Children's Laundry Hampers May Present Severe Laceration Hazard

Washington, DC -- The "Dirty Dunk" and "Dirty Dunk, Jr." children's laundry hampers manufactured by Charlico, Inc., of Dallas, TX, may present a severe laceration hazard. Both of these products consist of a laundry basket attached to a backboard in the form of a basketball hoop and basket. The Dirty Dunk is mounted to an interior door with S-shaped hooks and a mounting bracket. The Dirty Dunk, Jr. is hung on an interior door with S-shaped hooks and plastic chain. The S-shaped hooks of either product could bend when partially loaded with clothes, and permit the unit to fall from the door and hit the user, typically a child.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) learned of the problem with the laundry hampers from a consumer complaint. The CPSC is aware of three incidents resulting from Dirty Dunks separating and falling from the S-shaped hooks. A five year-old boy suffered a fractured finger and a laceration requiring seven stitches. A three year-old boy suffered a partial amputation of a finger. An adult was struck on the back of the head while removing clothes from the hamper.

Approximately 120,000 Dirty Dunks with defective S-shaped (white-colored) hooks were sold between June 1988 and March 1989. Approximately 20,000 Dirty Dunk, Jrs. with defective S-shaped (white-colored) hooks were sold between June 1989 and December 1989. Charlico discontinued the use of the white-colored hooks in March 1989, and thereafter, used stronger, orange-colored hooks.

Because Charlico, Inc. has recently gone out of business, it is not recalling or repairing the product. Any consumer who has a Dirty Dunk or a Dirty Dunk, Jr. with white-colored S-shaped hooks should immediately stop using the product and (1) either destroy and discard the unit, or (2) replace the white S-shaped hooks with substantially stronger S-shaped hooks. This kind of product is generally available at hardware stores.

The CPSC is the Federal agency responsible for product safety, and is issuing this warning as part of its mission to protect the public from unreasonable risks of injury and death associated with consumer products. Some 15,000 kinds of products fall within the Commission's jurisdiction and each year these products are involved in an estimated 29 million injuries and 22,000 deaths.