What weird shortages are you seeing in your area?

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  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    Today at Wal-Mart canned vegetables were about 1/3 stocked. I didn't look close so can't say which particular vegetables were out of stock. Pasta sauce is still in short supply. The nasty canned Hunts sauce is almost fully stocked every where I've been. Cleaning products are still almost non-existent. However, at Lowes today you could buy any cleaning supply you could ever want. Lots of brands I hadn't seen before, but their shelves were fully stocked.

    Freezers - hubby ordered one through Sears in late May. Supposed to be delivered to a store close by on June 19. On June 16 that store called and it wouldn't be here until Aug 6. Hubby cancelled the order. He bought two chest type, big old honkers, at an auction in early June.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I am shopping at Wal-Mart about once a month and this last time there were no gloves of any kind but I was able to pick up enough gloves and dishwashing gloves for a while now. Last week I noticed that the price of eggs have gone up by almost a dollar, so I guess if you can find stuff it may be at a higher price. Lots of toilet paper back on shelves.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    @dottile46 this has been our experience at the local Wal-Mart, too. Hubby went on grocery store rounds yesterday and said "Wal-Mart was beat up." Lots and lots of items out of stock. We live in a small town, and there are some things you can only find here at Wal-Mart -- so maybe folks in a big city with more shopping options are experiencing something different?


  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The local grocery store in our small town was well-stocked on food, and paper towels are coming, though the shelves are not full.

    But all of the gloves were gone, just empty shelf.

  • Melissa Swartz
    Melissa Swartz Posts: 270 ✭✭✭

    @VermontCathy We're seeing the same thing with the self checkout at the grocery. No cash transactions.

  • GardenMama
    GardenMama Posts: 95 ✭✭✭

    We are getting back to having a hard time finding spring water and apparently larger packs of TP. Not a clue why this is but theres been a lot of talk about a "second wave" and "strict shutdowns" in certain circles here. So people might be panic buying.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    Black elastic (used for masks?) and quilting fabric bits (also used for masks?).

  • Suburban Pioneer
    Suburban Pioneer Posts: 339 ✭✭✭

    Coin shortage here is in very selective places - mostly bigger national chain stores and, how should I say, the businesses with a more 'urban' ethic. The locals that cater more to the semi-rural,self-sufficient crowd still all have change. Hmmmmmm.....

  • Suburban Pioneer
    Suburban Pioneer Posts: 339 ✭✭✭

    We've got garlic, but it often doesn't seem as good as usual. Seems like fresh apricots are now a "missing food" in our grocery stores. Haven't seen one yet this year. Organic cherries were scarce.The berries also had a smaller showing than usual most places, although we've now got our own harvest this year so I wouldn't be buying them anyway, But it seems to me like the variety of fruit available is declining, and stores are stocking more apples and oranges in place of traditional summer selections.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @Annie Kate Are these things something that you are looking for to make some for yourself or others? We might possibly be able to send something your way. Just a thought.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Annie Kate "Black elastic (used for masks?) and quilting fabric bits (also used for masks?)."

    We had this problem a couple of months ago. I had to use elastic that was probably 3 times as wide as what was in the pattern, and they didn't work very well because of that. Eventually someone gave me some leftover narrow elastic that I used on the masks instead, and that solved the problem.

    I would have thought that by now this would have gone back to normal. Unfortunately, there is some evidence that global trade is not going back to normal any time soon. Construction of cargo ships is way down.

    "The bull case for [higher shipping] rates is even more about plunging new-build [cargo ships] orders than before. There will be a lot fewer vessels on the water in 2021, 2022 and beyond than previously thought.

    "New data provided to FreightWaves...confirms that 2020 is shaping up to be an exceptionally weak year for tanker, bulker and container-ship orders. New data...shows that container-ship new-build capacity is down to just 9.4% of capacity on the water. 'For the first time in more than 20 years, the global new-build pipeline fell below the 10% threshold,' ...a 'historic low.'"

    https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ship-orders-collapse-will-rate-boom-follow

    It's a good time to be as self-sufficient as possible.

  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    We were in Home Depot in a larger city, 108,000+ population, today. Ready to use cleaning supplies, in the spray bottles was almost non-existent. However, step down the isle a bit and the concentrated ones were in full supply. Guess in our throw-away society we don't even refill the nice spray bottles. OdoBan was full supply so I did a happy dance in that isle!

