Soft bladed spatulas may be the most used tools in your kitchen. You use them for mixing and scraping. Now with new modern materials, they can be heat resistant enough to cook with--stirring scrambled eggs for example. Our high heat nylon spatulas are heat resistant to 650 degrees and silicone to 500 degrees. Both are soft enough that they won't damage sensitive nonstick surfaces.
The most used tool in our test kitchen may be the long silicone icing spatulas. We use them nearly every time we bake--not to spread with but to release muffins, cakes, and breads from their pans. The long soft blades follow the contour of the pan, even around the corners, to make removal a snap.