Hot water bottle exploded ***title edited by Mumsnet HQ to clear up any confusion***

[Idid20yrsinthecan]

AIBU for not knowing they had an expiration date: 2yrs after date of production. Mine was produced July 2006. Everything OK, aside from wet bed.

A colleague of mine really seriously burnt herself like this, so for all the "well mine is made of sterner stuff" people be warned - they're fine until they're not... seems daft to risk serious burns not to replace them!

Thank goodness you escaped a scalding. As others have said, rubber perishes over time, especially if you put boiling water in them. During heatwaves there are often posts on here suggesting filling a bottle and then freezing it, which is all very well until you want to use it for hot water again in the winter...

Glad you didn't get scalded OP! And thanks for this post, we'll be digging ours out shortly I'm sure, so we will definitely check the expiry dates!!

Newer ones all have an expiry date - it’s a little daisy wheel with the year in the middle and month on a petal.

I think infrequent use is worse, because the deterioration gets severe and then you have explosions rather than a less dramatic tearing.

Lots of things are made in China, I find it weird how some people have such a knee jerk reaction that made in China= bad. Especially over a rubber hot water bottle! Rubber degrades no matter where it’s made, most people know hot water bottles aren’t for life 😂

You dodged a bullet there OP, my work colleague had a terrible experience when one burst on his foot, it was so bad he had to have skin grafts and a huge amount of time off work. He's left with awful scars.

It does happen. Lots of them say in the small print "replace after five years". When not using them, it's best to store them empty, with the stopper removed.

When filling, remember it is important to expel the air, which makes it less likely to burst: air can be compressed, water cannot. Fill it about two thirds full; and if pouring straight from the kettle, without a funnel, pour SLOWLY, otherwise the hot water can splash. To expel the air, hold the bottle by the neck, and lower it against a flat surface, until the water appears at the top. Then put the stopper in.

As an aside, a book I have describes a Victorian doll-shaped bottle, bearing this rhyme:
Patty Comfort's a rubber-lined dolly,
To hug any other is folly.
When filled full of air,
She's light and she's fair,
And filled with hot water she's jolly.

There's also the lovely book from the 1970s Phoebe and the Hot Water bottles, in which seven-year-old Phoebe loves her one hundred and fifty-seven bottles, and treats them like dolls and pets. It's now sadly out of print, and very difficult to buy, because some of the attitudes of the time don't sit well today (giving children puppies as presents, and putting out fire yourself).

I'm pretty sure the last one I bought was silicone. It's translucent. All the ones available in our town at that time (about 10 years ago) were the same material, whatever shop they were in. I'll have to check if the same applies to them. I don't use it but my son does very occasionally, when he's visiting. When I was a child, ours were steel. They had to be wrapped very carefully and put into the bed well in advance of anyone getting in.

My grandma had stone hot water bottles.

I use fire bags rather than hot water bottles......I've just checked and there are no expiration dates - hopefully if one was going to burst it would do it while being boiled rather than when being used for heat.

However, I thought this thread was going to be about soda stream bottles which I was amused to discover have an expiry date. DH says it's due to the pressure from the bubbles, but if one were to burst although you'd get very wet you wouldn't be scalded.

@AlmondsAreGreat but do keep it! It's a lovely, sentimental thing to have isn't it?

Afternoon, all. Just here to let you know we've edited the thread title to make clear this was a hot water bottle, not a bottle of Evian etc.

Same with tyres - supposed to be replaced every few years, even if plenty of tread left - the rubber degrades over time.

Expensive surprise last time DS had a service for his low mileage 8 year old car that was still on the original tyres!

To remind you all to throw out old hot water bottles www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amibeing_unreasonable/5068468-to-remind-you-all-to-throw-out-old-hot-water-bottles

This is the thread I won't forget @Maray1967 @MeAgainAndAgain

I was so grateful to that poster for raising awareness. I think everyone on the thread threw away their old hot water bottles away and replaced them

Ah bugger I should have checked before I posted - yes the same one I remember. Poor woman x

I've had one leak but was able to get it out of the bed pronto. They really should have the expiration info clearly displayed on the packet though.

I also think though that rubber/plastic products seem much crappier than they used to be, almost as if they are made to break down/leak etc sooner. The other day I put on a pair of hardly used walking boots - been in the cupboard for a couple of years. I hadn't walked 20 metres when the (perfect looking, barely used) chunky moulded rubbery soles proceeded to disintegrate into chunks and powder all over the pavement. Had to send DH back to get me another pair of shoes or I'd have been through to my socks. Also have an e-reader where the black rubbery casing is permanently sticky, a sign that it's degrading.

I know some one who was badly injured by one. I will onky buy the cushions things which you microwave now.

This happened to my mum, luckily she wasn’t burned. She is 76 and this has never happened before even though she is one of the few people in the world who does actually replace them regularly. My Boots one from 1988 lasted decades!

I prefer a bean bag thing you microwave.
But I have a few “jars” as we call them and they are probably past their best.
Will retire them.

Mine too. Called them “jars” so we still refer to the rubber/ plastic hot water bottles as “jars” 🙂

I didn't know this either....but do know alot of people don't leave enough room at the top to push the air out before putting the lid on. You need to make sure there's no air in the bottle and it's not inflated if that makes sense.

Also says don't use boiling water....I always do. I boil a kettle which is a big no.no but never had a hot water bottle explode.

Hot water bottles are not supposed to have boiling water poured into them. I think most people who get burnt when they pop have done this.

I had no idea they had an expiration date!

I knew a woman who was seriously scalded when a hot water bottle burst. I wouldn’t use them ever again for that reason. I’d rather use the wheat bags you can heat in the microwave - you could still burn yourself with them but the sudden failure is much less likely.