Wow! What a lot of problems! I was never so happy as the day my top loader died! I have a wash sink in my laundry area and I put my fabric in a tub (use a lot of those pink hopital tubs) and fill it with totally hot water and leave it for a bit. If it runs, I know it, and in any case if it is going to shrink, it will. My new front loader has a "rinse and spin" 12 minute cycle and if the fabric doesn't need treatment for bleeding then it goes into that cycle and comes out in great shape and into the (old) dryer. I've never had problems; I do bring it out when "just" dry, or even needs to hang for a bit dry. I almost never iron new fabric, and when I do it's because it was stored wrong and got too crunched. I wonder what the difference is? My front loader was expensive, but I got California rebates that took off a lot of the extra cost because it is a water and energy saver.