Yes, The Pre-Soak Cycle Can Help: Here's When To Use It

We've all been there: standing in front of the washing machine with a basket of dirty clothes, wondering how exactly we're gonna get all those stains out. Sure, it's tempting to just use the standard cycle and hope for the best, but serious messes require a different strategy. While the pre-soak cycle is an often-ignored setting on washing machines, it's the one you should be using here to help maintain your wardrobe. Plus, it only adds about 15 to 30 minutes to your laundry routine.

The pre-soak phase works by letting the detergent and water literally sit and soak into the fabric fibers before the major agitation from the wash cycle begins. Where a standard wash cycle starts agitating clothes right away, the pre-soak cycle provides a still environment for the detergent to do what it does best: latch onto dirt. This extra time ensures that the grime is loosened and ready to be rinsed away once the wash cycle kicks off. 

Modern detergents are packed with specialized enzymes designed to eat away at organic gunk like grass, blood, and sweat. However, these enzymes need extra time to work if you need them to break down the tougher bonds in stains. By utilizing pre-soak, you're essentially pre-treating the entire load at once; great for a load of post-soccer-game gear and other dirty laundry items that could use an extra soak. Plus, this cycle gives stains a chance to come out before they get pushed in further by the friction in the standard wash cycle. It's a gentle yet powerful way to ensure your clothes come out bright without needing a second or third wash.

Knowing when to use pre-soak is hands down the key to a more efficient laundry day and exactly how to keep the stinkiest laundry smelling fresh. Use it whenever you're dealing with organic stains, like the mud-caked knees on your gardening pants or the sweat stains in your favorite tee's armpits. A nice soak, then, lifts them to the surface so they don't become permanent spots on your clothing. It's also great for gym wear with trapped lingering odors. Why? Because some synthetic athletic fabrics are notorious for holding onto oil and bacteria, and a 30-minute soak allows the detergent to neutralize them way better than your standard fast-moving wash cycle ever could.

For an extra boost, consider pairing the pre-soak setting with an oxygen-based powdered bleach to brighten up your white fabrics. Unlike traditional chlorine bleach, these are generally safer for colors and even help lift dingy gray tones from white linens. And that extra immersion time helps dissolve gunk that'd otherwise take much harsher chemicals to knock out. For the majority of your clothing, the pre-soak cycle is the secret to getting pro-level results at home. Using this setting only takes a few extra minutes of your time, but it offers a gigantic payoff by giving you cleaner and fresher clothes that'll last longer than if you just kept tossing them into the standard wash cycle. It's a good way to save money doing laundry, so kick back and let the water do the heavy lifting for you.