Patent ID: 8397328

Claim:
A method for operating an automatic washing machine during a wash cycle, the automatic washing machine having a cleaning chamber, a sump, a wash aid dispenser fluidly coupled with the cleaning chamber, and a water supply fluidly coupled with the dispenser for flushing wash aid from the dispenser into the cleaning chamber, whereby wash aid flushed from the dispenser mixes with the flushing water to form a wash liquid, the method comprising: flushing a portion of the wash aid from the dispenser by supplying water to the dispenser, thereby forming a wash liquid of wash aid and water and leaving a remaining portion of the wash aid in the dispenser; supplying additional water to the wash liquid without flushing the dispenser; monitoring the cumulative amount of water within the washing machine; determining a characteristic indicative of the concentration of the wash aid in a wash liquid; and controlling further flushing of the remaining portion of the wash aid from the dispenser and the supplying of additional water to obtain a wash liquid having a predetermined concentration and target volume based on the cumulative amount of water and the determined characteristic.