Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To remind people NOT to use hot water bottles?

488 replies

Laptopsas · 21/09/2025 22:40

There is another thread running about cold weather and hit water bottles are being recommended as safe. They are not.

Get a heated throw or the microwaveable bags.

If you must use one, don’t use boiling water.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5068468-to-remind-you-all-to-throw-out-old-hot-water-bottles

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5176765-water-bottle-exploded

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kd7k2e48jo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxnez4zxkno

Picture of Sharon Portingale smiling

Hot water bottle warning after woman suffers severe burns

Sharon Portingale woke up with an oozing blister and still has mobility problems, two years on.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kd7k2e48jo

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
InMyHealthyEra · 21/09/2025 23:30

Are people putting boiling water in their hot water bottles?!

Ewock · 21/09/2025 23:28

Goodness, we best not use sharp knives, tools anymore as one slip and that's your fingers gone

People need to use their brains. I've used hot water bottles for 40 years never been a problem. It's not because I'm lucky, it's because I use them in the way they are designed to be used. Sadly you can't account for people not thinking. It's like when Asda put a message on the box of their remade cakes - something about being careful when cutting as knives are sharp 😆

SpiceGhoul · 21/09/2025 23:28

I have one of those rechargeable ones that are filled with some kind of gel. I'm sure someone will be along to tell me how dangerous they are but I love mine, it eases my aches and pains and stays warm for hours.

mzpq · 21/09/2025 23:28

Hot water bottles don't leak on Mumsnet, they 'explode'.

Just as no Mumsnetter's microwave ever stopped working, they tend to 'blow up' as a rule.

Perhaps it's Mumsnet that's dangerous? 👀

RustyBear · 21/09/2025 23:26

According to Which? magazine, you shouldn’t use a wheat bag in bed
“Don’t:

  • Place them under covers to warm bedding. They can continue to heat up and could begin to smoulder or set the covers alight.”

Also “Argos, Daewoo, DeLonghi, Morphy Richards, Panasonic and Russell Hobbs all have warnings against using these products [wheat bags] in their microwaves” - it can void your warranty.
www.which.co.uk/news/article/buying-a-hottie-or-wheat-bag-for-a-loved-one-this-christmas-heres-what-you-need-to-know-aZSrR1X6u4yQ

pinkdelight · 21/09/2025 23:26

Laptopsas · 21/09/2025 23:06

I wouldn’t use an electric blanket. Just a throw whilst downstairs.

Show quote history

Well then that’s hardly a replacement for a HWB in bed. Another one saying the odds of these explosions are fine when minimised by responsible usage.

SummerFrog25 · 21/09/2025 23:25

CaramelGhost · 21/09/2025 22:47

I had a hot water bottle last night. Always ensure they're in date and not filled with boiling water.
Been using them for decades

Yep!

perfectly safe & do NOT 'explode' if used correctly!

TranceNation · 21/09/2025 23:25

It's actually bonkers to think these are even still a thing really especially for young children.

aWeeCornishPastie · 21/09/2025 23:24

We use hot water bottles multiple times a day and night in my house. I even use boiling water yes I know not meant to, only had one leak in all this time. It certainly didn’t explode, your being dramatic OP

CoffeeLipstickKeys · 21/09/2025 23:24

You are coming across as preachy mcpreach
Having worked in ED I’ve seen every seemingly innocuous item cause harm
swallowed toothbrush obstruction
avocado well they’d be banned purely for hand injury caused when trying to destone
blenders with ill fitting lid that ejected scalding hot soup,sauce

SummerFrog25 · 21/09/2025 23:24

Laptopsas · 21/09/2025 22:47

They’re not. A brand new one I had exploded, luckily all over the sofa and not on me.

Show quote history

A brand new one exploded???? And it wasn't filled with boiling water & it had had the air jet out??

yeah, no.

thishouseisashittip · 21/09/2025 23:23

I am with you OP, don't like them one bit.

spicetails · 21/09/2025 23:22

BrownOwlknowsbest · 21/09/2025 23:20

Dear friends, Please do not ever go to bed. So very many people die in bed.

