As a Smeg washing machine owner, you’re probably curious to know what each of the different symbols means on your appliance. While every model is unique, there are certain symbols and settings that you’ll find on every Smeg washer.
The user manual that your manufacturer provided will probably tell you everything you need to know, but let’s face it, most of us either throw this in the bin or forget where we’ve put it. Luckily, this guide should provide you with all of the information that you need to use every function and feature in your Smeg washing machine.
If you need further guidance after reading through this guide, get in touch with Smeg directly, and speak to their customer service team who can help you with your queries and concerns.
Control Panel
The control panel is placed at the front of the appliance and it’s where you’ll find all of different wash settings and symbols. You’ll also find the wash cycle duration display on the control panel screen.
Below covers the buttons that you’ll find along the bottom of the control panel. Most Smeg washers have buttons as opposed to touch sensors.
Washing Temperature Selection Button
Overview – You’ll find the washing temperature selection button on the left-hand side of the control panel. When you press the button, it will select the highest temperature setting. Pressing the button will select the next temperature below. The exact temperature range can vary between different models of Smeg washing machines.
Best used for – Adjusting the temperature of the next wash cycle.
Benefits/drawbacks – It’s important to be able to adjust the temperature of each wash cycle for a number of reasons. You can choose a cooler temperature for delicate items or those that are only lightly soiled to save energy or a hot temperature to power through thick, heavily stained fabrics. Make sure to adjust the temperature with each wash cycle accordingly, as your washer will default back to the highest temperature when a cycle completes.
Spin Speed Selection Button
Overview – The spin selection button is next to the temperature selection button. As with the temperature button, each press of the spin button will adjust the spin speed to the next lowest setting.
Best used for – Adjusting the spin speed of the drum during a wash cycle.
Benefits/drawbacks – The spin speed will impact how aggressive the washer is during a particular cycle. A higher spin speed is better for tough, thicker fabrics that require a more thorough wash. A slower spin speed is perfect for delicate items that can easily rip or stretch. Being able to adjust the spin speed enables you to protect your clothing. Again, make sure to adjust the spin speed with every wash cycle, as your washer will default to the top spin speed each time.
Option Selection
Overview – The option selection button is to the right of the spin speed selection button and you’ll use this button to select one of the following options:
- Time to end – Press this button repeatedly to select the duration of the next wash cycle.
- Prewash – Use this button to add an additional wash before the full wash. The prewash lasts around 20 minutes and washes at a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius. This setting is great for heavily soiled laundry that needs an extra rinse.
- Intensive – Selecting this option increases the temperature of the wash cycle to 60 degrees Celsius and extends the cycle length. It’s great for delicate but heavily soiled items.
- Easy iron – The easy iron setting reduces creasing to make them easier to iron.
Water plus – This setting increases the amount of water that is used during a washing cycle to provide a more thorough wash.
- Flexi Time – The flexi time option reduces the duration of the cycle and is suitable for small amounts of laundry with only light dirt.
Best used for – Selecting a more specific wash cycle.
Benefits/drawbacks – The options button enables you to cater your wash cycles according to the different types of laundry that you’re washing. You might not always need to use an extra option when doing your laundry, but it’s great to have them available if needed.
Confirm Option
Overview – The confirm button enables you to confirm the currently selected settings.
Best used for – Confirming the current settings before you start a wash cycle.
Benefits/drawbacks – Having a confirmation button is handy so that you can check that you’ve chosen all of the correct settings before you start a wash cycle. There are no drawbacks to having this button, but you’ll need to remember to press it each time you run a cycle.
Drying
Overview – Most Smeg washing machines have dry-only and wash-and-dry programmes. This setting enables you to wash and dry your laundry so that you can put it straight away when the cycle is complete.
Best used for – Washing and drying your laundry.
Benefits/drawbacks- The drying cycles. Remove as much water as possible from your laundry so that you can put it away in your drawers and cupboards immediately after the cycle is complete. This setting is helpful when you have limited drying space in your home. However, your appliance will use more energy during a wash-and-dry cycle compared to a wash-only cycle. It will also take longer to complete the former than the latter. You should not load the drum with more than 4 kg of laundry with any of the drying programs.
Start/Pause Button
Overview – The start/pause button is what you’ll use to initiate a wash cycle or pause your washer during the middle of a cycle.
Best used for – Starting or pausing a wash cycle.
Benefits/drawbacks – It’s essential to have a start button on your washing machine; otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to wash your laundry at all! Being able to pause a cycle before it’s complete may not be essential but it’s a very helpful function to have on your washing machine. You can pause the cycle so that it doesn’t finish when you’re out of the house and you’re not able to get the laundry out straight away.
