The general idea is this — if it seems like your washing machine “cleans better” when detergent is placed directly into the drum rather than into the dispenser, that isn’t normal. The 3 most common reasons why that would happen are either because you’re doing something incorrectly, because the washer is installed incorrectly, or because something on the washer is broken. While putting detergent directly into the drum isn’t going to hurt the washing machine, detergent dispensers give you a BETTER