Is it better than using bleach?

I had a 9 year old Samsung front loader that I cleaned once a month with vinegar and baking soda using the sanitize cycle. About a month ago I heard a loud bang and the drum started scraping the sides. I called the repairman and he said he thought the repair would run about $400. That was too much so I gave the machine to a guy and he took it apart and found the spider-arm (holds the drum) had shattered. That's what the repairman thought it was. The drum and spider-arm were completely covered with a mass of soap scum buildup. So I would say Vinegar does not help AT-ALL. I bought a Maytag top loader without an agitator. It has a cycle called "clean washer with Affresh" which I will use every month. It sounds like cheap insurance on future damage.

Is this a cruelty-free product?

The box does not say if any ingredients were tested on animals. The ingredients are: Sodium percarbonate, Sodium carbonate, Glucono-delta-lactone, Polyethylene glycol, Sodium acetate, and Fragrance. Affresh products are made by Whirlpool so I checked their safety data sheet (www.affresh.com/sds). The fragrance was tested using IFRA standards. The IFRA website (https://ifrafragrance.org/search?indexCatalogue=general-search&searchQuery=Animal) says they are incorporating non-animal testing, but it appears they are just now in transition. It is a “Safer Choice” product, meaning it doesn’t contain ingredients known to be harmful to the environment. Hope this helps!

Can it be used in a samsung he front loader (about 6 years old) with no auto clean button safely?

Yes our washer is a frontload whirlpool 2003. You just lay the tablet inside washer and run on regular cycle. Use once a month to keep washer from any mildew odors great. Highly recommend.

How do I use it with top load machine that doesn’t have cleaning program?

A HE ("High Efficiency") washer without a "clean" cycle is a problem for me, as my washer (Frigidaire model FFLE4033QT0) does not have a "clean" cycle and also does not allow me to select water level, which I would like to set to High, but I can't. So the empty washer tub with Affresh tablet fills with only 2 inches of water, because the "High Efficiency" washer senses a very small load of laundry, because the drum is empty. This means I can't clean my washer machine. I also tried manually filling the washer with hot water using a soup pot, and the machine drained all the hot water when I pushed the start button. Wonderful. The geniuses who design these machines... I think a hack would be to fill the machine with old wet towels, so the sensor feels a heavy load and fills the tub with water, and run Affresh with the old towels. I don't think there is another way.