Pre-rinse or soak programme (drops over a plate)
A short cold rinse, without detergent, for a part-load you will wash properly later — it stops food drying on and keeps smells down while the machine fills up.
What the manuals say to do
Run it when the machine is half full and you will not start a full programme until tomorrow. Hotpoint and Whirlpool say no detergent is to be used and list about 12 minutes and 4.5 litres; Smeg’s Soak is a 15-minute cold prewash. Then run a normal programme once the machine is full.
What it does not mean
It does not clean or dry the dishes — there is no detergent and no heating. It is also not needed before a normal wash: Hotpoint says manual pre-rinsing wastes water and energy and pre-treatment is not needed before any programme.
Makes differ, check your dishwasher’s manual: the same drawing can mean different things on different brands, and only your model’s manual says exactly what a light means and which programmes an option works with.
- What it looks like
- Water drops or a shower falling on a plate, sometimes a single drop, or the words Soak or Pre-rinse.
- Names makers use
- Pre-Rinse (Bosch); Soak (Hotpoint, Smeg); Prewash (Whirlpool); Pre-wash (Beko)
Where makers differ
Bosch stores Pre-rinse on its Favourite button from the factory; older Bosch machines have a Soaking option that runs before the main programme instead. The prewash option on a washing machine is a different thing with its own page.
Other symbols with the same shapes
Sources
No single published standard defines dishwasher panel icons, so this meaning is taken from the manuals of 3 different maker groups (Bosch, Hotpoint, Whirlpool, Smeg), each fetched and read on the date shown:
- Bosch: Bosch — User manual, dishwasher SMV4HVX32E (PDF) — Favourite button: “The pre-rinse program is saved to this button at the factory. Pre-rinse is suitable for all types of tableware. The tableware undergoes intermediate cleaning via cold rinsing.” Checked 2026-09-26.
- Hotpoint: Hotpoint — Dishwasher Daily Reference Guide, 15 place settings with 3D Zone Wash and ActiveDry (PDF, 05/2023) — “Soak – Used to refresh crockery planned to be washed later. No detergent is to be used with this program.” 0:12 h, 4.5 l, 0.10 kWh; “Manual pre-rinsing of tableware items leads to increased water and energy consumption and is not recommended.” Checked 2026-09-26.
- Whirlpool: Whirlpool — Dishwasher Daily Reference Guide, with Multizone, Turbo and NaturalDry (PDF) — Programme 9 “Prewash”: “Use to refresh crockery planned to be washed later. No detergent to be used with this program.” 0:12 h, 4.5 l. Checked 2026-09-26.
- Smeg: Smeg — Instruction manual: guide for using the dishwasher and the washing programs, 19390674500 (PDF) — Programme 1 “SOAK”: pans and dishes awaiting completion of the load; cold prewash, 15 minutes, 3.5 litres. Checked 2026-09-26.
Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.