Front loading or top loading washing machine?

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I have soft water for sure. I have a hard time removing soap(Dettol)from my body while bathing. I have seen suds forming when I use full scoop of the small one. Looking at the larger scoops provided by Ariel and tide and claiming it to be 60gms when full, I think mine won't be 30gms. I tried filling the 60gms scoop with the small scoop I used and it definitely doesn't fill half of 60gm scoop. Either way, need to give another try next time to see the level of sudding. All those sudding issues was with tide.

Tide still has not got its act together for India.

The only detergent i can find for FL's is from their website. Just one litre imported from the US and out of stock. The other is pods which feature a FL. .

I like the idea of pods even less than liquid as you can't custom dose. And the company is assured you have to use a minimum amount.

At the cost of those pods i'd get four times the use from liquid. I bet the detergent quality is better with pods but not 4x better.

Surf liquid laundry detergent is made in India. Not surprising considering Unilever's relationship with India is over a century old.

Ariel imports from China for the 0.5, 1L bottles, from Vietnam for the 2.5L and from Japan for Ariel's pods. Only Ariel powder is made here.

Depends from what perspective you see. If considering from TL, then what you said is correct. If you see from FL, then dosages exceed to achieve the same concentration. efficacy.
Whose misguiding the customers? Company or Amazon? Either ways, I learnt my lesson and not going to cheap out on detergents. Initially, I found it hard to justify that massive jump in price from a regular detergent to a washing machine FL detergent can be more than 100%, unless they are using gold.

I found another by Ariel with similar instructions. This is the 'anti-germ' variant.

Heh, even the graphics look the same as Tide.

What does it contain to qualify as 'anti-germ' ? Oxygen bleach. But i can't find this product on Ariel's website (!)

I don't understand how it can be used for both TL & FL. If you have to use 3 scoops for a TL then it works out more expensive than detergents that only require one.

Only way i understand this is if its used as an additive to regular detergent. You need three times more in a FL because there is as much water.

This is not a substitute for regular detergent. I'd just use Vanish.

I am surprised Surf Matic is on a higher side than Ariel Matic. Most YT videos on laundry liquid detergents give higher preference to Ariel over Surf. But it's subjective. Also, the pdf is on powder, my opinion based on liquids.

There is no data for liquids as yet. Maybe next year we get another report which includes front loader powders as well.

I honestly didn't find much difference as 3 months is less time to determine the wash quality. But from cost wise for liquids, Ariel is costly than Surf. Also surf tends to leave some residue as mentioned in one of YT video so I went for Ariel. It has fragrance, can be overwhelming if used in excess.
Regarding powders and liquids, liquid(225) was cheaper than powder(250). I got it from local store since there were many reviews on Amazon mentioning liquids being diluted and it formed foam when shaken. Liquids don't form foam as they are highly viscous.
Liquids will help to maintain colour of the clothes as they don't have bleach like in detergents. Coloured clothes will fade over time with detergent as it dulls the dye.

I don't find any residue in the clothes when i use Surf. I don't know what they are selling on Amazon, i've never had any diluting when buying liquids locally. Half the time I don't trust what i read on amazon because these people have no clue.

The bleach you refer to is oxygen bleach or sodium percarbonate, releases hydrogen peroxide that bleaches the clothes. It's colour safe. Vanish is the best known product for this. The difference is they say to soak colours no longer than an hour but whites can be soaked up to 6 hours. So there is clue right there. Contact duration. How long is the detergent in contact with the clothes.

With lighter loads wash cycle does not exceed an hour but will if its a full load or heavy load.

Thing is they don't put this 'oxygen' term on the packet. It's not advertised. Neither Ariel or Surf. . Ariel points out its there in their powder but not in their liquid. However they don't say powder will fade colours just that whites won't be as white with the liquid.

To confuse things more Ariel has a colours safe powder but only for top loaders (!) Can't use that in a FL.

Surf does not say their powder has oxygen bleach so i figure their powder is safer with colours than Ariel in a FL. I asked them and this is the reply..

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting Consumer Care cell of Hindustan Unilever Limited.

We have received your Email, and are glad to have the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

We would suggest you to use Surf Excel Matic Front Load for colours & white clothes.

Below are the ingredients for front load and top load.

Front Load:- Surf excel matic has revolutionary "vibrating molecules" that remove the stains inside the machine without pre-soaking.

