A washing machine includes a machine housing, a wash drum suspended by a plurality of carrier arms, a force sensor associated with at least one carrier arm provides a signal that is representative of a force acting on the carrier arm, and a control unit connected to the force sensor. The control unit receives measurement information during each of a plurality of phases of a program run of the washing machine, that is representative of a signal profile over time of the sensor signal over at least a portion of a revolution of the wash drum, introduces a defined amount of water into the wash drum between each pair of successive phases, determines parameter information indicative of the fabric type of laundry loaded into the drum based on the measurement information obtained during the various phases, and controls the program run in dependence on the determined parameter information.
