Hand wash only (not dishwasher-safe)
The maker says the item must not go in a dishwasher; wash it by hand.
Market convention
This symbol is a market convention: no law or public standard defines the drawing, so each maker draws its own and the meaning is whatever that maker says it is. This page follows 2 makers’ and retailers’ own keys.
- What it looks like
- Either the dishwasher drawing crossed out with a diagonal line, or a hand holding a washing-up brush.
- Other names
- not dishwasher safe symbol; crossed out dishwasher; wash by hand symbol; hand wash symbol
What it does not promise
It does not say how to wash by hand — water temperature, detergent or scourers — and it says nothing about microwave, oven or freezer use, which have their own symbols.
Where makers differ
Makers use two different drawings for the same instruction. Mepal crosses out its dishwasher icon — ‘to tell you that you should only clean the product by hand’. Nordic Houseware Group draws a hand with a brush and calls it ‘Wash by hand’. Sistema prints neither: a product without its dishwasher symbol ‘cannot be washed in a dishwasher’.
Often confused with
The maker says the item may be washed in a dishwasher. When the water covers the whole drawing, Finish reads it as probably fine on either rack.
More dishwasher and washing up symbols
Sources
No law defines this symbol, so the meaning is taken from makers’ and retailers’ own pages. Those marked as showing the icon draw or describe it; the others add conditions. Each was fetched and read on the date shown:
- Mepal : What do the symbols and specifications on a product mean? — Shows the dishwasher icon (drops over two plates in a square) with a diagonal line through it: ‘Very occasionally, the icon will have a cross through it to tell you that you should only clean the product by hand.’ Checked 2026-09-24.
- Nordic Houseware Group : Understanding Symbols — Shows ‘Wash by hand’ as a hand holding a brush: ‘This product is not dishwasher-proof and must be washed up by hand.’ Checked 2026-09-24.
- Sistema: FAQ's — Uses absence rather than a crossed-out icon: ‘Our products without engraved dishwasher symbol cannot be washed in a dishwasher.’ Checked 2026-09-24.
Written in our own words; quotations are the sources’ wording.