# International symbols on washing machine **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655 "2008-05-26T15:02:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/1 "2008-05-26T15:02:30Z")
Hi all I’ve recently moved to Budapest from the U.S. and my husband acquired a used washing machine locally. It has symbols on the controls that I have never seen before and just cannot figure out. There are symbols on the left of the machine that looks like a sort of menu, and on the right side there is a dial which uses some of the menu symbols plus a bunch of others. Is there a web site or something I can use to determine what these symbols mean? I don’t even know how to describe them, really. For example, one looks like a flower with four petals, one looks like a t-shirt in a hurry (with dots and without), one is a spiral (which I assume means “spin”), one looks like a t-shirt next to a water faucet. There are B40, B60 and B90; F40, F60 and F90. There’s a sort of on/off type button that has a thermometer crossed out on it. And I am absolutely baffled. Any help would be most appreciated!! TIA. L. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/2 "2008-05-26T15:10:53Z")
Can you supply a photo? Even a crappy cellphone pic is better than nothing. Upload it to a photo-sharing service, such as the free [ImageShack](http://imageshack.us/) and post a link to it. Alternatively, locate the make and model and post it; we might be able to locate a manual online. Just typing that info into Google might get it for you, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/3 "2008-05-26T15:12:47Z")
My husband will be home soon and I’ll ask him to do that. Thanks for the quick reply. [QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Can you supply a photo? Even a crappy cellphone pic is better than nothing. Upload it to a photo-sharing service, such as the free [ImageShack](http://imageshack.us/) and post a link to it. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/4 "2008-05-26T16:07:43Z")
I think the flower stands for wool. 40, 60 and 90 are temperatures (in centigrade, obviously), B and F I don’t know, but FWIW my laundry machine has settings for running the programme with and without pre-rinsing (or whatever you call it, laundry vocab is not my forté… 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/5 "2008-05-26T16:42:56Z")
It’s probably not a Beko, because the dial and menu are on opposite sides than you describe. But the [instructions for running a Beko](http://www.beko.co.uk/manuals/WMA510.pdf) may provide some insight and give you something to do this morning besides twiddle your thumbs. 😃 And yes, according to this, 40, 60, and 90 are all water temperatures. You select “Cotton” or “Synthetics” on the dial, along with its desired water temp. So “B” and “F” are possibly a foreign language for “cotton” and “synthetic” or “polyester”. It’s not Hungarian, BTW, I already looked. But it is possibly German: “baumwolle” is “cotton”. But not French–“coton”. FWIW, the symbols you describe–the t-shirt with dots and the flower petal–are not in either one of these [lists of universal](http://www.drclean.co.uk/surgery_cleaning/wash_instructions1.asp) [fabric care symbols](http://www.llclassics.com/ln_care/univ_fab_care_symb.html) as such. However, it’s worth noting that “dots” means “hot water”, of various temperatures. How many t-shirts with dots are there, and how many dots are following it (them)? Is there a neighbor you could ask? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/6 "2008-05-26T17:23:43Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] I think the flower stands for wool. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t that logically be cotton? Wool doesn’t come from flowering pants, cotton does. Then again, you Europeans are always getting things backwards. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/7 "2008-05-26T17:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] > [@Švejk](#): > > I think the flower stands for wool. Wouldn’t that logically be cotton? Wool doesn’t come from flowering pants, cotton does. Then again, you Europeans are always getting things backwards. 😉 [/QUOTE] Perhaps the flower connotes delicates? ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/8 "2008-05-26T21:26:37Z")
Okay. I’ve never posted photos before, but I’ll try this: [http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/3713/img5396oj4.jpg](http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/3713/img5396oj4.jpg) [http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/4241/img5397jn8.jpg](http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/4241/img5397jn8.jpg) [http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/7184/img5398jr3.jpg](http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/7184/img5398jr3.jpg) Again, thanks, everyone, for your input. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/9 "2008-05-26T21:32:21Z")
Oh, and Duck Duck Goose, it’s not a Beko; it’s a Delton, and I cannot find anything online about them at all! I don’t know any of my neighbors yet and I don’t speak Hungarian yet. I’m probably not describing the symbols very well. I hope the photos may be accessed and the mysteries solved! Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/10 "2008-05-26T21:39:47Z")