Child Lock
Overview – The key symbol button enables you to activate the child lock, which disables all of the other buttons on the control panel.
Best used for – Activating the child lock.
Benefits/drawbacks – The child lock protects your appliance and your child by disabling all of the buttons on the control panel (so the appliance’s setting can’t be changed during a cycle or the appliance can’t be switched on while it’s off). There are no drawbacks to this safety feature but you’ll need to remember to deactivate it when you want to start a new wash cycle.
Programme Selector
You’ll use the programme selector to choose a specific wash programme for each cycle. It’s a knob that you turn to the corresponding symbol or phrase to select your desired wash programme.
Cotton
Overview – The cotton setting is present on all Smeg washing machines and it’s suitable for cotton garments and bedding of all colours.
Best used for – Washing cotton laundry.
Benefits/drawbacks – You’ll probably use the cotton wash programme a lot because most modern-day clothing and bedding are made out of this type of fabric. You can select temperatures between 30 and 90 degrees Celsius, depending on the level of soiling, and you can use any of the additional options with this setting (such as prewash, intensive, and extra rinse) if needed. The only downside is that using the cotton washing setting at 90 degrees won’t be very environmentally friendly, so reserve the hottest temperatures for very dirty laundry only.
Cotton Eco
Overview – The cotton eco wash setting washes between 30 and 60 degrees Celsius, making it an eco-friendlier version of the standard cottons setting.
Best used for – Reducing your appliance’s energy consumption while washing your cotton laundry.
Benefits/drawbacks – The most obvious benefit of the cotton eco setting is its lower energy consumption per cycle due to washing at a maximum of 60 degrees Celsius. However, because of this, the cotton eco setting isn’t ideal for heavily soiled laundry.
Synthetics
Overview – The synthetics wash programme is available from ‘cold’ to 60 degrees Celsius, and it runs at the maximum spin speed.
Best used for – Washing garments and needing that comprises synthetic or mixed fabrics.
Benefits/drawbacks – The synthetics wash programme is only suitable for light to moderately soiled laundry and has a reduced maximum load capacity of 3.5 kg (instead of 7 kg). However, it’s perfect for synthetic garments and you can use all of the additional settings (prewash, intensive, easy iron, extra rinse, and flexi time) alongside this cycle.
Delicates
Overview – The delicates setting is suitable for clothing that needs a refresh or items that are only lightly soiled. It washes from ‘cold’ to 40 degrees Celsius with a maximum spin speed of 600 rpm.
Best used for – Washing garments and bedding that is only lightly soiled, or those made from delicate fabrics.
Benefits/drawbacks – The delicates setting is great for protecting delicate fabrics from getting damaged inside the washer. The lower temperature and reduced spin speed also decrease the appliance’s energy consumption per cycle. The downside is the reduced capacity of the drum from 7 kg (which is the maximum load capacity) to just 2 kg.
Wool
Overview – The wool wash programme can be used for wool-based clothing and bedding, or for lightly soiled fabrics. It washes between ‘cold’ and 60 degrees Celsius and reaches a maximum speed of 800 rpm.
Best used for – Washing wool or wool-blend laundry, or washing lightly soiled laundry.
Benefits/drawbacks – The wool setting reduces the risk of damage to delicate wool-based clothing and bedding. The downside is the reduced capacity of just 2 kg, so if you have a lot of wool laundry to do, you might need to run multiple wash cycles to get through it all.
Rinse and Spin
Overview – You can use the rinse and spin setting on its own or tag it onto the end of another wash cycle. It does exactly as it sounds and provides an extra rinse and spin for your laundry.
Best used for – Rinsing and spinning your laundry to provide a more thorough wash and dry process.
Benefits/drawbacks – This programme is great when you want to run heavily soiled laundry through additional rinse cycles to provide a thorough clean. You can load the drum with up to 7 kg of items to power through your laundry pile.
Drain and Spin
Overview – The drain and spin cycle runs your laundry through an additional spin cycle while pumping water out of the drum to ensure your laundry comes out nice and dry.
Best used for – Draining and spinning a load of laundry.
Benefits/drawbacks – This setting is one that you might not need to use very often but it’s helpful when you want to dry your laundry before getting it out of the washer, so you can tidy it away as soon as the cycle completes.
Mixed Fabrics
Overview – When you’re washing clothes that are made out a mixture of synthetic fabrics, you’ll need to use the mixed fabrics setting on your Smeg washing machine. It washes between ‘cold’ and 40 degrees Celsius with a maximum spin of 1200 rpm.
Best used for – Washing lightly to normally soiled garments and bedding that is made out of mixed fabrics.
