Method for treating laundry items

Abstract

A method of inhibiting dye transfer between items of laundry in a laundry treating appliance comprising a treating chamber for receiving the laundry items for treatment according to a cycle of operation, the method comprising supplying liquid to the treating chamber to form a liquid mixture comprising the liquid and free dye molecules from the laundry, supplying a dye absorber to the liquid mixture to form a complex of dye molecules and absorber in solution or in suspension within the liquid mixture and altering the cycle of operation in response to the determination of free dye absorber in the liquid.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of inhibiting dye transfer between items of laundry in a laundry treating appliance comprising a treating chamber for receiving the laundry items for treatment according to a cycle of operation, the method comprising:
 supplying liquid to the treating chamber to form a liquid mixture comprising the liquid and free dye molecules from the laundry;   supplying a dye absorber to the liquid mixture to form a complex of dye molecules and absorber in solution or in suspension within the liquid mixture;   determining a characteristic of the liquid mixture indicative of a level of free dye absorber in the liquid; and   altering the cycle of operation in response to the determining of the characteristic of the liquid mixture indicative of a level of free dye absorber in the liquid.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the determining the characteristic comprises determining an optical characteristic. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the optical characteristic comprises at least one of a UV or Visible reflectance, absorbance or fluorescence. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising comparing the at least one of a UV or Visible reflectance, absorbance or fluorescence to a reference value. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising determining the reference value by conducting at least one of UV or visible light spectroscopy on the liquid at predetermined wavelengths characteristic of at least one of the dye absorber or the complex. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein altering the cycle of operation in response to the determination includes altering the cycle of operation in response to the comparing. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the reflectance, absorbance or fluorescence is indicative of the amount of free dye absorber in the liquid. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the reflectance, absorbance or fluorescence is sensed via a sensor system. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein supplying the dye absorber is contemporaneous with the supplying liquid to the treating chamber. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the liquid comprises water and a dye absorber. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the determining the characteristic is conducted during the contemporaneous supplying of the dye absorber and liquid. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the supplying of the dye absorber comprises supplying a predetermined amount of dye absorber. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising comparing the determined characteristic of the liquid mixture to a reference value. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the reference value comprises an expected level of dye absorber based on the predetermined amount of dye absorber. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein altering the cycle of operation in response to the determination includes altering the cycle of operation in response to the comparing. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the reference value comprises a threshold value. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the altering the cycle of operation comprises supplying additional dye absorber. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising repeating the determining a characteristic of the liquid mixture indicative of a level of free dye absorber in the liquid and supplying additional dye absorber until the determining indicates free dye absorber is present in the liquid. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the altering the cycle of operation comprises providing an alert to a user of the appliance. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the supplying of the dye absorber comprises supplying a liquid dye absorber.