I always preferred an AUTO Soak on any machine, meaning fully automatic, and/or the option to continue into the Regular Cycle....
Mother Yogi would use her 1963 GE V12...with the so called fake SOAK cycle built into the final rinse, as Ken has shown us......
BUT the 63FF V12 had an un-usual feature, not all machines could do......set the machine to RINSE, add clothes and pre-soak, allow to fill and agitate, and Mom would either leave the lid open, or rest the lid on a washcloth, as not to allow the machine to spin out the water until she was done with the SOAK period....most times overnight!
somewhat a manual way of doing it...but did not require monitoring....after the SOAK, just close the lid to allow it to spin out the water, and reset to a Normal wash ...