Top Load:- Surfactant, builder, processing aid, filler, enzymes, perfume,bleaching agent, fluorescer,anti redeposition agent, colorant and water.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us!


Warm Regards,

Lever Care Team,

revolutionary "vibrating molecules" in front load ?!!?

Henko Stain Champion and its Matic variant states there is oxygen power and specify its for stains. It's on the packet.

But according to that report Henko Stain Champion was only as good as Ariel but not as good as Surf.

I'm surprised it had less detergency.

Dye's fading is down to the quality of dyes used. Cheaper clothes don't use as stable dyes which fade over time. Direct sunlight can bleach clothes too.

I would not say powders per se fade dyes more than liquids. They can if contact duration exceeds an hour or more. That's the qualifier.

This is highly misleading. There can't be binary recommendations. Dosage depends on many factors.. water quality, number of clothes, drum capacity etc. A 60 ml dosage for a 8-9kg full load would be sufficient, but the same for a full load for 6kg drum is overuse. You not only damage the environment, waste water to remove excess soap, but also the machine. I think companies are playing safe as you mentioned but with time one should get an idea what is correct dosage.
I think companies are getting greedy by asking customers to use excess detergents. Ariel earlier used to have marking on dosage cup which serves as a reference based on load. Now its plain 60ml full cup. And though it says 60ml, I found that it does exceed by a certain amount.

Here is the next thing. There is no mention of machine drum size when it comes to dosing. So they have taken an average again out of the available three drum sizes.

Guess the recommend is for the middle size machine which I recommend.. Yours is smaller.

They reason they recommend larger doses is they take into consideration poor quality water to avoid negative publicity. My estimate is the dose is good for water upto 400 ppm hardness.

I had looked up standards some time ago and posted them somewhere on the board. One scoop is some international standard for dosage around the 60gm mark. All stain performance tests are performed with that dosage of detergent.

Sorry. I didn't understand this.

The capacity of your drum is around 36 litres. 60 to 70% of that is 20-25 litres for full load.

How much volume of clothes is a full load ? The amount of clothes to fill a bucket of volume 20 litres. When that bucket overflows that quantity of clothes is a full load.

With my machine its 30-35 litres. Hence the reason i don't recommend people buy the machine size you got. I know you have space constraints so that's the max size you can have.

 

[technofast]

Since I moved from Bosch FL to LG FL, I find one thing annoying in LG is that most of the cotton clothes come out super wrinkled. This happens irrespective which ever mode I use. This was not the case with Bosch. I do not over load and set the temperature around 40 to 65 degrees and the RPM is mostly not above 800.

 

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Depends how thick the clothes are. I don't have this problem much. Now the weather is becoming dryer you can get away with a 400 rpm spin. There will be less squeezing and when line drying the wet weight of the clothes will reduce wrinkles.

There is also a 'crease care' modifier you can set at the end of a cycle.

So I will be getting an Ariel powder and use liquid only for oily, greasy stains.

A 5% dishwash liquid detergent to remainder water in a spray bottle for pretreating will handle this. Dishwash detergent cuts through oil and grease very well.

I use Pril but the consumer affairs people ranked it last. Their top two are not available in the market these days.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

A 5% dishwash liquid detergent to remainder water in a spray bottle for pretreating will handle this. Dishwash detergent cuts through oil and grease very well.

Does this also work with stains already washed before being treated? I did see a video where one used baking soda and dishwashing liquid to remove stains. Will be trying this tomorrow.

 

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Does this also work with stains already washed before being treated?

Try and experiment with higher ratio of detergent. I don't think oil is too problematic.

I did see a video where one used baking soda and dishwashing liquid to remove stains.

The baking soda acts as a mild abrasive and helps when scrubbing before putting it in the washer. That is the only purpose it has.

The surf liquid cap has some studs on it to rub the clothes when pre-treating.

I think its better to use the same cloth folded over to rub. Like on like. Anything rougher will just wear it down.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

I like the idea of pods even less than liquid as you can't custom dose. And the company is assured you have to use a minimum amount.

Pods are for those who have huge dumps of clothes and who just want to load and forget. Put everything in the drum, set the timer and off it goes. Sure, they charge a premium in the name of convenience.

Only way i understand this is if its used as an additive to regular detergent. You need three times more in a FL because there is as much water.

Exactly!

