All items · Health & beauty
Hot water bottles
Also covers: hottie, rubber bottle
Can you donate hot water bottles to a UK charity shop? It depends.
The short answer
It depends
Of the 153 UK charities we track, 12 say no and 4 may accept in some cases. 1 of those is a category-wide rule rather than a direct mention.
Evidence last verified
Why shops may refuse it
Rubber perishes with age and a burst bottle can scald — there's no reliable way to date or test a used one.
What to do instead
Rubber ones can go to some specialist recycling; the covers are ordinary textile recycling.
Charity by charity
16 mentions-
Can't accept
Refused even if new; also covers microwave heat bags.
Their wording
“Hot water bottles or microwave heat bags – EVEN IF NEW”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Hot water bottles”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Hot water bottles”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Duvets, pillows (unless new & sealed), electric blankets & hot water bottles”
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Can't accept
Nightingale House Hospice category-wide rule
Stated as a whole item type they don't accept.
Their wording
“Health & personal care items”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Thank you for thinking of us. Unfortunately, we’re unable to accept this item for health and safety reasons. We can’t guarantee to our customers that second-hand safety equipment is still fully protective or hasn’t been damaged before.”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Hot Water Bottles”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Hot water bottles”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Hot water bottles or wheat bags”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“hot water bottles”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Electric blankets and hot water bottles”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Hot water bottles”
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Check first
only accepted new/unused, not used
Their wording
“Used Hot water bottles (new items can be sold)”
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Check first
Only used hot water bottles are refused.
Their wording
“Used hot water bottles”
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Check first
Only used hot water bottles are refused (safety reasons); new ones are not addressed.
Their wording
“Used hot water bottles (safety reasons).”
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Check first
Accepted only if new and sealed in original packaging.
Their wording
“Hot water bottles (unless new and sealed in their original packaging)”
Not mentioned in 137 charities' guidance
Absence from a charity's list doesn't mean they accept it — it just isn't singled out. Ask your local shop.
- Accord Hospice
- Acorns Children's Hospice
- Age UK
- Ardgowan Hospice
- Ashgate Hospicecare
- Ayrshire Hospice
- Barnardo's
- Barnsley Hospice
- Blythe House Hospice
- Bolton Hospice
- British Heart Foundation
- British Red Cross
- Butterwick Hospice
- Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS)
- Claire House Children's Hospice
- Cornwall Hospice Care
- Cransley Hospice Trust
- Crisis
- Demelza Hospice Care for Children
- Derian House Children's Hospice
- Dogs Trust
- Dorothy House
- Douglas Macmillan Hospice
- East Lancashire Hospice
- Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw, Cumbria's Children's Hospice
- Ellenor
- Emmaus
- FARA Charity Shops
- Farleigh Hospice
- Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity
- Forget Me Not Children's Hospice
- Garden House Hospice Care
- Great Oaks Hospice
- Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
- Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice
- Heart of Kent Hospice
- Helen & Douglas House
- Highland Hospice
- Hope House & Ty Gobaith Children's Hospices
- Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland
- Hospice in the Weald
- Hospice Isle of Man
- Hospice of the Good Shepherd
- Hospice of the Valleys
- Jersey Hospice Care
- Julia's House
- Katharine House Hospice (Stafford)
- Katharine House Hospice, Banbury
- Keech Hospice Care
- KEMP Hospice
- Lindsey Lodge Hospice
- Longfield Community Hospice
- LOROS Hospice
- Marie Curie
- Martin House Children's Hospice
- Mountbatten Isle of Wight
- Moya Cole Hospice
- Naomi House & Jack's Place
- North Devon Hospice
- North London Hospice
- Nottinghamshire Hospice
- Octavia Foundation
- Overgate Hospice
- Oxfam
- PDSA
- Pendleside Hospice
- Phyllis Tuckwell
- Pilgrims Hospices
- Primrose Hospice
- Princess Alice Hospice
- Prospect Hospice
- Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People
- Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care
- Rotherham Hospice
- Rowans Hospice
- Royal Trinity Hospice (London)
- Saint Francis Hospice
- Salvation Army (SATCoL)
- Samaritans
- Save the Children
- Scope
- Sense Scotland
- Severn Hospice
- Shaw Trust
- Shelter
- Shooting Star Children's Hospices
- Southern Hospice Group
- Springhill Hospice
- St Andrew's Hospice (Lanarkshire)
- St Barnabas Hospice (Lincolnshire)
- St Catherine's Hospice (Crawley)
- St Catherine's Hospice (Lancashire)
- St Christopher's Hospice
- St Clare Hospice
- St Columba's Hospice
- St David's Hospice Care
- St Giles Hospice
- St Helena Hospice
- St John's Hospice (Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal & Garstang)
- St John's Hospice (London)
- St Luke's Cheshire Hospice
- St Luke's Hospice (Harrow & Brent)
- St Luke's Hospice Basildon & Thurrock
- St Luke's Hospice Plymouth
- St Margaret's Hospice Care (Somerset)
- St Mary's Hospice
- St Michael's Hospice (North Hampshire)
- St Nicholas Hospice Care
- St Peter & St James Hospice
- St Peter's Hospice
- St Raphael's Hospice
- St Richard's Hospice
- St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
- St Vincent's Hospice
- Strathcarron Hospice
- Thames Hospice
- The Children's Trust
- The Kirkwood
- The Myton Hospices
- The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice
- The Prince of Wales Hospice
- The Shakespeare Hospice
- Traid
- Treetops Hospice Trust
- Trinity Hospice (Blackpool)
- Tynedale Hospice at Home
- Weldmar Hospicecare
- Wigan and Leigh Hospice
- Willen Hospice
- Willow Burn Hospice
- Willow Wood Hospice
- Willowbrook Hospice
- Wirral Hospice St John's
- Wisdom Hospice
- Woking & Sam Beare Hospices
- Woodgreen Pets Charity
- YMCA (England & Wales)