I am using a liquid detergent and I use exactly the half of the detergent they say I should use. If a the washing machine requires 1 cup, I do half. Mostly because I don't trust the company to put me over their interests.
Now, what will happen? Will my clothes end up staying dirty? Will it not remove stains which a full cup would have removed? Will surfexcel kidnap me and torture me for not obeying their commands? Help meeee!!
The only harm is using too much. My mother-in-law has ruined multiple washing machines over the years. She doesn't understand that modern high efficiency machines require very little detergent and proceeds to clog them up with too much.
I literally had to teach my wife how to do laundry correctly when we got married so she wouldn't ruin the washing machine.
Another thing is good quality washing machine cleaner/descaler/degreaser
Use it every year, or every six months in hard water areas. Drastically increases the life of your machine, and it'll keep washing like it did when it was new
That and don't forget to clean the filter! I do that every month, doesn't take long and it keeps everything running smoothly.
The lint filter that they recommend cleaning after each use, or a different filter?
The lint filter, I think. I've never heard of cleaning it every time, though.
What brand do you recommend, or style?
The own brand stuff in Lidl is excellent