Patent ID: 7765628

Claim:
A method for operating a washing machine having a tub with a drum rotatably mounted in the tub and configured to hold a fabric load, the method comprising: a pre-wash step comprising: a) rotating the drum at a first spin speed to generate a force greater than or equal to 1 G acting on the fabric load to distribute the fabric load within and hold the fabric load against the drum; b) recirculating detergent solution between the tub and the drum to wet the fabric load during at least a portion of the rotation of the drum at the first spin speed; c) rotating the drum at a second spin speed greater than the first spin speed to draw the detergent solution through the fabric load while the detergent solution is recirculated; and repeating a, b, and c until a ratio of fabric load weight to detergent solution weight is within a range of about 1:0.5 and about 1:2.7; after the pre-wash step, a heating step comprising: rotating the drum at a tumbling speed to tumble the fabric load within the drum; introducing steam into at least one of the tub and the drum to heat the fabric load; after the heating step, a washing step comprising: supplying additional liquid to the tub to form a wash detergent solution of a volume such that at least a portion of the drum is submerged; and rotating the drum at a tumbling speed in the detergent solution to tumble the fabric load in the detergent solution within drum.