If any washing machine does have a special wash program for trainers then at least they can’t charge you for repairs to the lifters under guarantee as it’s clearly an endorsement to do so. However, I believe the programmes are more a response to public demand and a potential sales advantage to people wanting to wash trainers in the machine. They may not really care that trainers are likely to loosen or even cause the lifters to come away over time because they can sell plenty of replacements.

check this one out you can wash your trainers easily;

[ link removed as it no longer worked - model seems to have been discontinued ]

They can’t physically cause a drum to go off centre permanently but they may be impossible to distribute round the drum evenly so the washing machine could go out of balance and bang around on spin, either that or with modern washing machines fitted with out of balance detection software they may just not spin at all.

American washing machines tend to be top loaders, which aren’t as good as front loaders in many ways although they are probably a bit more reliable Which is best, a top loader or a front loader? (washing machine)