However, they can keep you warm wherever you are, throughout the day. People who know hot water bottles usually think of them as bed companions. It can easily be shared by two people and its shape makes it luxuriously comfortable. It can be tied around the waist but is just as practical as a companion on the couch or in the bed. ![]() Finally, the most successful novelty has the form of a hot dog: it’s a hot water bottle 80 centimetres long. There are now also larger hot water bottles available, which hold up to three litres of water or more. Judging by their covers, these are mostly aimed at children, but they can be just as useful for adults who can carry them in pockets or put them inside clothing. A first novelty are much smaller rectangular bottles, which hold between 0.2 and 0.8 litres of water. However, in spite of its dull image, the hot water bottle has seen some interesting innovations lately. The typical hot water bottle has a rectangular shape and holds up to two litres of water. In spite of its dull image, the hot water bottle has seen some interesting innovations lately. I have successfully used metal drinking bottles and even plastic PET-bottles – more about those later. Of course any sealable container can function as a hot water bottle. Its use dates back to the fifteenth century when it was made from metal or stoneware. The distinctly shaped Japanese hot water bottle – the “yutampo” – is usually of that type. A third option – a bit harder to find – are plastic hot water bottles without chemical softeners, which are rigid instead of flexible. It’s often a bit cheaper and can be made transparant, but unlike rubber it contains toxic chemicals (which make the plastic flexible). The classical hot water bottle for sale today is either made from rubber or PVC plastic. It may well be true, because all over the world there’s a long tradition of using “water skins” for storing liquids. Spanish friends told me that hot water bottles used to be made from animal skins, but I could not verify this. It was only with the invention of vulcanised rubber in the nineteenth century that more comfortable lightweight and flexible hot water bottles became an option. Initially, these first “real” hot water bottles were made from hard materials such as glass, metal, or stoneware. Over time, hot coals were replaced by hot water, which is a cleaner and safer heat storage medium. 3 Most were made of metal, either brass or copper, and placed inside wooden or ceramic enclosures to prevent skin burns. These were used as foot warmers, hand warmers, and bed warmers. 2 Personal heating devices also took the form of objects – stones, bricks, potatoes – that were heated in or near the fire, wrapped in cloth or paper, and kept in people’s laps, in pockets, or in the bed.Īs early as the 1500s, people started to use all kinds of portable containers filled with hot coals from the fire. In the eighteenth century, wealthy women kept specially bred “hand dogs” – toy poodles – around to keep their lap and hands warm. They snuggled up against cows and pigs, which were either sharing the living space or lived in the stables below it. 1 People also took advantage of the heat from animals – “hot water bottles” with a standard fur cover. For example, it was common for the whole family to sleep together in the same bed – and this included potential visitors. Since time immemorial, people have warmed themselves by huddling together. The first “hot water bottles” – quite literally – were other people and animals. In fact, the history of the hot water bottle goes back thousands of years, albeit in different guises. The history of the hot water bottleĬroat inventor Eduard Penkala patented the rubber hot water bottle – which he dubbed the “Termofor” – in 1903. It’s largely based on my personal experience – I have been using hot water bottles for many years and they are the only heat source in my apartment. Because I don’t have the time nor the budget to send hot water bottles to everyone, I have written this article. People show themselves very much surprised that such a humble object can provide so much comfort. Nevertheless, when I sent two dozen hot water bottles to friends and family as a Christmas present, the reactions were almost unanimously enthusiastic. If people know of it, they usually associate it with pain relief rather than thermal comfort, or they consider its use an outdated practice for the poor and the elderly. ![]() The hot water bottle is still a common household item in some places – such as the UK and Japan – but it is largely forgotten or disregarded in most of the industrialised world. A hot water bottle is a sealable container filled with hot water, often enclosed in a textile cover, which is directly placed against a part of the body for thermal comfort.
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