The photos show up just fine. I’m mulling them over now. some of them are self-evident to me, such as the temperatures indicated above. The symbols on the first picture at the top left of each group indicate textile types: cotton, synthetics…I’m not sure what the last one is. What kind of fabric comes from trees? Well, it LOOKS like a leaf, not sure what else it could be. No doubt others will come by with additional information, too. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/11 "2008-05-26T21:57:57Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] The photos show up just fine. I’m mulling them over now. some of them are self-evident to me, such as the temperatures indicated above. The symbols on the first picture at the top left of each group indicate textile types: cotton, synthetics..I’m not sure what the last one is. What kind of fabric comes from trees? Well, it LOOKS like a leaf, not sure what else it could be. No doubt others will come by with additional information, too. [/QUOTE] I wonder if the last one is a picture of a feather rather than a leaf? Still doesn’t indicate to me what the textile type would be - maybe delicate? ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/12 "2008-05-26T22:03:34Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Wouldn’t that logically be cotton? Wool doesn’t come from flowering pants, cotton does. Then again, you Europeans are always getting things backwards. 😉 [/QUOTE] I was thinking of [this](http://images.google.nl/images?um=1&hl=nl&q=wool+symbol&btnG=Afbeeldingen+zoeken) symbol. I guess by some crazy loophole in the brain you might somehow think of it as a flower … but maybe that’s just my European background talking … 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/13 "2008-05-26T22:05:42Z")
I have a washing machine with similarly obscure hieroglyphics. I can’t say for certain what yours mean, but one thing I can decipher is that the three “scales” in the key are in sequence from the top - corresponding to rotation of the dial. Each major scale is a different type of wash cycle - presumably Cotton, Synthetics[?], and Delicates (ETA: yeah, that’s a feather), and you can step into them at different parts of the entire cycle. I don’t bother with anything other than the cotton setting on mine, and my clothes are all fine. Looking at the temperatures and graphics in the cotton scale, I believe these are the following definitions: A90 - whites with pre-wash B90 - whites B60 - colorfast cotton (the spotty t-shirt) B40 - non-colorfast cotton B\* - cold wash Spiral - rinse/spin. So, e.g. if you had a colorfast cotton wash load, you’d select B60 on the dial - and the machine would then step through B60, B40, B\*, and Spin. Similarly, selecting A90 would step thru A90, B90, B60, B40, B\* and Spin. The dial just indicates how to select that part of the cycle, so don’t spend too much time wondering about it - use the key to select the right number and set it running, and theoretically it should do the rest and then stop at the right time. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/14 "2008-05-26T22:05:51Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] I was thinking of [this](http://images.google.nl/images?um=1&hl=nl&q=wool+symbol&btnG=Afbeeldingen+zoeken) symbol. [/QUOTE] Ah, we use variations on that symbol for wool here, too. I’ve never thought of it as a flower, though. Then again, it looks more like a flower than it does a sheep. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/15 "2008-05-27T09:06:53Z")
Thanks, everyone. Thanks especially to **JJimm**. I used the B40 yesterday to give it a try and the clothes seem okay. That’s one llloooonnnnnggggg washer cycle, though. I know the wool symbol. The flower I was talking about is on the washer’s dial. I didn’t know how else to describe it. I guess if the machine is going to cycle through all those things I really don’t need to know what it’s doing exactly, as long as the outcome is okay. Thanks, all. I’ve been away far too long. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/16 "2008-05-27T09:27:02Z")
I think the “flower” is the rinse symbol and the spiral is for an extra spin. Not exactly the same but similar to the symbols on our Bosch. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/17 "2008-05-28T09:25:32Z")
I have had a brainwave. [QUOTE=MarcusF] I think the “flower” is the rinse symbol and the spiral is for an extra spin. Not exactly the same but similar to the symbols on our Bosch. [/QUOTE] On the dial, I think the “bucket of water” is the rinse symbol. And the letters C, K and H are the spin cycles, as indicated in the key. And here’s the breakthrough. I’m not 100% sure, but I’m fairly convinced the funny four-leafed flower shown on the dial is in fact the “fabric conditioner” symbol - that’s the conditioning cycle shown there. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/18 "2008-05-28T10:52:05Z")
Great, with this out of the way, lets have a crack at Etruscan and Linear A. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/19 "2008-05-28T10:57:42Z")
The washer cycles will be MUCH MUCH longer than in the US. In the US ours takes 20 minutes or so, but here in Europe (LG front loader) it takes at least an hour and sometimes 90 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655/20 "2008-05-28T11:54:57Z")
The first graphic looks very much like a [cotton plant](http://www.fotosearch.com/CSK469/ks130011/) to me. Do a quick Google image search of cotton plant illustration or just cotton plant and you’ll see. The second graphic suggests that you use those settings when you need to get hookah-smoke out of your clothes. The third setting is much more a feather (i.e., lightweight fabrics) than a leaf to me (unless you have one of those Eden-O-Matics, where leaves need to be washed between wearings). The spirals are for washing the clothes you removed from people using your [hypno-coin](http://www.indevelopment.org/artices/classic_hypno_l.htm). Notice that they curve counterclockwise. If you move again, do not use the unit in the southern hemisphere (your clothes will get dirtier). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-symbols-on-washing-machine/450655.md?page=2)