To remind you all to throw out old hot water bottles

[Qwertyyui]

I just learned the hard way that old ones do burst and boiling water actually can remove skin from your body! I never realised it could cause such damage and assumed if it happened I'd have a light red mark not a nurse peeling skin off my thigh! If it's more than 2 years replace it!

Get well soon OP.

I have some that have been barely used but are quite old - I guess they get binned tomorrow.

Get well.soon and thanks for sharing.

I never heard of the expiry date thing but have just chucked two in the bin as a result.

Fucking hell - get well soon OP. I had no idea this could happen. Thank you for sharing and hope you have a quick and straightforward recovery.

Annoyingly I actually ordered a new one recently from a big and reputable looking hot water bottle dealer on Amazon because I was feeling health and safety conscious and the one that arrived was manufactured 2 years ago, so probably still worth checking the embossed date. I would imagine the same would happen in small chemists, seems like the kind of stock that could sit around quite a while.

Mine's over a decade old. Never occurred to me they have a use by date 😬.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

How have I never heard about this before! Thank you for the warning; I will be replacing mine tomorrow…just shy of their 10th birthday 😂

Wishing you better x

Ouch. All of ours are at least 10 years old and DH puts almost boiling water in them.

In the bin they go.

That looks painful but you are not suppose to fill them with boiling water from the kettle

Hope you’re okay op.

Thank you, I am binning all ours tomorrow.

Get well really soon xx

That looks very painful. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

I sat on one and it split about a year ago. I was ok tho - must have an asbestos arse.

Someone I follow on Facebook had bad period pain, tucked a hot water bottle down her leggings while laid on the sofa. The bottle burst & she was scalded on her stomach, groin & thighs, she had to have several skin grafts & it took ages to heal, she was on morphine for weeks after.

As well as not using boiling water (which is clearly written on mine), the article linked above also says not to fill directly from the tap because the copper from the pipe can affect the rubber.
I am wary of some of the microwave ones (wheat bags) as heard they can combust.

Ouch ! Sorry you've had that horrid experience
Thank you for the warming
Hope you heal real soon 💐💐

Oh poor you OP! Burns are awful, I used to dread this with my gran (she would never use a cover and made it so hot).
I once had one disintegrate as I filled it. Fortunately I jumped back before it got me. Made a mess but didn’t get burned.

I use a modern hot water bottle, and one of these - the antique version, a 'stone pig'. The seal occasionally (10+ years) has to be replaced as the rubber hardens over time, but other than that it'll last a century or more! I wouldn't use them for a child, but for an adult they're fine.

They can be filled with boiling water.

Having a smooth surface, you can sort of skate them over your bottom sheet and take the chill off the entire bed quite quickly.

The surface becomes very hot, so protect your skin either by wrapping the pig in a thin towel, or I just wear bedsocks and then it's safe to have my feet rest on the unwrapped pig.

They'll only burst if you drop them on a solid floor!

You'll find them in charity shops, usually for about £5.

I made a huge mistake a few years ago with some older hot water bottles, I used them during a heatwave to cool down animals (put cold water in and freeze).
They do work really well (yes I am aware of cool mats) . Anyway I then used one as a hot water bottle again the following winter and the whole thing pretty much disintegrated as I put the hot water in, lucky for me I miraculously didn't end up burned.
What happened to me aside I think the problem is they are so cheaply made these days. The ones I had growing up were decades old.
Very sorry for your accident, hope it heals quickly.

I'm always going to have the fear using one after this
And I have a hot water bottle constantly emptied and filled with one lying on my tummy right now

So sorry that happened to you and thanks for the great reminder, it’s one of those things that are not front of mind.

I had one burst recently, fortunately I'd put it in the bed to warm the bed up and when I came back to it, it had ruptured and leaked all over the bed.
I had missed the signs of weakness because I never took the cover off, just emptied and refilled with the cover still in place.

I had a bad burn from a firework (hate the bloody things) and had to be treated at the hospital so I know how painful it is. Hope you get better soon. 🌺

There's heated blankets and throws now that do a much better job.

Depends what you are using the hot water bottle for.

If you are using it for pain relief than a heated blanket/under blanket/throw won't do. Even those microwave heat pads go colder far quicker than a hot water bottle.

Due to the risk of combustion for about 20 years now them and the gel microwave heat pads come with clear instructions on how long you can microwave them for. It is now about a minute when before it used to be microwave until hot.

You poor thing, that looks sooo painful. I just bought ours a few months ago as like to snuggle with it on sofa in evening as has been chilly. How did you manage after you got scalded. Did you have anyone with you at the time to help you. Hope you feel better soon and not in too much pain.