NOWADAYS there are few people who expect a new TV or washing machine to last ten or even five years.

When it comes to mobiles and other electronic gizmos, the life cycle is probably more like 18 months, as we constantly upgrade to newer shinier models.

But while we may chuck millions of old computers and phones away every year, and built-in obsolescence seem the sad norm, I can vouch for the fact that some electrical products are still pretty tough.

Take mobiles for example - they're hardier than you may think.

My teenage daughter believes the floor is the best place for discarded clothes. So that's probably why her old Sony Ericsson ended up going through the full washing machine cycle in the pocket of her school skirt.

Now, the bedraggled mobile wasn't at all happy at first. It coughed and spluttered and then gave up the ghost completely for a couple of weeks.

But then gradually, all the keys and functions started working again until its only scar was a slightly dodgy number 9.

And it survived a lot better than my husband's wallet - he was drying out soggy bank notes on the radiators for days.

Of course, all the mobile had to contend with was soapy water.

My old colour telly had a tougher ordeal - I once spilt a whole glass of white wine down the back of that.

Strangely enough, it seemed to enjoy the experience, and started drunkenly transmitting bizarre psychedelic images with swirling patterns and heady colours for a good hour before it finally sank into a grey screen stupor.

Despite the impressive show, I thought its end had come and after a few weeks I was ready to take the final trip to the dump.

But on the off chance, I tried turning it on one last time and amazingly, it had recovered from its hangover.

It's still going strong today, some 15 years later. I haven't tried repeating the wine trick though.

Just to show that even today's electronic items can still be tough, my daughter also managed to take her iPod Nano on a seriously wet water ride at a theme park.

The idea seemed to be to drench everybody to the skin and expect them to be grateful. My daughter loved it but the iPod didn't and it resigned in protest.

I was just about to call Apple with the news that one of their brand new iPods had died, when I tried turning it on just once more.

A couple of weeks drying out had done the trick and it perked up again good as new.

So the next time you drop your mobile down the toilet (or should that be lavatory?) live in hope - there may still be life in it yet.