I never seem to find much I want to buy in Ikea yet I do go quite a few times a year as we live within 30 minutes of a branch and I often go with friends and family. This is a review of the Ikea Produkt Milk Frother we have had for a few years now. I thought the idea of it was brilliant, to jazz up your coffees and hot chocolates at home.

What is it?
A battery operated whisk to make your milk frothy in drinks. It adds loads of little air bubbles when you whizz it in the milk for about 20 seconds.

In use
I tend to warm up milk first before using this as I like my coffee hot. The bubbles soon disappear though so you have to use it up quickly. Once you have used it you need to wash and dry it immediately to stop it getting caked up and spoiled with milk. Be careful when doing this to not get the battery end wet or you might end up with a dead frother!

In reality
After a few uses it went back in the drawer, never to emerge again! I don't think I even used it enough to run the battery out but when we had a clear out it had gone a bit rusty (probably been in the drawer for five years!) so it got chucked in the bin.

Price
This was only £1 at Ikea and one of those purchases I made as I had travelled a fair distance to the shop and wanted to make sure I left having bought something!

My thoughts
I liked the novelty aspect of the Ikea Produkt Milk Frother but as with many gadgets, this soon wore off. To be honest I think it was more laziness on my part that I couldn't be bothered to use it when making instant coffee and after a while it got buried at the back of the drawer and I forgot it was there. Once it got rusty, it was binned and I definitely didn't use it enough to justify a repurchase. I have been to other people's houses and been served a coffee using this tool and enjoyed the drink so I can't be too negative about it as I think many will enjoy using it.

Final word
Whilst I admit mine did not get much use after the initial buzz, I do like the idea of them and don't think they are a bad gadget to have in the kitchen, it's a lot easier than trying to froth milk by hand and a lot cheaper than having a flashy coffee machine in your kitchen that froths milk. If you want to save money and treat yourself without spending a fortune in coffee houses, then this might just be the gadget for you. At this price it's worth a try and if it does end up not being used then it is not the end of the world. I think these make a nice gift to coffee or hot chocolate lovers and would make an ideal addition to a gift hamper. They look like they cost more than a pound at any rate!