Steam cleaning (water drop)
A short cleaning cycle that uses water and gentle heat to soften grime so you can wipe it off. It does not burn residue away like a pyrolytic cycle.
What it is for
Regular light cleaning between deep cleans (Neff: “on a regular basis”).
Makes differ, check your oven’s manual: the same drawing can mean different things on different brands, and only your model’s manual says exactly which elements run and how hot.
- What it looks like
- One large water drop, framed like the oven cavity (Neff); Smeg says five water drops.
- Names makers use
- EasyClean (Neff); Steam clean / VaporClean (Smeg)
Where makes differ
Hotpoint draws its steam-cleaning cycle (Diamond Clean) as an oven with a sparkling diamond. AEG’s fan in a circle with a drop is Moist Fan baking, and a snowflake with a drop is Defrost.
Often confused with
The fan moves air round frozen food so it thaws faster than on the worktop. Depending on the maker the air is unheated (Smeg: cool circulating air) or gently warmed (Siemens: warm air).
Other symbols with the same shapes
Sources
No single published standard defines oven function icons, so this meaning is taken from 2 makers’ own guides, each fetched and checked on the date shown:
- Neff: NEFF UK — Oven symbols explained: your complete guide — “EasyClean® symbol”: a large droplet of water; softens food residues so they wipe away easily. Checked 2026-09-23.
- Smeg: Smeg UK — A guide to oven symbols and what they mean — “Steam Clean Symbol”: often 5 water droplets; steam loosens residue in the cavity to wipe away after the process. Checked 2026-09-23.
Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.