After you place your clothing inside the washer and press start, the drum will spin several times to balance the load. Note: If you prefer to fill the washer with water and detergent prior to adding your clothing, select your wash preferences and Hit Start. The spin/balance feature occurs even if your washer is empty. You can not fill the washer with water if the lid is open. The lid will remain locked until you hit Pause. So, once you have sufficient water in the tub, you can hit Pause, add your clothing and then hit Start again to continue the wash cycle. When you choose this method, the spin/balance feature is not useful since there is no load to balance. So you should place garments into the drum in a manner that self-balances the load.