Benefits/drawbacks – The mixed fabrics setting only reaches a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, so it’s not ideal for heavily soiled garments. However, it’s a powerful enough wash for lightly to moderately soiled items and it doesn’t use too much energy due to washing at no more than 40 degrees Celsius.
Gym
Overview – If you wear a lot of gym gear, you’ll make use of the gym setting in your Smeg washer. It reached a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius and has a maximum spin speed of 800 rpm.
Best used for – Washing activewear and sports gear.
Benefits/drawbacks – It’s handy having a gym wear-specific setting if you’re a fitness lover and you can use this setting for any kind of garment that is made from breathable sport-type fabric. However, the prewash and easy iron settings aren’t available with the gym wash cycle and there is a maximum load capacity of 2 kg.
Shirt
Overview – The shirts setting us commonplace across most washing machine brands. It washes from ‘cold’ to 40 degrees Celsius and has a maximum speed of 800 rpm. You can select the max speed according to your needs.
Best used for – Washing shirts and blouses that need refreshing and are only lightly soiled.
Benefits/drawbacks – If you wear smart shirts or blouses for work or leisure, you will probably use this setting a lot. It’s not a powerful enough wash cycle to remove tough stains or fully wash heavily soiled garments.
Night
Overview – The night wash setting is available between 30 and 60 degrees Celsius, and spins at a maximum of 1000 rpm.
Best used for – Washing very delicate items that are only slightly dirty.
Benefits/drawbacks – The night setting washes between a wide range of temperatures (from ‘cold’ to 60 degrees Celsius) and you can use most of the additional cycle options with it, except the extra rinse and flexi time.
Super Fast Dry 15
Overview – The super fast dry 15 is perfect for when you need to quickly wash lightly soiled items. It washes at either ‘cold’ or 30 degrees Celsius and the drum spins 800 times a minute.
Best used for – Washing light cotton or delicate garments that are only slightly dirty.
Benefits/drawbacks – The super fast dry 15 is the quickest wash cycle out of all of the options on the washer, so it’s great for when you’re in a rush and want to power through your laundry. The downside is that its highest temperature is 30 degrees Celsius, so it’s not appropriate for washing heavily soiled or very stained laundry.
Drying Programmes
There are three drying programmes in most Smeg washers Ð gentle, intensive, and clean.
Gentle
Overview – The gentle drying cycle operates at 60 degrees Celsius, and you can load it with up to 3 kg of laundry.
Best used for – Drying delicate or synthetic fabrics.
Benefits/drawbacks – The gentle drying setting is perfect for delicate fabrics that would otherwise get damaged on a more intense drying cycle. It has a slightly reduced drum capacity of 3 kg compared to the intensive setting (which can hold up to 4 kg of laundry).
Intensive
Overview – The intensive drying setting works at 90 degrees Celsius, so it’s a more extreme version of the gentle drying setting. You can load the drum with up to 4 kg of laundry per cycle.
Best used for – Drying cotton items.
Benefits/drawbacks – The intensive cycle enables you to dry thicker cotton fabrics quickly and easily, so you can put your laundry away as soon as the cycle completes.
Clean
Overview – The final drying cycle that you’ll find on most Smeg washers is the clean cycle. This isn’t necessarily for drying your clothing. Instead, it runs a drying circuit cleaning cycle.
Best used for – Drying circuit cleaning cycle.
Benefits/drawbacks – The clean drying programme keeps your washing machine sparkling clean to maintain a high level of efficiency and prolong the lifespan of the appliance.
Clean Programme
Overview – The clean programme rinses the inner compartment of your washer to get rid of dust and dirt. It’s shown by a symbol of a circle with dots inside it and a downward arrow.
Best used for – Cleaning the inside of your washing machine.
Benefits/drawbacks – The clean symbol will automatically light up after a certain number of washes to remind you to clean your washer. It reduces the build-up of dust and dirt in your appliance to maintain its efficiency. The downside is that you’ll need to wait for the clean cycle to finish before you can wash any more of your laundry, as the drum needs to be empty when you’re running this programme.
Error Codes
Smeg washing machines have a series of error codes, each of which corresponds to a particular issue. Here are the most common error codes and what to do when they appear on your display screen when you try to start a wash cycle.
OPEN
What it means – The door isn’t closed properly.
What you should do – You’ll need to open the door and close it again so that it latches shut.
E1
What it means – The aqua stop device has tripped.
What you should do – Turn off the power supply and the water tap, and contact the nearest service centre.
E5
What it means – The water has not been taken in for a wash cycle.
What you should do – Check that the appliance is plugged in correctly, that the door is shut properly, that the water tap is turned on, and that the hose pipes aren’t blocked.
E6
What it means – The water has not been pumped out of the drum properly.
What you should do – Check that the drain hose isn’t bent, broken, or blocked.
