The Recall Desk
Our severity:SevereCPSC·91067·Announced 1991-05-16

Charlico Dirty Dunk Jr. Children's Laundry Hampers Recalled for Laceration Hazard

CPSC warns that Charlico Dirty Dunk Jr. laundry hampers may fall and cause severe lacerations. Consumers with white hooks should stop using the product.

What this means for you

Our assessment, not the agency’s: severity 4/5 (Severe).

The hazard poses a serious risk of illness, injury, or structural failure. Stop using the product immediately and contact the manufacturer for a refund or repair.

Our severity reasoning: The recall involves significant injury reports, including a partial amputation of a finger and a fractured finger, which aligns with the rubric criterion for 'significant injury/property-damage reports.'

Plain-English summary

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is issuing a warning regarding "Dirty Dunk" and "Dirty Dunk, Jr." children's laundry hampers manufactured by Charlico, Inc. of Dallas, TX. These products consist of a laundry basket attached to a backboard in the form of a basketball hoop. The Dirty Dunk is mounted to an interior door with S-shaped hooks and a mounting bracket, while the Dirty Dunk, Jr. is hung on an interior door with S-shaped hooks and plastic chain.

The S-shaped hooks on these units could bend when partially loaded with clothes, causing the unit to fall from the door and strike the user, typically a child. The CPSC learned of the issue from a consumer complaint and is aware of three incidents where the hampers separated and fell. Injuries included a fractured finger and laceration requiring seven stitches in a five-year-old boy, a partial amputation of a finger in a three-year-old boy, and an adult being struck on the back of the head.

Approximately 120,000 Dirty Dunks with defective white-colored S-shaped hooks were sold between June 1988 and March 1989. Approximately 20,000 Dirty Dunk, Jrs. with defective white-colored S-shaped hooks were sold between June 1989 and December 1989. Charlico discontinued the use of white-colored hooks in March 1989 and replaced them with stronger orange-colored hooks. Because Charlico, Inc. has gone out of business, it is not recalling or repairing the product. Consumers with units featuring white-colored S-shaped hooks should immediately stop using them and either destroy the unit or replace the hooks with substantially stronger ones available at hardware stores.

The recalled product

Product
Dirty Dunk Jr. children's laundry hampers
Manufacturer
Charlico
Category
Consumer Product — Laundry Storage
Hazard

Distribution

Distributed nationwide across the United States.

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