Household-type water-recirculating clothes washing machine with automatic measure of the washload type, and operating method thereof

Method in a clothes washing machine provided with a wash tub, inside which there is arranged and is capable of rotating a washload-holding drum having a substantially horizontal or inclined axis of rotation, said machine being further provided with means for re-circulating the wash liquor, characterized in that it comprises following steps, in which:

• prior to starting a washing cycle, an amount of water is absorbed by a washload until a pre-defined condition is reached, before the water level reaches the lower edge of the drum,
• calculation of the amount of the water absorbed by said washload is said condition, based on the difference between the total amount of water let into the machine and the amount of water present in both the tub and in the water-carrying circuits of the machine,
• waiting step for a pre-determined release period, defined as that time length when the washload releases a portion of the water previously absorbed,
• measurement of said water amount that has been released in said waiting step,
• determination of the ratio (A1/A0) between the water amount that has been released, and the water amount that had been absorbed,
• comparison between said ratio and a data base, containing previously stored data in the machine, wherein each of said stored data corresponds to a definite type of washload.