The capacity of your drum is around 36 litres. 60 to 70% of that is 20-25 litres for full load.

How much volume of clothes is a full load ? The amount of clothes to fill a bucket of volume 20 litres. When that bucket overflows that quantity of clothes is a full load.

No. The bucket never overflows with clothes. But thanks for the tip. Will keep that in mind.
So I did my laundry today with 30gms Ariel powder only to find some suds. Also, the laundry was a bit on the higher side so I thought the extra detergent would compensate for clothes. Now, I am not aware how much sudsing is too much. A little bit suds will be formed when detergent mixes with water and the drum moves at a slightly higher speed, but those suds would die down as water percolated. Tried searching on YT but got nothing concrete.
Definitely not to this level as in this video but a slight sudsing at the bottom. As mentioned in the video, both the water hardness and how much is it soiled will determine the foaming.

 

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Pods are for those who have huge dumps of clothes and who just want to load and forget. Put everything in the drum, set the timer and off it goes. Sure, they charge a premium in the name of convenience.

The price listed is comparable with the UK. With one difference. The UK variant says it will work even with 20 degree temperature washes. No mention of that on the one they sell in India so the formulation is different.

No. The bucket never overflows with clothes. But thanks for the tip. Will keep that in mind.

I don't find weight as useful a metric as volume. The standards mention weight and they are sold by how much weight they can bear but in the US machines are listed by drum volume capacity. My machine can handle 7Kg dry clothes weight but going by volume i'm at full load by the 4kg mark. I don't have a lot of jeans. Thinner clothes will take more volume for less weight. In the end how well the clothes wash depends on how much space they have to move. Over loading means the clothes absorb the water and the detergent gets less to dissolve in and will leave residue on the clothes.

This will apply for most programs. If you notice some programs state a lower weight than the cottons cycle. But i don't get even half way to rated weight before i'm at full load in terms of volume.

So I did my laundry today with 30gms Ariel powder only to find some suds. Also, the laundry was a bit on the higher side so I thought the extra detergent would compensate for clothes. Now, I am not aware how much sudsing is too much. A little bit suds will be formed when detergent mixes with water and the drum moves at a slightly higher speed, but those suds would die down as water percolated. Tried searching on YT but got nothing concrete.
Definitely not to this level as in this video but a slight sudsing at the bottom. As mentioned in the video, both the water hardness and how much is it soiled will determine the foaming.

You should not find the window filled to the top with foam or even half way as high. If your wash load is less say half then you will see more suds than if it was a full load.

That video does not look like it has any clothes in the drum, in which case foaming will be more but not too much.

If all you see is suds at the bottom then you're good.

I was referring to sudsing during tub clean cycles as a way to gauge soap residue in the drum.

Empty drum, no detergent. Run a tub clean and see how much foam is in the water. Your machine is not even a year old so i doubt you will see much.

I have soft water for sure. I have a hard time removing soap(Dettol)from my body while bathing. I have seen suds forming when I use full scoop of the small one.

it is harder to remove soap from hard water. Soft water will dissolve the soap easier. Soft water should feel slippery.

https://www.aquatell.ca/blogs/aquatell/why-does-soft-water-feel-slippery

Actually, soft water rinses off better with soap, it's not soap residue that you're feeling but your owns skin natural hydration.

 

[singenaadam]

I have used both FL & TL machines. Will always buy TL. Not from performance POV (many people have covered it in detail here) - but, ergonomics POV. Most people - repeat, most - don't realize the amount of bending that is involved in putting in/pulling-out clothes from an FL washing machine. Space POV - you can leave TL anywhere you have a tap & drain. Lastly, throw in the age factor, TL is a no-brainer for any senior citizen user or ladies with even mild back issues.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

I have used both FL & TL machines. Will always buy TL. Not from performance POV (many people have covered it in detail here) - but, ergonomics POV. Most people - repeat, most - don't realize the amount of bending that is involved in putting in/pulling-out clothes from an FL washing machine. Space POV - you can leave TL anywhere you have a tap & drain. Lastly, throw in the age factor, TL is a no-brainer for any senior citizen user or ladies with even mild back issues.

I wished they had laundry pedestal like these in India.

