Add garment (reload)

You can pause the programme, open the door and put in an item you forgot.

What it is for

Pause, wait for the door to unlock, add the item, close and restart. It works only early in the programme, before the water is too deep or too hot.

Makes differ, check your machine’s manual: the same drawing can mean different things on different brands, and only your model’s manual says exactly what a programme does, how hot and how long.

What it looks like: A T-shirt with a plus sign (Samsung). Bosch uses the drum with a padlock on it, which goes out when you can add laundry.
Names makers use: Garment + (Samsung); Start/Reload, Adding laundry (Bosch); Add Garments (Hotpoint)

Where makes differ

Samsung’s T-shirt with a + means you can pause to add clothing, and some models have a separate small AddWash door. Bosch has a Start/Reload button, and its Adding laundry symbol means the opposite way round: when it goes out, adding is possible. Hotpoint marks in its programme table which cycles allow adding garments.

Often confused with

Mixed (cotton and synthetics together)The synthetics flask with a T-shirt beside it.

A programme for a load of cottons and synthetics washed together without sorting, at moderate temperature and spin.

Other symbols with the same shapes

Iron: easy iron (washer) or iron dry (dryer)A plain iron seen from the side — a pointed sole plate and a…Drum clean (tub clean, self clean)The round drum or door of the machine, sometimes with a drop or…Cupboard dryA wardrobe: a tall box split by a line down the middle into two…Anti-crease (dryer)Bosch: the drum with two curved arrows turning inside it. AEG: a…

Sources

No single published standard defines washing-machine or dryer programme icons, so this meaning is taken from 3 makers’ own guides and manuals, each fetched and read on the date shown:

Samsung: Samsung UK support — What do the symbols on my Samsung washing machine mean? — Garment +: “The T-Shirt with a + icon indicates that you can pause the cycle to add more clothing”; some machines have an Addwash door. Checked 2026-09-25.
Bosch: Bosch Home UK — Washing machine symbols guide — Start/Reload: pause the running cycle and open the door to reload forgotten items. Adding laundry symbol (drum with a padlock): “If this symbol goes out on the display panel, it is possible to add more laundry.” Checked 2026-09-25.
Hotpoint: Hotpoint washing machine Quick Guide (GB, PDF) — Wash cycle table has an “Add Garments” column with its icon, marking which cycles allow adding garments. Checked 2026-09-25.

Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.