This is true - generally Becsuse something electrical had caught fire and their batteries had run out in their fire alarms.

Thd moral if the story - have hard wired alarms or change the batteries frequently abx throw out all electrical items (plus hot water bottles) just in case.

Icon15 · 21/09/2025 23:22

Laptopsas · 21/09/2025 22:47

They’re not. A brand new one I had exploded, luckily all over the sofa and not on me.

Show quote history

It exploded spontaneously? Are you sure that it wasn't accidentally sat on or squashed? What was it doing on the sofa in the first place? They're supposed to be laid flat in a bed, to warm the sheets.

SummerFrog25 · 21/09/2025 23:21

PaddingtonBlah · 21/09/2025 22:46

I don't find wheat bags hold the heat anything like as well as a hot water bottle.

We live in an old cold house and I use a hot water bottle for every bed in the house - it's part of my winter evening routine to put them in about an hour before bed.

It's important to check the dates, replace them regularly, not overfill or use boiling water and expel air. But that doesn't mean you can't use them at all.

Plus they smell horrible!! (Nothing wrong with them, just the heated wheat stinks!)

& I don't own a microwave 🤪🤪

BrownOwlknowsbest · 21/09/2025 23:20

Dear friends, Please do not ever go to bed. So very many people die in bed.

Pianoaholic · 21/09/2025 23:19

I always seem to have lost the stopper for the HWB whenever I've needed it in a hurry (period pains).
The wheat thing overheated in the microwave and smelled permanently scorched so the was useless too!
Guess I'll be on the safe side and stay cold!

SummerFrog25 · 21/09/2025 23:19

itsAforapple · 21/09/2025 22:45

Could we just remind people to use half of their brain and not be fuck wits? Would that cover it??

It would cover an awful lot of over dramatic nonsense!!

Teathecolourofcreosote · 21/09/2025 23:18

FrondsofFriday · 21/09/2025 22:48

I had a wheat bag catch fire once.

I’ve gone back to a HWB. But I do replace it every couple of years and I don’t put boiling water in it. So i’m ok with my life choices but thanks for the PSA.

Me too. And it was only in for about 30 seconds.

Won't use them again.

KilkennyCats · 21/09/2025 23:17

NuffSaidSam · 21/09/2025 22:41

Agree. The wheat bags are so much better, safer and easier to use.

They stink, though. I’ve never seen one that doesn’t absolutely reek.

SummerFrog25 · 21/09/2025 23:17

CallMeFlo · 21/09/2025 22:45

Theyre perfectly safe if they're used properly

If people are using ancient old bottles filled with boiling water that doesn't mean theyre not safe, it means people are not using them correctly

Exactly!!

spicetails · 21/09/2025 23:17

Laptopsas · 21/09/2025 22:43

Then you’ve been very lucky. It will only take one bursting for you to not find it silly.

Show quote history

As are millions of people every day who get in a car..but there are some who end up in collisions.

whereisthatcathidingnow · 21/09/2025 23:16

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

TowerOfWashing · 21/09/2025 23:15

MustTryHarderAndHarder · 21/09/2025 23:02

Why don't you use electric blankets? They are life changing.

Show quote history

Electric blankets cool down far too quickly once you switch them off and get in. If you have feet like blocks of ice (like mine) only a hot water bottle works.

Plus I'm another one with a tale of an electric blanket that went on fire...

In dire straits with no hwb, I have even been known to hairdry the bed before I get in!

Thinandbare · 21/09/2025 23:15

Funnywonder · 21/09/2025 23:01

A friend of mine was pressing the hot water bottle against her chest to get the air out, with the lid partially screwed on. She squeezed too hard and the water squirted out and scalded her chest. She ended up at A&E and had weeks of getting her dressings changed at the burns clinic. I used to do exactly the same thing with my own hot water bottle from I was 11 or 12. Sheer luck I wasn’t scalded. It’s a bloody stupid thing to do to be fair.

I can’t stand the sickly smell of those wheat bags though.

Well that’s just fucking stupid isn’t it

Swipe left for the next trending thread