LG Laundry Pedestals | Stylish Storage and Risers

Get the Extra Storage You Need or Raise Your Washer and Dryer to the Perfect Height with LG Laundry Pedestals, Made to Match Your LG Laundry Appliances.

www.lg.com

I did have this factor in mind, but yes, if you have someone elderly or someone with back issues doing the laundry, opting for a TL could be a better option.
They should stop discriminating between West and India when it comes to availability of certain products.

 

[Fapdda]

I can't comment on front loaders because I've never owned one, but I've been using a Panasonic top load for about 8 years now and it's still going strong. Some of my friends who vouch for front load have had their machines broken in 3-4 years so in terms of reliability I wouldn't want to go for front load imo.

 

[technofast]

There is also a 'crease care' modifier you can set at the end of a cycle.

Unfortunately the model I have does not have this. Checked the manual also but not sure if it is hidden somewhere.

 

[t3chg33k]

A FL is always going to be the better option in terms of efficiency and usage of water/electricity. I had an IFB machine for 7 years but it was really troublesome to maintain. I switched to Bosch 5 years ago and swear by its quality.

In terms of accessibility, you can get a pedestal as indicated below:

https://www.amazon.in/Bosch-Siemens-Original-Pedestal-Washing/dp/B07FBDD8M4/

You can probably try third-party ones that raise the level further if that is a requirement. Mostly, you need one with independent leg adjustment to provide adequate damping, as that is where things go wrong over time due to the force of the rotating drum.

 

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Unfortunately the model I have does not have this. Checked the manual also but not sure if it is hidden somewhere.

It would seem they have removed some features with the newer models

Mine has the crease care function. All this does is a one RPM spin every few seconds for a couple of minutes. I don't use it much. it reduces creases a little.

And that's yours. No crease care and something else i notice missing is 'Rinse Hold'. Why ever did they remove that useful function

Rinse hold will pause at the end of rinse cycle before starting the spin cycle. On your machine all i see is 0 spin. That is not the same. It means it will drain the water but leave the clothes soaking wet and end the program (!)

How to deal with wrinkles ? Snap the clothes a few times before putting them on the line. Age old method of reducing excess wrinkles.

I do this anyway with some items that come out wrinkled and if spun at 800. With 400 the wet weight straightens them out.

I have used both FL & TL machines. Will always buy TL. Not from performance POV (many people have covered it in detail here) - but, ergonomics POV. Most people - repeat, most - don't realize the amount of bending that is involved in putting in/pulling-out clothes from an FL washing machine. Space POV - you can leave TL anywhere you have a tap & drain. Lastly, throw in the age factor, TL is a no-brainer for any senior citizen user or ladies with even mild back issues.

Just sit on a chair or stool when loading/unloading. How hard is that.

The idea with a FL is its put under kitchen counters so that is why the loading is done from the front.

The main advantages with top loader are cost and space constraints. And what people are used to.

 

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Pods are for those who have huge dumps of clothes and who just want to load and forget. Put everything in the drum, set the timer and off it goes. Sure, they charge a premium in the name of convenience.

They are mostly for people using public laundrettes. No need to carry the detergent box with you.

However Tide's pods in particular have issues.

The guy is using a top loader with no heating. Pods require a minimum temperature before they can operate properly. I still don't trust them. That plastic that does not dissolve for whatever reason is going to end up on the tub along with the liquid detergent dispensed and create buildup later.

The other odd thing i notice in his videos is he seems to think you can use front loader detergent in top loaders. How ?

A HE detergent is formulated for low water wash. The lowest water setting on this guy's TL is 14L and he likely is using the 47L water setting for his wash.

He says HE detergent can be used in any kind of washer. I don't understand that. HE detergent can only be used in an HE washer.

A medium size FL as posted earlier uses 5L to wash. So how can using multiple times more water result in an effective wash.

And this is despite that artcle i linked earlier that made clear the amount of water used has nothing to do with cleaning.

He is experimenting with HE detergents because the local ones don't do a good enough job. The problem is his water is not being heated to 40 degrees. Lower temperatures don't clean so well.

His TL has no heater and he is using a liquid detergent. Recipe for trouble down the road.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

The guy is using a top loader with no heating. Pods require a minimum temperature before they can operate properly. I still don't trust them. That plastic that does not dissolve for whatever reason is going to end up on the tub along with the liquid detergent dispensed and create buildup later.

