S O A K I N G . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[dj-gabriele]

Oh, sorry but I didn't notice that the majority of posters here were from the USA! Anyway, if somebody wants a bottle of Dixan (Italian Henkel Persil) or Dash (Italian P&G TOL detergent) or anything else from an Italian firm just drop me a line!

BTW: I thought that HOT was around 60°C! Most of the time I wash my darks at 40°C!

 

[panthera]

Gabriele,

Back in the 1950's, in America, it was. Today, the recommended setting for central water heaters is 120° and by the time the water gets to the machine...

Plus, to 'save energy' manufacturers have redefined 'hot' and 'warm' down through the years, too. Except for exotic machines, nearly all machines in the US just speak of cold, warm and hot.

My darlin' is a serious antique washer fanatic. Hot at our Thumper (and she's PANK!) runs not quite 55°C and that is hotter than nearly anyone else I know in the US. His closest friend's machine's 'hot' is cool enough for me to keep my hand in the water, so that can't be far above 40°C.

Just the way it is - because of the low voltage, you just can't easily heat water in a TL.

Soaking is a brilliant solution. If you remember the water, that is...

 

[panthera]

Gabriele,

Back in the 1950's, in America, it was. Today, the recommended setting for central water heaters is 120° and by the time the water gets to the machine...

Plus, to 'save energy' manufacturers have redefined 'hot' and 'warm' down through the years, too. Except for exotic machines, nearly all machines in the US just speak of cold, warm and hot.

My darlin' is a serious antique washer fanatic. Hot at our Thumper (and she's PANK!) runs not quite 55°C and that is hotter than nearly anyone else I know in the US. His closest friend's machine's 'hot' is cool enough for me to keep my hand in the water, so that can't be far above 40°C.

Just the way it is - because of the low voltage, you just can't easily heat water in a TL.

Soaking is a brilliant solution. If you remember the water, that is...

 

[favorit]

the odd thing is that .... + Dutch tourists

us europeans have always looked to the US as the place where many innovations to avoid guesswork / handwork came from.

Today the 110 V thing forces you to do more guesswork than us.

I'm thinking of purging lines to have real hot water, running a separate soak cycle so to be able to have a real hot main wash.... we just load the washer, period.

@ Louis : last August i worked and had a small holiday in Central Italy. There were a lot of foreign tourists : 90 % were Dutch, the other 10% were mostly Brits

 

[irishwashguy]

Soaking gives me brilliant results!!

In my Miele, I will usually use the soak before the program, which is two hours, and then on with the regular program. I will use a combo of 20 mule team borax, Persil universal gel or uk British Persil9 non bio,and maybe a scoop of the biz. If it is whites, I will wash them at 190 f. Colors at 105-120 depending on what the colors are. Towels and or sheets I will wash at 170 to 190 if they are really dirty,otherwise 105. The Borax really helps.It is not only inexpensive, it comes out with brilliant results.

 

[launderess]

Do Not Understand All This Palaver About Soaking

Bung even the most filty soiled wash into the Miele, add Persil, or my European commercial washing powder for colours, and perhaps some extra oxygen bleach if required and set the washer for either 100F,120F, or 140F and that is that.

Wine,tomato sauce, curry,blood, the lot come out spotless with 99.9% of stains shifted.

Only time one soaks anything is either for vintage fabrics that shouldn't be banged about too much, and fragile textiles for the same reason.

Tried soaking some stained dinner linens once in the Miele, using the dedicated cycle for doing so. Cycle ended and one drained out the water, linens were that clean they only required rinsing and spinning out. Never bothered with a soak as a prelude to washing ever again.

Certinaly wouldn't soak anything in LCB laden water for several hours. It just isn't required and probably does more harm to textiles than anything else.

LCB whitens and removes stains in about five minutes, less if the water is >120F. Longer contact time does not improve results and indeed any stains not shifted within say <10mins aren't going anywhere. This is one of the reasons commercial laundries have a separate but short bleach cycle (usually the first rinse), and not part of the long wash cycle.

L.