Top rack only (dishwasher)
The maker says the item may be machine-washed, but only in the upper rack. The top rack is further from the heating element at the bottom of most machines, so it stays cooler.
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
- The dishwasher drawing with the water falling only on the top part of the plates or glasses, or plates in a machine with the words ‘top rack’ (or ‘top rack only’) beside them.
- Other names
- top rack dishwasher safe symbol; top shelf only; upper basket only
What it does not promise
It does not promise the item survives the bottom rack, a hot or intensive programme, or a heated dry. Finish says an item marked top rack only that goes in the bottom rack ‘may’ come out ‘discolored, warped or become damaged’.
Where makers differ
Finish reads it from where the water falls: droplets that ‘only hit the top of the plates or glasses’ mean top rack only. Whirlpool’s version pairs the plates with written direction. Sistema prints one dishwasher symbol and says every product carrying it goes on the top rack, so on Sistema boxes the plain symbol already means top rack.
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:
- Finish (Reckitt) : Dishwasher safe symbols explained — For ‘top rack only’ items ‘the droplets or diagonal lines will only hit the top of the plates or glasses’; if they cross the whole box ‘it’s probably safe to wash the item on either the top or bottom rack’. The heating element is at the bottom, so the top rack is comparatively cooler; a top-rack item on the bottom rack may be discoloured, warped or damaged. Checked 2026-09-24.
- Whirlpool : Dishwasher Safe & Other Tableware Symbols — Shows ‘Dishwasher safe on top rack’: ‘the image of one or two plates being washed in a dishwasher paired with written direction to wash on the top rack’, which keeps heat-sensitive items away from ‘the appliance’s heated dry element’. Checked 2026-09-24.
- Sistema: FAQ's — ‘All Sistema products with dishwasher safe symbol can be washed in a dishwasher on the top rack.’ The symbol is engraved on the base or printed on the label or carton; products without it ‘cannot be washed in a dishwasher’. Checked 2026-09-24.
- Pyrex (US): Frequently Asked Questions — Pyrex plastic covers may go in the dishwasher: ‘YES - Top Rack only.’ No icon is shown. Checked 2026-09-24.
Written in our own words; quotations are the sources’ wording.