What does the snowflake icon on a washing machine mean?

Buying a new washing machine is a reason to immediately quit everything and start doing laundry in a new way. This is exactly what many buyers do, who do not even try to first understand the instructions and symbols indicated on the washer. This approach is fundamentally wrong, because all the symbols are needed to set the correct operating mode, which will help not damage the clothes. Of course, you can learn how to wash properly yourself, experimentally, but why learn from your own mistakes if you can learn about the most important symbols in advance? For example, what happens if a snowflake on a washing machine catches fire?

Deciphering the snowflake pattern

Most often, it is the snowflake on the washing machine that raises the most questions among housewives. However, there is nothing complicated in deciphering a symbol that cannot be achieved using logic. Snow is always strongly associated with winter and cold, so it is quite predictable that a snowflake means cold water.

Very often, clothes are made from a fabric that cannot even be washed in warm water, let alone hot water. For such cases, the temperature setting was invented. A lit indicator opposite the snowflake indicates that the machine will begin washing clothes without the heating element turned on in cold water.

You don’t have to worry that the powder won’t dissolve in cold water and your clothes won’t wash, since modern detergents dissolve perfectly even in ice water.

Therefore, if the snowflake icon flashes on the washing machine, then nothing bad happened - the machine simply did not turn on the heating element and is washing in cold water.

Illustrations indicating programs and functions

Many washing machines do not have symbols in Russian, so on the control panel there are either only symbols without explanations, like the same snowflake on a washing machine, or there are signatures, but only in English. Because of this, it can be difficult to understand the settings without instructions, which may not be at hand at the right time. To make choosing a washing program easier, we list the main washing symbols on modern machines.

• The prewash looks like a basin with the Roman numeral one inside.
• The main wash looks the same, only there is already a number two.
• The rinsing is marked by a basin with waves of water.
• The spin is displayed as a spiral or snail.

The pre-wash sign is often placed on the detergent or gel dispenser; the detergent manufacturer places this designation specifically so that housewives do not confuse the compartments before starting the wash.

It is worth highlighting a number of signs that are directly related to the end of the wash. For example, the “Stop Rinse” sign looks like a container filled with water, and simply “Rinse” looks like a bowl with completely clear water. The “Drain” symbol is drawn in the form of a container with an arrow coming out of the bottom, that is, draining water. The end of the work cycle is depicted as an arrow pointing to the right towards the door, that is, towards a vertical stick.

If the washing machine boasts a timer, then on the control panel there will be a square with the word “TIMER” and the numbers 8, 12 and 24. This function will allow you to delay the start of the operation. If the machine can wash silently, then the corresponding symbol will be placed on the body of the device - a sign in the form of a square with a wave inside and the caption “Very Quiet.” If the device is equipped with imbalance control, this will be marked with a square with a circle and a double-sided arc-shaped arrow inside.

The “Easy Iron” function, which allows you to pre-prepare clothes for ironing, usually looks like an iron with two dots on the body and a pair of horizontal lines under the sole. The capacity of the machine drum is depicted as a weight with a number indicating the maximum weight of laundry in kilograms that can be loaded into the device.

An additional rinse is indicated by an image of a container of water and a right-sided arc arrow located just above. To remove excess foam and powder from the drum using a special pump, the “Foam Control” function was invented, which looks like a square, half of which is in water and the other half in soap bubbles.

Finally, it's worth highlighting the icon that looks like a folded shirt. It’s called “Five Shirts” and allows you to quickly wash 5-6 shirts at once in water at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. Also very useful is the “Blankets” mode, which allows you to wash bulky duvets.

These are not all existing designs placed on washing machines. There are many rare functions and unusual modes that are found on premium models of washing machines, which can be studied in the instructions. It is difficult to list and remember absolutely every symbol on washing machines, but we have described the most popular and frequently used ones.

All signs are specially created in such a way that they are easy to identify and remember.However, housewives often don’t want to waste time on memorizing, so they make it even simpler and cover the symbols with paper stickers with signatures indicating which function is which. This method can help out elderly users of washing machines and people with poor memory.

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