Delay start (end time)
The programme is set to start later — or, on some machines, to finish at a chosen time — and is counting down.
What it is for
Running the machine on cheaper night-time electricity or finishing when you get home. Beko: up to 24 hours in 30-minute steps; AEG’s dryer: 30 minutes to 20 hours.
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 clock face, often with a curved arrow round it. Beko uses an hourglass for the same thing.
- Names makers use
- Delay Start (Samsung, Whirlpool, AEG); Time delay (Beko); Start Delay (Hotpoint); Ready in time (Bosch dryer)
Where makes differ
Samsung uses a clock; Bosch’s dryer calls it Ready in time and draws a clock with a circling arrow, counting to the end rather than the start; Beko’s display marks time delay with an hourglass, which Samsung uses for time remaining. A clock with speed lines is Quick wash; a plain clock on a dryer is usually Timed dry.
Often confused with
Something to do with time on the display — but which depends on the make: on Samsung, the time left in the cycle; on Beko, a delayed start counting down.
Other symbols with the same shapes
Sources
No single published standard defines washing-machine or dryer programme icons, so this meaning is taken from 5 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? — “The clock icon indicates that delay start is in use. Delay start prepares a cycle to begin at a designated time.” Checked 2026-09-25.
- Beko: Beko UK — WI 1382 washing machine user’s manual (PDF) — Display symbol m, “Time Delaying Symbol” (an hourglass); Time delay: delay the programme start up to 24 hours in 30-minute intervals. Checked 2026-09-25.
- Bosch: Bosch Home UK — Tumble dryer symbols and settings — Dryer display: Ready in time symbol (a clock with a circling arrow) — “Ready in time selected”. Checked 2026-09-25.
- AEG: AEG — LAVATHERM 7DEE835R / 7DEE832R tumble dryer user manual (PDF) — Display: “delay start option on”; Delay Start delays a drying programme from 30 minutes to 20 hours; the time to start counts down on the display. Checked 2026-09-25.
- Whirlpool: Whirlpool product help — Control Panel Symbols and Usage, Compact Heat Pump Dryer — Delay Start: “Touch to start your program/cycle at a later time.” Checked 2026-09-25.
Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.