Can you buy a mains steriliser or bottle warmer at a car boot sale?

Does a car boot treat sterilisers like any other electrical?

Yes — the published checks are written for household electricals, not for a baby-brand logo. RoSPA's second-hand page groups frayed flexes, exposed wires and PAT questions under electrical household products. It names the Plugs and Sockets etc (Safety) Regulations 1994 and the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 as the seller-side law. A steam steriliser, bottle warmer or plug-in night light is still a mains appliance in that frame.

Business Companion tells private sellers: do not treat a boot as the place for unnamed electricals unless the item has a reputable recent source and is complete with its original instructions. Electric fires, blankets and irons are the examples it gives. The same caution is the one that applies to a warmer with no box.

This page is about mains feeding and nursery electricals. It is not a baby-monitor buying guide. Wi-Fi cameras have a separate account-reset problem that a PAT sticker does not touch.

What should I ask about PAT, the flex and the plug?

RoSPA's suggested question is whether a PAT test — portable appliance testing — has been carried out. HSE, which writes the workplace PAT FAQs, is equally clear about what that sticker is not: PAT is not a legal annual duty even for employers, labels are not required by law, and most faults show up on a visual check. A green tick on yellow tape is a record that someone tested that unit on a date. It is not a lifetime pass.

1. 1
   Ask who tested it, and when NCT Nearly New sales require PAT by a qualified electrician for mains items. On a field stall, ask for a name, a date and whether the tester was looking at this exact steriliser or warmer. A sticker with no date is a decoration.
2. 2
   Walk the flex RoSPA's everyday shock example is a frayed cord. Follow the lead from the appliance to the plug. Look for splits, tape, flattened spots and a cable that has pulled out of the grip. If the flex is damaged, leave the item.
3. 3
   Read the plug You want a UK three-pin plug with sleeved live and neutral pins and a maker's mark. GOV.UK's consumer product-safety page tells you to look for UKCA or CE marking and the manufacturer's name and address on electrical goods. A bare brown flex in an unbranded plug is a stop.
4. 4
   Match the lid, basket and jug Steam sterilisers and warmers are only as complete as their parts. A missing basket, cracked jug or warped lid is not a PAT question — it is a missing-parts question. Photograph the model code on the base.
5. 5
   Search the model when you get home RoSPA says to check whether lots of the same product are turning up at boots because of a recall. Use the GOV.UK alerts list. No listing means no recall on file.

What if the instructions are missing?

Business Companion treats missing original instructions as a reason to caution against the sale. RoSPA says you can often download a manual from the maker's website. GOV.UK's staying-safe page says the same for second-hand goods: if the paper booklet is gone, look on the manufacturer's site before you use the product.

NHS sterilising guidance is written around following the manufacturer's instructions for electric or microwave steam units, and around keeping bottle openings facing down. A warmer or steriliser without a model you can look up is an appliance you cannot match to those instructions. That is a gap, not a homemade workaround.

• Photograph the rating label: volts, watts, model and batch.
• Search that model plus 'instructions' on the maker's UK site — not a random marketplace listing.
• If no manual exists for that exact model, you do not have the steps NHS steam sterilising assumes you will follow.

How is a screened NCT sale different from a field stall?

In shortIn short: ask PAT who/when, walk the flex, read the plug, match the parts, then find the manual and the GOV.UK notice list. A field stall is not an NCT table. A sticker is a date, not a verdict.