If you’ve ever seen the flower-shaped symbol on your hot water bottle, you might have thought it was just there for decoration. But it has an important safety meaning - and a viral post on Facebook has alerted people to what it means.
North Wales mum Kaylee Whormsley made a Facebook post advising people to check the flower symbol to find out when their hot water bottle was made, The Mirror reports. The post, which has now racked up more than 95,000 views, was based on a recent segment on ITV’s This Morning.
If your hot water bottle is more than three years old, experts say it’s time to get a new one. This is because older water bottles may be at greater risk of bursting open, which can leave people with serious scalding.
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How long do hot water bottles last?
Quality hot water bottles typically last two or three years, although some hot water bottles may need replacing much sooner than this. If your hot water bottle is more than three years old, it’s best to replace it with a new one.
You should not wait until your hot water bottle leaks before buying a replacement. Always check your bottle for signs of wear - including splits and leaks - each time before you use it.
Hot water bottles are susceptible to wear and tear over time. Older hot water bottles are more susceptible to splits, which can cause users serious injury and leave them with painful burns.
What does the flower on hot water bottles mean?
The flower symbol on hot water bottles indicates when they were made. In the centre of the flower is a date indicating the year - so, 22 for those made in 2022 - and 12 petals indicating the month the hot water bottle was manufactured.
So if, for example, your hot water bottle has six dots in the petals, this indicates it was made in the sixth month of the year - which is June. Consumer expert Alice Beer explained what the symbols mean during an appearance on ITV ’s This Morning last month.
“Inside you have got a daisy wheel date. It’s got 12 segments and in the middle of this one you have got a 22. This one was made in 2022,” she explained, demonstrating using a hot water bottle she was holding.
“You have 12 segments around the outside, and those are the months. You can tell the month it was manufactured from when the dots end. It’s got dots in eight segments so it was made in August.”
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