What does the iron symbol on a washing machine mean?

Some symbols on washing machine controls are intuitive, while others remain a mystery to homeowners. To fully utilize your washing machine, it's best to fully understand its design, including its functions. For example, does the iron on a washing machine signify anything related to ironing? Let's find out.

What function is marked on the iron?

The ironing symbol on a washing machine indicates the "Easy Iron" option. Contrary to popular belief, few people iron every single item after washing. Typically, baby clothes (especially diapers and undershirts) are heat-treated for hygiene reasons—high temperatures ensure sterility—as are work clothes (the typical office dress code requires well-ironed clothing). Can "machine ironing" handle these tasks?

Please note: Light ironing is not the same as ironing and does not replace it. It merely softens the fabric fibers.

In fact, the catchy name "ironing" and the corresponding iron symbol serve more to attract attention than to describe the actual benefit of the function. Its essence lies in preparing the laundry for the iron by softening it, and also prevents the appearance of new creases during the washing and spinning process.

How is the program implemented?

To fully understand this feature's effectiveness, it's important to understand how it works. How is the wrinkle-free effect achieved when the machine washes and spins seemingly as usual? In fact, it works like this: the amount of water during washing increases, while the spin cycle duration and speed are reduced. This effectively means a delicate wash with a higher amount of water. As a result, laundry is damp and less wrinkled.

Synthetic fabrics are ready to wear after this treatment and don't need ironing. Wrinkles on natural fabrics also become less visible, and steaming is eliminated, saving time, effort, and energy costs.

Important! To activate the Easy Iron function, fill the drum no more than half full.

Additional features contribute to the overall cost of a washing machine. But are they worth the extra cost? Experienced users claim that the "Easy Iron" program can be manually adjusted. How do you do this?

• Place less clothes in the drum than usual.
• Use large volumes of water when washing.
• Set the spin cycle to low speed.
• Duplicate rinse cycle.

Usually, spinning is done after all the "water procedures", but if you run the rinse cycle again after it, the clothes will come out damp and, accordingly, less wrinkled. Moreover, the more water, the fewer folds. To definitively answer the question of whether the feature is worth the extra cost, we need to sum up all its advantages and disadvantages.

Pros and cons

Of course, the main advantage of this option is that even if it can be set manually, it requires time and effort—checking the water level in the tank, remembering to set the spin cycle to low, and so on. However, if the function is built into the washing machine, all the user needs to do is press a button. Furthermore:

• damp clothes are easier to iron and smooth out after washing;
• Frequent use of the program contributes to a longer service life of the laundry;
• Rare use of the iron reduces energy costs.

It's worth remembering that activating this function increases the washing time. This is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage, but simply a fact. Now let's move on to the disadvantages.

1. Some items, especially those made from thick fabrics, remain downright wet after washing.
2. In exchange for energy savings from using the iron less frequently, there is a greater consumption of water and energy during washing.
3. The gentle mode sometimes does not allow the powder to be completely washed out of the fabric fibers.
4. Due to the low load capacity, items have to be washed in several batches.

Ultimately, this feature isn't practical enough to warrant paying extra for, but it does have certain advantages.

   

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