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Comment by dionidium | Hacker News Reader

We switched to glass recently and it's great. They're more durable. They don't stain. They're easier to clean. And, this is subjective, but they just feel more substantial; it's nice in a way that's hard to describe.

These glass containers will likely last forever.

They are more expensive than the cheapest plastics, but it's buy-once, so not a significant long-term factor.

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Glass is heavy, doesn't stack efficiently, sticks/grinds together when stacked, and easily chips and breaks. A full glass container is too heavy to lift safely with one hand and too heavy to carry in a backpack. Glass is slippery, and because it's heavy it is also more likely to be dropped. Drop it on a counter and it cracks or chips, leaving bits of glass in your food and sharp edges that will cut you. The purpose of a container is to _transport_ things; anything breakable like glass is a poor material for something that gets moved around a lot. A plastic container will survive long after a glass container has been chipped.

Glass is fragile, dangerous, heavy, slippery, expensive, loud, and space-wasting.

Plastic containers are light, resilient, durable, portable, compact, and efficient.

The containers may last forever but the lids don't.

The lids on my knock-off brand glass food containers have lasted several years now...

We just bought a bunch of new lids for our glass containers. They are very inexpensive.

Really? We tried that about five years ago and they were very expensive (about 70% the price of getting new glassware)

Where did you buy them? Were they name brand?

At IKEA the lids cost 50% of a container + lid; inexpensive compared to the cost of a new plastic container. I bought steel containers 20 years ago and they are still going strong expensive and better value.

Yeah but do you microwave those steel containers?

Where? Are they from the manufacturer?

And the lids are expensive

I don't know about most manufacturers, but IKEA sells the lids separately in part for this reason.

I also have little doubt that IKEA will be around in 10 years compared to some random Amazon brand.

The lids on my pyrex bowls I bought in 1987 are still fine, although I did lose some.

They also get hot after microwaving, which for inpatient people like me is a deal breaker.

E: obviously I can spend extra effort to handle a hot glass container, but I'd rather deal with container without that property. Even with plastic containers there are some that gets suspiciously soft / weak after a few minutes in microwave, and then there's ones that stay sturdy and cool enough to handle. Half the point of microwave is convenience.

Just put it on a plate?

that's what oven mits or pot holders are for...

And trivets, to prevent your kitchen worksurfaces from succumbing to the fate of a myriad ring-shaped marks. This is obviously moot if you are lucky enough to have a granite worktop :)

I just lift them at the sides, close to the top, to avoid being burned. If you're home you could also use oven gloves or paper towel or something.

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