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

[panthera]

Gabriele,

Remember, you are in Italy. Hot water for you is genuinely hot. You have phosphates, low-temperature boosters, four different enzymes, quick acting oxygen bleaches and machines designed to get the most out of these chemicals.

Americans, unless they are savvy people like the members of this board, have to get by with very cold water ("hot" in America is barely 40°), no phosphates, unsuitable programs for enzymes (in case the detergent even has them), oxygen bleaches without our activators and the chlorine hammer as a last resort.

It's always: Time, agitation, temperature, chemicals.

Since the chemistry is castrated by stupid laws in the US and the 110v weak electrical system makes proper heating cycles hard, you have to make up for it somehow.
Soaking does that.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Water, dear you forgot water.

That we do have in top-loaders, and it makes a difference!

 

[jeffg]

We also have excellent stand-by water heaters. In fact even the concept of washers and dishwashers having their own heating capability was completely unknown to me until I was in my 30's. And no one in American "has to get by" with inadequate water temperatures, unless they're forced to by finances, or choose to voluntarily.

 

[toggleswitch2]

*LOL* and BTW since 37*C is body temperature, then 40*C is a fever of 104*F to 106*F. I assure you our water is hotter than that!

 

[jeffg]

It's funny how so many people can't figure out why their washer doesn't perform very well, why their dishes aren't coming clean etc, then they tell you they keep their water heaters turned down all the way. Argh!

 

[laundromat]

Supreme,

No limit here.I,just recently,repaired a Stayber. I had seen them but never even looked at their mechanism.A customer brought it here for salvage and i called Stayber and got the repair manual. It had been severely abused by the renters using powdered detergents (not HE) and overloading it.I had to replace its door latch,balance switch,Water level selector switch,sump hose and door lock. Once all that was replaced,it ran like a champ.I just got a Norgetag that was missing the knobs and its pump was shot.I replaced its pump and drive belt but it doesn't spin or agitate the right way and makes a bit of a noise not normaly made by those models.I may have to replace the motor assembly.The pully on the motor was full of melted plastic and rubber from the belt friction.I scraped all I could off the main pully but,evidently ,there's still some on it causing the slower speeds---I hope that's right.I rebuilt three gas ranges that needed serious redo.I had to order new oven thermostats,gas oven burners,burner grates and leveling legs.All but one (an O'keefe and Merritt)of them are ready to sell.I had to send it's clock out to have it rebuilt.I had to replace the igniters in two different gas refrigerators.One Servel and one Dometic.They were both sold 5 minutes after their repair for $1300 each.New models sell here for $1799.

 

[panthera]

But, Toggles,

That is the real life 'hot' which TLs end up with, at least I recall reading that fairly recently. If it's warmer than that, great. My experience is that AW.org members are not the norm in these affairs, we tend to be far more knowledgeable and competent. And modest.

Jeff, my parents have a booster for their dishwasher and FL that runs the water up to 148F. It makes all the difference in the world as their ranch style house has the water heater so far away, it takes nearly 10 minutes (not joking) to get the water above 110F at the faucet. That booster sits on its own 20amp service and was only possible because they had the capacity for it.

 

[xraytech]

I Soak Too

I always soak my whites,
especially my labs coats as I want them to be a nice bright hospital white.
I soak my whites in hot water with 1.5 cups bleach and some borax, let agitate a few minutes, turn off and close lid. I let them soak until the water is barley warm, approx 3 hours. I drain the water out, If there are stains I treat them with Fels-Naptha, then put in hot water with Ultra-Plus, Borax, and Mrs. Stewarts Bluing. I also add the Bluing to the first rinse.

If I have extremely soiled colors I will soak them in Borax and Murphy Oil Soap in warm water for 2-3 hours.

 

[brisnat81]

I will occaisionally soak dress shirts, I load up the machine, it does a cold 60min soak, followed by a 30min 60degC wash and 2 rinses.

Anything else thats more than regular soil gets a 70minute wash at 40degC or 60degC and 3 rinses with a total time of about 1hr 50min.

No presaoker or booster used, just the regular does of a phosphated detergent.

When I had a TL as the daily driver, I would fill with hot, put the whites or Shirts in agitate for 5 mins and then switch off overnight. Then restart in the morning with fresh water.

 

[bajaespuma]

Soak all the time; best use for some of the vintage top loaders is to soak and hold for the LG.

 

[mattywashboy]

we mainly soak white socks and dishrags. That way we can use the short cycle 60* on the miele and save time on washday (50 min cycle as opposed to 1:43) and everything comes out sparkling.
Depending on who sets it up, we use a capful of Sard Wonder colour safe and maybe a touch of detergent. Personally i just shove in a half dose of our regular detergent (Dynamo or Radiant usually). We soak in a seperate bowl that sits in the laundry trough.

Matt

 

[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.