Bottle Stopper (5) to keep her fizz fizzy for longer. ‘My days of putting a teaspoon in the top of a bottle are over. Plus, it’s much more effective, and classier, than my current clingfilm-over-the-hole method.’

THE STORY SO FAR

1964 Lakeland was born when Alan Rayner started selling plastic bags and sheets for everything from home-freezing to keeping lambs warm from his garage and at trade shows, and used a pool table as a display stand.

1970s Rayner retired in 1974 and his three sons took over. Home freezing was in, and Lakeland, realising that those who froze food also cooked it, launched its catalogue Everything for Home Cooking. The advent of high-tech kitchens helped Lakeland as it started selling microwave-friendly products.

1980s Lakeland moved its headquarters to its current space in Windermere.

1990s Now called Lakeland Limited, in 1999 it launched its online shop.

2000 The Windermere flagship store was opened. In 2006 the brand became known simply as Lakeland.

2010 onwards Lakeland now has 68 stores around the UK, with more store openings on the horizon, and over 1,500 employees. It also produces 18 catalogues a year that span home, kitchen, garden and Christmas.

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