Patent ID: 6868573

Claim:
A method of operating a programmable washing machine, the washing machine having a drum mounted for rotation in a stationary suds container about a tilted axis of rotation rising towards a loading opening of the washing machine, the drum having scooping mechanisms for suds mounted thereto, the scooping mechanisms having a scooping power depending on a direction of rotation of the drum and being configured for uniformly wetting a laundry with the suds upon rotation of the drum in a given scooping direction, the method which comprises: driving the drum during a wet processing phase in alternating directions of rotation at speeds that alternate in dependence on the direction of rotation for a respectively limited time period, and the respectively limited time period is variable in both directions of rotation, and thereby: driving the drum in the scooping direction for time intervals that are equally long and that are characterized by a uniform setpoint speed of the drum during the entire wet processing phase; and driving the drum in an opposite direction and varying the speed and the time intervals in dependence on a progress of the wet processing phase, by: in a first phase, setting the drum speed in the scooping direction to below a washing speed, setting the duration of the time interval in a direction counter to the scooping direction substantially shorter than the duration in the scooping direction; in a second phase, setting the drum speed to equal the drum speed in the first phase, and setting the duration of the interval in the direction counter to the scooping direction longer than in the first phase; and in a third phase, setting the drum speed in the scooping direction to equal the drum speed in the first and second phases, but markedly above a contact speed at which items of laundry contact the drum shell in the opposite direction, and setting a duration of the time interval in the opposite direction markedly shorter than in the second phase.