Hoover, Candy and Haier washing machine symbols
19 symbols that Hoover and hOn (Haier Europe) show in their own manual or support pages, each in our own drawing, with the maker’s own name for it next to ours. Tap a symbol for what it does, where makes differ and every source.
Check your manual — models differ. Two Hoover, Candy and Haier machines can carry different sets of symbols, and the same drawing can mean different things on different brands; only your model’s manual says exactly what a programme or light does on your machine.
Read this first
Hoover, Candy and Haier belong to Haier Europe, and hOn is its app for all three. Hoover’s UK guide draws its programmes as pictures: a ball of cotton for cotton, a container for synthetics, a butterfly for silk and delicates, two leaves for eco. hOn’s guide describes some of them differently; it says cotton is “a t-shirt or cotton flower”. On the detergent drawer, I is for prewash, II for main-wash detergent and the flower for fabric softener. No Candy-branded guide has been checked yet, so on a Candy machine confirm in your manual.
The 19 symbols
Hand wash (hand in a tub)
Maker’s name: Handwash (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: Lists “A bowl with a hand, for a handwash” among the washing-machine programme symbols.
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Wool: represented by a ball of yarn (sometimes next to a basin with a hand inside).”
Cottons
Maker’s name: Cotton (Hoover, hOn)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A ball of cotton, for cotton garments” — first of the classic-cycle symbols.
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Cotton: symbolized by a t-shirt or cotton flower.”
Eco 40-60
Maker’s name: Eco-wash, two leaves (Hoover); Eco program (hOn)
Shown in:
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Eco program: with the writing ECO or green arrows.”
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “Two leaves, for eco-washes” — with a 20 °C symbol a low-temperature wash, with “minutes” an efficient wash for smaller loads.
Synthetics (easy care)
Maker’s name: Synthetics (Hoover, hOn)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A container, for mixed and synthetic garments made of polyamide and polyester.”
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Synthetic fabrics (polyamide and polyester): with a triangle open on one side.”
Mixed (cotton and synthetics together)
Maker’s name: Mixed and coloured (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A container and a T-shirt, for mixed and coloured garments.”
Wool
Maker’s name: Wool (Hoover, hOn)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A ball of wool, for woollen garments.”
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Wool: represented by a ball of yarn (sometimes next to a basin with a hand inside).”
Delicates and silk
Maker’s name: Silk and delicates (Hoover); Silk (hOn)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A butterfly, for silk and delicate garments.”
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Silk: represented by a butterfly symbol.”
Quick wash (rapid, express)
Maker’s name: Quick wash (hOn)
Shown in:
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Quick wash: symbolized by a clock with three side lines.”
Cold wash (snowflake)
Maker’s name: Cold wash (Hoover, hOn)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A snowflake, for a cold wash.”
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Cold wash: identified by a snowflake.”
Prewash
Maker’s name: Pre-wash (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “The word ‘pre’ for pre-wash”; the drawer compartment marked with a single line is for stain removers or extra detergent.
Soak
Maker’s name: Soak or prewash (hOn)
Shown in:
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Soak or prewash: identified by a water-filled basin.”
Rinse
Maker’s name: Rinse (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A basin with a jet of water for the rinse cycle.”
Drain (spin and drain)
Maker’s name: Drain (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A basin with a downward arrow for the drain cycle.”
Spin
Maker’s name: Spin (hOn)
Shown in:
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-25: “Spin: symbol is a spiral.”
Iron: easy iron (washer) or iron dry (dryer)
Maker’s name: Easy iron (Hoover, hOn)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “An iron for the easy-ironing programme.”
- hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn, checked 2026-09-28: “Easy iron or wrinkle-free: with the iron symbol.”
Steam and steam refresh
Maker’s name: Steam, Fresh care (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “Steam for the appropriate steam cycle”; Fresh care, “indicated with a T-shirt symbol and a puff of air”, uses steam to freshen up garments.
Child lock
Maker’s name: Child lock (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-25: “A key, for the child lock.”
Main wash (II)
Maker’s name: II, detergent compartment (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-28: Detergent drawer symbols: “You should put your liquid or powder detergent in the drawer with the double line (“II”)”; the single line “I” is for pre-washes.
Fabric softener (flower)
Maker’s name: Flower, fabric softener (Hoover)
Shown in:
- Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?, checked 2026-09-28: “The flower symbol is for fabric softener. You will often find “MAX” written in this particular compartment, which indicates the maximum dose”.
Hoover, Candy and Haier symbols with no page here
Hoover, Candy and Haier’s own page shows these too, but no second maker’s source confirms them yet, so this site has no drawing or page for them. The meaning is the maker’s own wording, quoted:
- Allergy care (Hoover): “Allergy care (79 minutes at 60°) provides a thorough, antibacterial wash to rid your clothes of allergens” — Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?
- Kg mode (Hoover): “Kg mode, detects the weight and type of load and automatically adapts the wash settings” — Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?
- Duvet (Hoover): “The duvet programme (max-capacity)” — Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean?
Not listed for Hoover, Candy and Haier
The Hoover, Candy and Haier sources checked here do not show these symbols from this site, so they are left off this page: Extra rinse, Intensive, Drum clean, Door locked, Add garment, Delay start, Hourglass, Timed dry, Cupboard dry, Anti-crease, Empty the water tank, Clean the filter, Check the heat exchanger, Cooling phase, Wi-Fi, Remote start. That does not mean no Hoover, Candy and Haier machine has them — only that no Hoover, Candy and Haier manual or support page cited here shows the symbol. If your machine shows one, see all washing-machine symbols by shape.
Other brands
Sources
A symbol is listed here only when one of these Hoover, Candy and Haier pages shows it. Each was fetched and read on the date shown; the brand names and quotations are the maker’s wording, everything else is ours.
- Hoover: Hoover UK — What do the symbols on your washing machine actually mean? Checked 2026-09-25.
- hOn (Haier Europe): hOn — Washing Machine Symbols: how to interpret them with hOn Checked 2026-09-25.