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning That is so sweet of you! Thank you. We do have fabric scraps, it was something I noticed in the store.

    @VermontCathy As for elastics, I've ripped them off the disposable masks my daughter wears at work and reused them. They are beautiful--soft, super-stretchy, and narrow. That's win-win, less in the landfill, and solves the elastic problem. :)

  • Megan Venturella
    Megan Venturella Posts: 678 ✭✭✭✭

    Twist ties! Who would have guessed.

  • Melissa Swartz
    Melissa Swartz Posts: 270 ✭✭✭

    @Annie Kate Great idea to re-use elastic from disposable masks!

  • Gail H
    Gail H Posts: 359 ✭✭✭✭

    We can't seem to find hydrogen peroxide or witch hazel right now. Perhaps the alcohol for the latter was diverted to hand sanitizer- no clue about the peroxide.

  • Paradox
    Paradox Posts: 187 ✭✭✭

    Had one friend that said she used clean old nylons--easier on the ears--instead of elastic.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mattresses are in limited supply. Apparently manufacturers ran out of raw materials. We have been waiting over two weeks for a twin XL.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    Old nylons are a brilliant elastic solution, @Paradox . My grandma also used them for very sturdy stuffing in stuffed toys.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    Not really a weird shortage but I went to a couple of local stores yesterday that always have canning supplies. Not a canning lid to be found! I'll try some of the other local stores.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Just got an update on our back ordered mattress: Now there is a shortage of steel for spring manufacturing. Maybe we will get in in week 3?

  • Melissa Swartz
    Melissa Swartz Posts: 270 ✭✭✭

    @Paradox Great idea using old nylons for an elastic substitute.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    Shortage: hardware cloth. I have needed it for bird pens for well over a month (probably longer) now. I better have some before winter hits. I'm running out of carriers and miscellaneous crates & want them in proper pens.

    To let them go would only serve to have them be a fox's dinner. 🦊

  • happy-trails
    happy-trails Posts: 170 ✭✭✭

    Glass jars! The smaller stores and big box stores are all out, and I need to preserve my garden harvest as well as make plenty of ferments to stock up for winter! haha... so for now I am just using all my glass kombucha bottles I've saved. It's more of a hassle but still better than plastic. =)

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    Husqvarna chain saws. Back ordered for months. Parts for a reciprocating saw. Retailers can't reach anyone at the Black & Decker/Dewalt sales office by e-mail or phone.

    On a good note, we are able to get the big size of isopropyl alcohol again at a reasonable price. Wipes are hard to come by but all the other cleaning supplies are in stock.

  • Gail H
    Gail H Posts: 359 ✭✭✭✭

    No paper napkins and very little butter at the store yesterday. I have a basket of cloth napkins washed and ready. I have a lot of schmaltz ( rendered chicken fat) and coconut oil. I do love butter, though!

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I was able to order pectin online today at normal (not inflated) prices. I figured I may as well stock up a bit for next year.

  • Cherlynn
    Cherlynn Posts: 169 ✭✭✭

    Yes I am still alive here in NW MO. Don't get out much. Most of my shopping has been online with once a month or two we go up to Des Moines and it is strange to see all the gaping holes in the store shelves. I tend to shop a year in advance. Christmas 2020 is all taken care of and wrapped up. I mostly go to buy eggs and refill what we've used up. Flour is still hard to get but I grind my own most of the time anyway. Toilet paper was short so we didn't replenish until last month. Canning jars and lids are really hit and miss. But my baby girl is getting ready to move cross country so blessed me with a very healthy collection of jars and lids. Getting short but still have some. My husband stops by the Amish store twice a week and snarfs up any jars or lids they have come in. I reuse lids in good shape and have done so for several years after having a canning day with the Amish years ago. Yes they seal for several times.

  • Melissa Swartz
    Melissa Swartz Posts: 270 ✭✭✭

    I was in the grocery store today. In the past, there were 3-4 shelves with at least 6 feet each of space devoted to rice of different types and sizes. Now the rice section is maybe 2 feet x 2 shelves--just a fraction of the former size.

    They had dishwasher soap, but it was almost gone.

  • Wendy
    Wendy Posts: 138 ✭✭✭

    In Vermont, paper towels are hard to find and anything to do with canning. A few stores have limited boxes of canning jars, but most are sold out.

    I have heard that Olive Oil is going up in price within the next few months.