To provide a washing machine which saves a time for washing and can prevent the cloth damage when washing.

This washing machine has a blind cylindrical washing basket 5 which is freely rotatably supported and into which the washing is fed, a pulsator 43 which is freely rotatably supported at the bottom of the inside surface of the washing basket 5, a motor 40 which is capable of rotationally driving the washing basket 5 or the pulsator 43, a water feed means 14 which feeds washing water into the washing basket 5 and a water level detecting means 54 which detects the water level of the washing basket 5. The machine carries out a washing stage by rotationally driving the pulsator 43 after feeding the water to the washing basket 5 up to a rated water level by the water feeding means 14. The washing basket 5 is inversely driven together with the pulsator 43 by the motor 40 until the water level in the washing basket 5 approximately attains the rated water level during the water feeding of the washing stage.