21/01/2026
Do you know how to tell how old your hot water bottle is?
If you remove the cover and look closely inside or around the neck you should be able to find a daisy wheel symbol embossed in the rubber - like the one shown in my second image.
The number printed in the centre of that daisy wheel is the year the bottle was manufactured. Some bottles additionally contain dots in the twelve segments around the centre and you can use those to work out which month the bottle was manufactured in. Mine contains dots in the first four segments, so was likely manufactured in April of 2025.
The powers that be recommend that you replace your hot water bottle after two years of use. However it's worth noting that bottles can take up to a year from manufacture to make their way onto shop floors (I doubt you'd be able to find a 2026 bottle in the shops just yet!)
And that's not to say that all bottles over two years old are dangerous or that all bottles under two years old are completely safe. Following the safety guidelines (things like using hot but not boiling water, and storing your bottle empty) is the best way to prolong its useful life
And if your bottle does date from 2022 or earlier, give it a good once-over for signs of wear or damage before using it
(If you can't find a daisy wheel, then you may have a really old bottle, or one that doesn't meet UK standards. Check to see if it mentions BS 1970:2012 anywhere - that's the relevant UK standard and should definitely be stamped on the bottle. If you can't find any mention of that either, you probably need to get a new bottle)
