With temperatures dropping and energy prices rising, many of us are whipping out hot water bottles to keep warm on a budget.
Now a consumer expert is warning people to check the age of their hot water bottle in order to avoid serious injury.
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Appearing on ITV show, This Morning, Alice Beer warned that a hot water bottle more than three years old can cause burns due to perished rubber.
She told Holly and Phil that a parent had contacted her after their child had suffered third-degree burns from a burst hot water bottle.
"Half of hot water bottle injuries need skin grafts and surgeries," she said. "These are not surface burns, they go really deep."
In order to ascertain the age of your hot water bottle, you need to check its manufacture date, located on the outside of the hot water bottle.
After removing the cover from a hot water bottle you will see what is known as a "daisy wheel date". In the middle of the wheel, there will be a number to indicate the year it was made. e.g. "22", indicates the hot water bottle was made in 2022.
Outside the wheel are 12 segments, to show the month of manufacture. If there are dots inside the first segment, it was made in January, if there are dots in the second segment, it was made in February and so on. The number of dots indicates the number of weeks-so three dots in the first segment means it was made in the third week of January.
Alice also warned these Morning viewers not to pour boiling water in a hot water bottle, and to remove the cover when filing it up so you can be sure what condition the rubber is in.
