Daily Mail

Which of the stylish new hotties will YOU snuggle up to?

Gran will be pleased! Hot water bottles are suddenly hip . . .

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With a chill still definitely in the air, more people are seeking comfort in the bottle — and not the type that leaves you with a hangover.

Sales of hot water bottles have risen by 80 per cent in the past year to their highest figure since the Sixties as families look to keep warm without incurring sky-high heating bills.

And unlike the smelly, leaky rubber ones of yesteryear, today’s hotties come in many guises, so you should be toasty in all the right places. here, MANDY FRANCIS puts them to the test . . .

THE ONE YOU WEAR

Yuyu Luxury Fleece Wearable Long Bottle, £33, yuyubottle.com A 32in-long rubber bottle (main picture) in a soft fabric cover with a strap that allows you to tie it around your shoulders, waist or back, like a sling.

it arrived beautifull­y packaged in a very long gift box. Unwrapped, however, it was a bit of a disappoint­ment at first.

Looking like an oddly deflated sausage or an ageing draught excluder, it morphed into something like an unwieldy eel when filled with hot water.

But if you can get past its appearance, this is a great option. Cleverly designed, pockets of air are trapped between the soft fleecy cover and the bumpy surface of the rubber bottle. the trapped air acts as extra insulation and helps to keep it hotter for longer.

And it really was still warm in the morning. it felt wonderfull­y comfy and soothing slung around sore shoulders or positioned across an aching back, too. 5/5

CASHMERE COMFORT

Cashmere Hug A Hottie, £95 including bottle, notonthehi­ghstreet.com A SimpLe rubber hot- water bottle with a luxurious cable-knit cashmere cover with handwarmin­g pockets — finally, here’s a hottie you really will want to show off!

Yes, it’s expensive, but if you’re looking for a treat, this 100 per cent cashmere hot water bottle cover is it. Super soft, and perfect for snuggling up with on the sofa, the pockets on either side allow you to give yourself a nice warm hug while you work your way through your next tV box set.

But steer clear of chocolate biscuits while you’ve got this pricey item on your lap — as we all know, washing cashmere can be a nightmare. 3/5

SLIP-ON COSINESS

Vagabond Two Litre Hot Water Bottle Foot Warmer, £15, qvcuk.com A LArge, convention­al rubber hot water bottle in a thick fleecy cover which has two integral slipper slots for your feet. Just fill the bottle, sit down and slide your feet into the ‘ slipper’ sections to keep them nice and warm.

You wouldn’t want a hot date to see you using this, but if you suffer from cold feet, it could be a godsend: my mother is always complainin­g about cold extremetie­s — even when her flat is warm — so after testing this i passed it on to her to try.

the hot water bottle is a convention­al one, so bar the usual fiddly stopper, it’s easy to fill.

the soft cover and slipper section was very cosy and my mum liked the non-slip surface on the base of the foot warmer, which stopped it sliding about.

the fabric is washable, a big plus if you want to use it regularly. On the downside, you have to sit with your feet together, which can be uncomforta­ble after a while. 3/5

CUDDLY COMPANION

Warmies Ragdoll Jilly, £12.95, intelex.co.uk A rAg doll stuffed with millet seeds and dried lavender. heat the doll in your microwave for 90 seconds for a warm, lavender- scented companion to your slumbers. this lovely- looking, highqualit­y rag doll was bigger than expected at about 1ft tall when stretched out — and a hit with my young daughter Florence. Watching the doll revolve in the microwave for 90 seconds was a bit creepy but, as promised, ‘Jilly’ was still smiling, and very warm and fragrant when she came out.

the only part of the doll that warms up is the torso, so it won’t heat a whole bed — but the soothing lavender fragrance makes up for it. Florence, who sleeps in the chilliest bedroom in the house, and usually takes 30 minutes or so to settle down to sleep, dropped off immediatel­y.

But the doll was cold again within two hours, so this isn’t an all-night option. 4/5

HIGH-TECH HEAT

Beurer Not A Hot Water Bottle, £29.99, argos.co.uk A LArge, fleecy, hot water bottle - shaped electric heat pad. Just plug it in, switch it on and adjust the heat with the illuminate­d control switch on the power cable. the flexible pad moulds to your body and will switch off automatica­lly after 90 minutes for safety. it can be machine washed at 30c, too.

however, it’s not very attractive and looks like a red bath-mat. You adjust the heat setting to suit you and then lay it over your lap, legs or chest. Although flexible, it should not be folded — so it’s best not to sit, lie or sleep on it.

it is lovely and warm and quite a generous size, but feels a little awkward to use, as it has to be plugged in at all times and the cable is not that long. the lead also feels quite heavy with the control panel hanging on it.

But if you’ve got the right spot — near a plug — it’s a great way to warm up on the sofa. it’s economical, too — costing an estimated 0.014p an hour to run — but a bit like the hot water slippers, you wouldn’t want your friends to see you using it. 2/5

IT’LL LEAVE YOU COLD

Hot Wheatabott­le, £18.50, notonthe highstreet.com thiS is a hand printed and sewn cotton bag in the shape of a hot water bottle — but it’s actually filled with wheat. Just heat it up in the microwave for 90 seconds.

this was half the size i imagined it would be — about 6in x 9in. the calico fabric and screen-printed pattern are pretty, but the wheat inside gives off an odd doughy fragrance once it’s heated.

Almost too hot to use when it first came out of the microwave, it stayed warm for a couple of hours. But it’s far too small to keep you cosy in bed.

perhaps it would do a better job of soothing sore knees and elbows. On the plus side, it doubles up as an ice pack. place it in a plastic bag in the freezer and use it to cool and soothe sprains. 1/5

SUPERSIZED WHOPPER

Vagabond Extra Large Ribbed Hot water Bottle, £8.95, amazon.co.uk An extrA large — 2.7 litre — traditiona­l rubber hot water bottle. the good thing about this giant is that it stays warm for longer — around four hours — than a smaller bottle. i needed to boil two kettles to fill it and it was hot and heavy once full, although it does have a built-in handle. it heated up so much i had to wrap it in an old t-shirt to protect my toes in bed. But, that done, it warmed the bed up really well. On the downside, it was cold and flabby once cool — and i dread to think what would happen if it ever sprung a leak. 4/5

FIDDLY TO FILL

Pill-shaped Hot Water Bottle, £29.95, cuckooland.com A CirCULAr bottle made from soft plastic that sits inside a zipup sleeve of neoprene — the same material used to make wetsuits, so it’s very insulating and keeps the bottle warm.

it has a central nylon cap and a pop-up funnel intended to make filling easy. the cover helps keep this warm for up to five hours — twice as long as a convention­al bottle.

But the cap and funnel were actually a bit fiddly, especially when the bottle was cold and so less flexible. it’s best to sit it flat on a kitchen surface to fill it. A kettleful is all you need. 3/5

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