Dishwasher safe
The maker says the item can be washed in a dishwasher. There is no single official dishwasher safe symbol: each maker draws its own.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Whirlpool and Bosch both say there is no universal dishwasher safe symbol. The drawings Whirlpool lists are a wine glass, upright or upside down, with water droplets falling on it; one large and one small dish being washed; and a single plate standing in a dishwasher rack with droplets falling on it. Bosch says most versions show plates or glasses in dishwasher baskets, that the mark rests on the maker’s own recommendations and experience, and that it doesn’t rule out long-term wear such as discolouring. On some brands the plain mark carries a limit: Sistema says its products with the dishwasher symbol go in the top rack, and those without it can’t go in a dishwasher at all.
Also searched as: dishwasher proof symbol, dishwasher safe icon, dishwasher safe sign, dishwasher safe symbol, dishwasher symbol.
These describe what each mark means and who defines it. Most are makers’ own icons rather than a standard, and the same mark can mean slightly different things on different brands. What a particular dish, pan or container can be used for is set by its maker, in its care and use instructions.
Dishwasher safe and dishwasher proof
Bosch separates the two. “Dishwasher safe” is the maker’s own claim. “Dishwasher proof” applies only to tableware and utensils certified to the European standard EN 12875, and its mark is a water jet with a number, such as 500: the number of dishwasher cycles the item can withstand without damage.
Look-alikes
A wine glass with a fork beside it and no water is the glass and fork symbol, which says the item is suitable for food, not that it can be machine washed. The same dishwasher icon with a cross through it means not dishwasher safe, and one with the words top rack is Top rack only.
Read next
- Next in Kitchenware symbolsTop rack onlyThe item can go in the dishwasher, but only in the top rack.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of EthiopiaEthiopia’s flag is green, yellow and red in equal horizontal stripes with a blue disc in the centre holding a yellow star of equal lines with yellow rays. Ethiopia’s Flag Proclamation makes the green labour, fertility and development, the yellow hope, justice and equality, and the red sacrifice and heroism for freedom and equality; the blue disc is peace and the star the unity of Ethiopia’s nations, nationalities and peoples.
More kitchenware symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with circles, lines or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- Dishwasher safe and other tableware symbols, Whirlpool Corporation, Dishwasher safe symbols 1–3; Other dishware symbols 1
- Dishwasher symbols, Bosch Home Appliances (BSH Hausgeräte), Dishwasher safe symbol and dishwasher proof symbol
- FAQs, Sistema Plastics, Are products dishwasher safe?
- What do the symbols and specifications on a product mean?, Mepal, Dishwasher symbol
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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