SALES of hot water bottles are hot stuff.
One of the best budget ways to get toasty, online searches for them have risen by 642 PER CENT in the past three months.
But which one stays hot for longest?
Laura Stott tested eight value buys, filled with the recommended two-thirds of water which had boiled then cooled for a few minutes, and marks them out of five.
Capacity: 2L. Heat Time: 5.5hrs
With a thick, furry cover, this looked more expensive than it was and performed well.
Easy to fill, it is thermoplastic, not rubber, so is sturdier. A shame the cover attaches by elastic around the pour point, as this exposes drips of water.
Rating: 3/5
Capacity: 1.5L. Heat Time: 5hrs
Very soft, generously sized cover is easy to use. It’s nicely designed on the reverse to completely cover the bottle and pour point with a secure Velcro fastener – and there’s a handy hook for storage.
Superb value, looks good and cuddly too.
Rating: 5/5
Capacity: 2L. Heat Time: 3.5hrs
Decent basic at a friendly price. Easy to fill with no leaks.
Although the material was thin and the bottle flimsy, it hung on to heat well.
Could do with a slightly more secure fastening on the rear closure and had a strong rubbery smell.
Rating: 3/5
Capacity: 1.5L. Heat Time: 3hrs 45
A great fun option for kids.
The cover is machine washable and designed to fit snuggly.
I liked the generous overlap of fastening fabric, making it secure yet easy to remove and refit.
Stayed toasty for almost four hours.
Rating: 3/5
Capacity: 2L. Heat Time: 5hrs
This fancy faux fur hottie has luxury pile so thick you can run your fingers through it and it retained heat very well.
But the opulent cover shed some fibres and I found threading the stopper fiddly.
Lovely looking, it would make a nice pressie.
Rating: 3/5
Capacity: 2L. Heat Time: 6hrs
At nearly 3ft, this looked like a fluffy draught excluder, but I soon found it indispensable.
You can use it to heat up your whole body, a bit like a mini portable radiator.
But the decorative pom-poms got soaked every time I emptied the bottle.
Rating: 4/5
Capacity: 2L. Heat Time: 1.5hrs
The red fleece at least offers an alternative to the fluffy bottles.
It had been shoe-horned into a super-snug cover, which meant after a measly 90mins, the bottle was already cooling down.
A cup of tea would have kept me warmer for longer.
Rating: 1/5
Capacity: 1.5L. Heat Time: 4.5hrs
Cutesy and teddy bear-style, it has some big fans on social media who enjoy posing with it.
But I had some issues with this one.
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The cover was ditching threads and I had problems with the stopper which didn’t turn easily.
Rating: 2/5