There are two ways a person can learn in life, either through own experience or life-experiences from others. I am assuming he has not not gone through the pre-requisites for pods, hot water in this case. Even the 2nd comment in his video tells him to use hot water. Some people like to experiment and share it with others. Always take it with a grain of salt or do your own research
1st video.
2nd video.
Only the second video shows that the plastic actually dissolves under boiling water. And the use-case for boiling water is very few. I doubt machines go upto 100C to ensure everything inside the pods is dissolved.
I hope manufacturers do mention the prior conditions before using pods like hot water. Else its a disaster for the machine in the long run.
People need to understand why HE powders and machines were created in the first place. You can make work whatever you want, whether it will be effective or not is a different story.

So in my case, I have now started to heat water to 40C for my laundry. I also am filling my laundry to only half the drum size so that clothes get enough room to clean which is not the case when the drum is filled to 70%.

 

[tech.addict]

I'm using a FL since last 12 years. 1.5 years back when I got transferred to Delhi, I bought a automatic TL for my single use. I thought that buying the cheapest TL from a reputed brand would be sufficient as my daily washing will be very less. So I bought a Whirlpool 6kg automatic TL which was among the cheapest. I didn't pay much attention to other features except auto resume after power failure.
The machine is a total disappointment. It produces so much lint that sometimes I have wash clothes twice to remove the lint. This problem I never faced in the FL. I have increased the amount of water than the recommended level, changed different detergents, used fabric conditions, nothing helped. The machine is never overloaded. I even bought floating lint filters available in Amazon (4 of them) these somehow reduces the amount of lint but still sometimes it is lot.
Interestingly the machine mentions "intelligent lint filter" which could not be found anywhere and hane no option for cleaning. Even the semi automatics are better in this area with the removable lint filter. Im in a fix as selling the Machine means losing more than half amount of the money.

 

[asingh]

Have been using pods past three weeks. Honestly they are cleaning the clothes much better then Ariel liquid for FL or Genteel. But using in normal water -- no heat selector is on.

I think the plastic cover would dissolve quicker when spinning in a drum and facing friction from garments vs. sitting static in a bowl for 20 minutes.

 

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That PH guy made one video that bears some thought.

He advocates belt driven Top loaders over Direct drive. Why ?

Reasoning is once the bearing seals fail in a direct drive, the water would flow into the motor and kill it. Since the motor is directly under for a Top loader.

But this would not happen with a belt driven top loader

The tradeoff is less quiet, possibly more vibration but for longer life seems like a fair argument.

The choice to go for with top loaders is Panasonic. Not the Koreans unless you find one that is belt driven.

Another thing that i found interesting in his Panasonic TL is it comes with a built in spirit level.

It actually has a bubble level built into one corner that you can use to level it

So in my case, I have now started to heat water to 40C for my laundry.

This will ensure a constant baseline of wash conditions. Then you can experiment with other variables.

Don't go over 40 for dark colours or any clothes that have elastic in them.

The reason for 40 degrees is that is where the enzymes like protease are most active

So yeah it can work at lower temperatures but it cleans best closer to 50 degrees.

Note what happens at 60 degrees. Enzymes die. At that temperature the cleaning comes from other components of the detergent. You might need to use additives and at these temperatures you are usually washing whites. I found a booster from Ariel. Otherwise there is always Vanish.

Source

Keep in mind washing at 40 degrees consumes 3x the power than at cold as the heater comes on for a few minutes. If your water in the overhead tank is warm then the difference will be less.

My measurements for the cottons cycle indicate washing a 2kg load on cold is ~100Wh whereas washing that same load at 40 degrees consumes ~300Wh (0.3kWh or units) per wash. I noticed a stronger damp mildew smell on the wet clothes when washed on cold than at 40 degrees. I never wash on cold. Just an experiment for power consumption.

Incidentally, a TL with no heater also consumes close to 100Wh. But if it had a heater it would cost more to heat that volume to 40 degrees. So the FL wins here on cost of cleaning.

The guys with solar setups wash on cold because their solar inverters can't handle the short 2kW load of the heating element.

Decide what you want. Consistent clean quality or saving electricity.

I also am filling my laundry to only half the drum size so that clothes get enough room to clean which is not the case when the drum is filled to 70%.

This is the general guideline

you should leave an approximate 10cm gap between the top of the laundry to the top of the door opening for the drum, or a handwidth as a rough guide to ensure that your clothes actually get washed and not just wet and refreshed.

https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/fix-it-yourself/washing-machine-washer-dryer/2792-overloading/

If you do the calculations that works out to about two thirds the volume of the drum for max load.

