People warned over dangers of viral hot water bottle heatwave hack

As the UK faces temperatures that are the highest ever recorded, people are understandably doing everything they can to stay cool.

But one trick to staying cool that has been making its way around social media has been issued with a warning for being potentially dangerous.

In a clip posted on TikTok that has been viewed more than 2.7 million times, user @keats67 explained how they were using a hot water bottle to stay cool.

Captioning the clip, “How to sleep with no A/C in the heat wave”, the 26-second video showed them filling up a hot water bottle with tap water and placing it in the freezer.

Once the water inside had frozen, they then wrapped it in a tea towel and placed it in their bed so their sheets are nice and cool when they get in.

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But, some have warned that freezing a hot water bottle can damage the rubber, making it dangerous to use in winter with boiling water.

A Product Specialist at retailer Terrys has previously warned that freezing a hot water bottle can affect the integrity of the material and may even cause it to burst.

Rebecca Challinor explained to Ideal Home: “Whilst freezing your hot water bottle can be an effective way to have a better night’s sleep in hot weather, it’s advisable once you’ve done this to no longer use the same water bottle during the winter.”

People in the comments section of the TikTok video also warned other users of the dangers.

One person wrote: “Do not reuse with hot water in the winter as the rubber can stretch and pop.”

Another suggested having two hot water bottles, writing: “Have a summer bottle and a winter bottle. It can weaken the rubber and the last thing you want is it bursting with boiling water in it.”

Someone else came up with another alternative, commenting: “Put a bath towel in the freezer too! Once it’s frozen throw it between your blanket and sheet.”

The heatwave in the UK is expected to end today after the Met Office issued its first-ever Red warning for extreme heat on 18 and 19 July.