To remind people NOT to use hot water bottles?

i don't have a microwave.
So, shrug, i will continue to sensibly use my hot water bottle if that's ok with you, OP

The microwave ones have been known to catch fire

I will say that hot water bottles have their place (especially the new long ones), and that cherry pip bags also have a use (because they mould to the bit you put them on, and smell nice - at least until you over-microwave them and burn them)
And as a child of the 80s, I grew up with a deathly fear of electric blankets....

BUT...

yeah - a heated underblanket is life-changingly good. Whacking it on when I go up so the bed's toasty by the time I've finished my ablutions is just what I need in winter. As long as you get the ones that switch themselves off after a couple of hours, so you don't wake up sweaty and overheated 4 hours later.

I am not sure HWBs are made of rubber any more?

I think some people are being a tiny bit smug on here about knowing rubber corrodes within 2 years. I didn't. Or if I did, I didn't really connect it with my hotwater bottle. And obviously when it did attack me, I felt a fool with a very scalded thigh. But I think the OP is doing a useful thing in reminding people to check their HWBs and also not fill with boiling water, tempting as that is when you sleep with ice on the inside of your bedroom windows!

But can catch fire, I understand?

Oh dear, there's always something to worry about. Guess I'll just have to go back to using my old copper warming pan filled with smouldering coals.

Alternatively I'm very tempted to buy one of these for the winter; looks safe enough, no water or electricity involved. Although I suppose you could trip over it.

Silentnight Heat Genie Self Heating Giant Blanket - Cosy Warm Sherpa Fleece Throw with Unique Foil Layer to Retain Heat - Extra Large Reversible for Sofa Couch Bed Camping - 180x240cm, Charcoal : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

I had no idea hot water bottles had dates on them. None at all. Or do people just change them every couple of years? We don't use them often, I'd never even have thought about one exploding. Don't you have to remove the air before screwing the top back on?

I'm pretty sure my mum still uses hot water bottles that are older than me.

Surely if they have a two year shelf life it's better to replace them with the safer kind when they need replacing.

Oh do catch yourself on. It’s perfectly possible to have a nice hot water bottle without water hot enough to burn you, you just put a bit of cold in first. And therefore most of the time used properly they are no more dangerous than carrying around a couple of cups of tea or taking a stew out of the oven.

I’m good thanks. Always add a bit of cold water before adding water from the kettle, don’t overfill it, gently squeeze out some of the air before sealing it.

My mum taught me this about 45 years ago.

Yes I’ve experienced two wheat bags catching on fire! Once when I was a teenager and it terrified me. My Mum banned them from the house and we went back to hot water bottles. Then my uni flatmates caught on fire and we ended up with our full accommodation evacuating.

I stick with HWB.

Just keep them in the furry covers with the waterproof lining that modern HWBs have.
I grew up with the old style coverless ones. As a kid a burst HWB was a thing of joy, got to sleep on the sofa while the bed dried. For some reason I thought that was exciting.

Cherry pit bags are pretty good ime. And even if there is a hole in the bag (has happened to me) they tend to fall out one at a time. You’re quite unlike to suddenly be covered by the entire bag (unlike with a burst water bottle…)

(and they’re one of he few things that help with my truly excruciating period pains whilst waiting for the painkillers to kick in…)

Crash

Grew up in a house with no heating upstairs, relying on hot water bottels tonheat our beds before going to sleep. Never once had an issue and knew noone who ever suffered burns from them. I know they can cause burns if your not careful, id just be cautious.

omg when I read this last night I was thinking of when I stayed at my friends and her mum did this, from memory I think it was tizer bottles 😝

Tbh I always hated the idea of having a bag of scalding water in bed with me.

When I was small we had what they called stone bottles, they fell out of the bed with an enormous chasm and woke you up.

This is me, I still remember my Nan screaming at me because I put the electric blanket on during the night when staying at her house in the early 80s. She never shouted at me and I was so upset. I think it’s why I refuse to allow my children to have them

i know the op is getting a hard time but I’m glad of the thread as I knew the risks of water bottles but not wheat bags which my DCs do take to bed. I’m going have to rethink things now.

Hot water bottles were crock before they used rubber - I had a crock hot water bottle at my grans house back when I was a child, she had inherited it from her mother. It was placed in the bed before I went up and then taken out and it left the bed warm for me to get in. You don't have to leave the hot water bottle in the bed, use it to warm the bed and then place on the floor as you get into bed.

Don’t use hot water bottles, ‘cos climate change, innit.
Don’t keep throwing away hot water bottles, ‘cos landfill, innit.
Don’t be cold at night, ‘cos the NHS can’t cope with people being ill, innit.
Something will always be “wrong”, whichever course of action we take.

Oh how I hate 'gentle reminder'.
The word reminder is fine.

Not lucky, just sensible. I replace mine every couple of years and have never put boiling water in as guess what ? If you are sensible you don’t !!

Certainly people need to be told how to use hot water bottles correctly, to minimise risk of burns.

But I don’t these posts saying “AIBU to tell you to
do this, to remind you to do that…” the irritation is up there with “gentle reminder”. You might as well tell people not to drive a car, too dangerous.