This is the mixie rule too. Which most women in this country intuitively get.

Same with a top loader

How Full Should You Fill A Washing Machine?

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Their recommend for a FL is incorrect though. 80% is too much. Stick with the hand gap between top of the port opening and clothes and you're good.

I'm using a FL since last 12 years. 1.5 years back when I got transferred to Delhi, I bought a automatic TL for my single use. I thought that buying the cheapest TL from a reputed brand would be sufficient as my daily washing will be very less. So I bought a Whirlpool 6kg automatic TL which was among the cheapest. I didn't pay much attention to other features except auto resume after power failure.
The machine is a total disappointment. It produces so much lint that sometimes I have wash clothes twice to remove the lint. This problem I never faced in the FL. I have increased the amount of water than the recommended level, changed different detergents, used fabric conditions, nothing helped. The machine is never overloaded. I even bought floating lint filters available in Amazon (4 of them) these somehow reduces the amount of lint but still sometimes it is lot.
Interestingly the machine mentions "intelligent lint filter" which could not be found anywhere and hane no option for cleaning. Even the semi automatics are better in this area with the removable lint filter. Im in a fix as selling the Machine means losing more than half amount of the money.

It lacks a lint trap that is the problem. See the last answer here.

You will have to separate lint givers from lint takers. Use shorter duration wash programs and ones that are lower rpm or gentler than normal to avoid hitting the clothes too much.

TL's clean faster than FL's

Try more detergent, might help with taking the lint away.

Since there is no heater i'm going to assume your water temperature isn't under twenty degrees as that can also be an issue.

i guess lint trap is one essential thing to look for in a TL. Funny, i thought all of them had one but you can get cheap ones that do not have it.

 

[tech.addict]

I never wash clothes which produces too much of lint with other clothes as this is the basic precaution you have to take for all WM. I haven't tried increasing the detergent. I have purchased the floating lint filters available in Amazon and they reduced the problem to 30-40% (I use 4 of them). See the attached picture below to get an idea.

 

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Was watching this 8kg LG top loader review and its clear there is overloading taking place.

What he shows here is already the max load. That's about two thirds full.

But no, he thinks he still has capacity left and adds more.

80% is overloading. And he also has not left space in the centre. With these impeller top loaders you need to pretend there is a vertical agitator in the centre and line the sides of the drum so the clothes circulate properly. Rather than just dumping clothes in.

The sure way i know he is overloading is he recommends liquid detergent saying it dissolves better. Meaning that powder was leaving residue. It won't if you don't overload the top loader. I guess people using liquid in top loaders end up using liquid in front loaders too. Overloading.

And they are overloading because the right size machine for them costs more. The sales guy isn't going to recommend something more expensive and risk losing a potential sale.

He makes the point that if you have 8kg of clothes then you should buy a 10kg machine instead. It needs to be a third larger in terms of volume.

I've not measured top loader drum capacities so can't say which size machine is right.

But if you can get at a minimum, a usable 30-35 litres at two thirds full with a hollow in the centre for imaginary agitator you should be ok.

Drum size of the TL, NOT including the rubber at the top needs to be 50-60 litres. The rubber on the top gives the illusion of a bigger drum but should not be counted in the height of the drum because it has no holes for water to drain.

Have been using pods past three weeks. Honestly they are cleaning the clothes much better then Ariel liquid for FL or Genteel. But using in normal water -- no heat selector is on.

Which brand of pods ?

Cleaning better might be a result of better quality detergent able to clean at lower temperatures. Thing is this point was not made on the label for the Tide pods like it was with the ones in the UK as mentioned earlier.

I think the plastic cover would dissolve quicker when spinning in a drum and facing friction from garments vs. sitting static in a bowl for 20 minutes.

That's the theory. From what i can tell, if the machine has a heater then a boil wash will clear out any plastic residue that accumulates inside.

I haven't tried increasing the detergent.

Try a liquid detergent and see if it makes a difference. Try with half a cap if your water is relatively soft and then try going to a cap full. Make sure your water is enough.

Lint means the clothes are rubbing against each other so any thing that reduces that will reduce lint.

It's notable a FL does not have a lint trap. FL is gentler on clothes