Caution, expired! Why you should probably chuck your hot-water bottle
30.5.2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Did you know your hot water bottles have an expiration date just like food? Until recently, I didn’t either. I was all the more surprised to discover an official «TÜV» safety label on it. Find out how old yours is. And what can happen if you go over the expiration date.
Admittedly, my hot water bottle is living a shadowy existence in a bathroom drawer. Most of the time I forget I even have one. But every now and then it’s brought out. When my children have a belly ache, or menstrual cramps are giving me a hard time, for example. I only realised I should’ve got rid of our silent roommate a long time ago when I read about Jade McKenna (article in German).
The 29-year-old woman from England wanted to relieve her abdominal pain when the hot water bottle burst in her hands. The boiling water caused second-degree burns on her arm. Was she just really unlucky? Maybe. Nevertheless, Jade McKenna’s s not an isolated case. If you google hot water bottle accidents, you’ll find dozens of news reports about similar accidents. Plus the images of scalded body parts to go with it.
The culprit was usually the same in all cases: an expired hot water bottle.
Where’s the expiration stamp?
Very few people know that hot water bottles have a sell-by date. But while we’re pretty good at checking food and regularly dispose of the expired tablets in our medicine cabinet, our hot water bottle has remained unchecked in our cupboard for years. The rule of thumb is that it should actually be replaced every two to three years. The rubber becomes porous over time, the cap can come loose or the entire container can explode.
For this reason, hot water bottles now have their production date marked on the bottle itself. You may have to look for it for a while, as it’s embossed in small letters and doesn’t stand out from the rest in terms of colour. What’s more, most rubber bottles have a pretty sleeve around them. But when you find the production date, you’ll probably be as amazed as I was. It even gives you the exact week it was made.
Source: Katja Fischer
The stamp looks like a round «TÜV» sticker or an old emissions test sticker on a car. The year is marked inside the circle, the grid on the outside stands for the months and the dots inside the grid symbolise the weeks.
So if the production date is May 2021, that’s just about okay for the time being. Any bottles older than that should be thrown out. The case of the English woman demonstrates that you shouldn’t wait to dispose of your bottle. The hot water bottle that exploded on her arm was just five months past its expiry date.
My specimen is ancient
Things are way worse with my bottle. In fact, I can tell without looking at the badge that it’s long passed its prime. I think I bought it during my pregnancy, which was eight years ago. Nevertheless, I peel the bottle out of its light-blue fleece cover with the Bremen Town Musicians embroidered on it.
The stamp confirms my guess: 2015! To be more precise, my bottle was produced in the third week of February 2015 – so it’s already over nine years old. Practically dead.
It would never have occurred to me to banish it from my house in 2018. Why should I have? It was still working fine, after all. At least that’s what I assumed without inspecting it more closely. I’ve just been lucky.
What I also know now: in addition to the expiration date, there are other things you should bear in mind when using a hot water bottle.
- Check material before use: Is the bottle porous or cracked?
- No boiling water: To avoid the risk of burns and to protect the bottle, don’t fill it with water that’s too hot or even boiling.
- Don’t overfill: Fill to a maximum of two thirds and remove excess air before closing so that there’s no pressure inside.
- Empty after use: Empty the hot water bottle immediately after use and don’t leave it lying around. Otherwise the limy water could damage the material.
I’ve now disposed of my old hot water bottle. Bye-bye Bremen Town Musicians! When my younger daughter spotted the discarded item in the rubbish, she suddenly developed a belly ache. I offer her a warm cherry stone cushion instead. Together, we start looking for a new roommate who will call our bathroom cabinet home for the next three years.
Header image: Katja Fischer
Katja Fischer
Senior Editor
Katja.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.chMom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.