Patent ID: 7534305

Claim:
A method of controlling a dishwasher having a water softening function performed by a water softener, the method comprising: loading in a tub of the dishwasher an item to be washed; supplying non-softened washing water to a water softener of the dishwasher, and softening the supplied washing water; washing the loaded item using the softened washing water; drying the washed item; and detecting a hardness level of the non-softened washing water, and regenerating, during the drying step, the water softener based on the detected hardness level of the non-softened water using one of a plurality different regenerating programs, wherein each regenerating program is tailored to a different predetermined hardness level associated with non-softened water supplied to the dishwasher wherein detecting a hardness level of the non-softened washing water comprises detecting the hardness level of the non-softened washing water before it enters the water softener using a water hardness sensor.