The Revival of the Hot-Water Bottle

On a cold winter night, few comforts are as simple or as reliable as a hot-water bottle. It requires nothing more than a kettle, takes a minute to prepare and can keep a bed warm for several hours. In an age of electric blankets and central heating, it might seem old-fashioned, yet millions are still sold every year, and in recent winters, as energy bills have risen, sales in Britain have increased sharply.

People have been warming their beds for centuries. In wealthy households of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, servants used warming pans, shallow metal containers with long wooden handles, which were filled with hot coals from the fire and passed between the sheets before the owner went to bed. The pans were effective but had obvious drawbacks: they could scorch the sheets or even set them alight, and they had to be removed before anyone got into bed. Poorer families made do with heated stones or bricks wrapped in cloth, which kept their warmth surprisingly well.

Containers filled with hot water came next. Some were made of stoneware or copper and were often called foot-warmers or 'pigs', apparently because of their rounded shape. They stayed warm for longer than a warming pan and were less likely to cause fires, but they were heavy and hard, and an unlucky sleeper who kicked one in the night could easily injure a toe. They could also leak if the stopper was not properly fitted, leaving the bed soaked.

The rubber hot-water bottle, which first appeared in the early twentieth century, solved several of these problems. Rubber was soft and flexible, so the bottle could mould itself to the body, and a screw stopper made it much less likely to leak. The bottles were light, cheap to produce and easy to store, and they quickly became a familiar feature of homes across Europe. Knitted or fabric covers, often made at home, were added to protect the skin and to make the bottles more attractive, and many families still have covers that have been passed down through several generations.

During the Second World War, when rubber was in short supply, manufacturers turned briefly to older materials, and some families used stoneware bottles that had been stored in attics for decades. After the war, rubber production recovered, and the familiar ribbed design, with raised lines on one side to spread the heat and give a better grip, became standard. Bottles for children, shaped like animals and with soft fabric covers, were introduced later and remain popular as gifts.

Despite its popularity, the hot-water bottle is not without risks. Each year, hospitals treat people for burns caused by bottles that have split or been filled with water straight from a boiling kettle. Rubber gradually perishes with age, and a bottle that looks perfectly sound on the outside may have become weak. Safety campaigners advise using hot rather than boiling water, removing excess air before closing the stopper, and replacing bottles regularly; many modern bottles are stamped with a symbol indicating the date of manufacture so that owners can check how old they are.

Recently, designers have attempted to update the traditional bottle. Some modern versions are made from silicone, which lasts longer than rubber, while others are filled with gel and heated in a microwave rather than with water. Long, thin bottles that can be wrapped around the neck or waist have become popular with people who suffer from back pain. Ingrid Sorensen, who runs a small business making covers from recycled wool, says that many of her customers buy hot-water bottles to ease aches and period pain rather than simply to warm their beds.

The current revival has also been driven by economics. Heating an individual person, rather than an entire house, uses far less energy, and some charities have handed out hot-water bottles to elderly people struggling to afford their heating bills. Sorensen, however, believes that the appeal goes beyond saving money. A hot-water bottle, she says, offers a kind of comfort that is difficult to explain: it is warm, soft and personal, and for many adults it brings back memories of being looked after as a child. Some retailers report that customers now buy several at a time, keeping one for each member of the family.