A method of removing effects of torque fluctuations caused by activation or deactivation of machine components in estimating inertia from a parameter estimator in a laundry treating appliance includes rotating the drum during a cycle of operation on a laundry load, determining a start time when a machine component is activated or deactivated during the cycle of operation, resetting covariance in a parameter estimator at a predetermined reset time after the start time, repeatedly estimating in the parameter estimator after the reset time, inertia of the laundry load, based on the torque, acceleration, speed, and/or angular position of the drum, processing estimated parameter values from the parameter estimator at a predetermined adjusting time after the predetermined reset time, and adjusting cycle parameters based on the processed estimated parameter values.