At least on this side of the pond, once automatic washing machines took hold in earnest, many housewives skipped the first step of their grandmother's laundry day; a pre soaking in cool water before the main (hot) wash. Sending soiled/stained items into very hot water is a recipe for turning those spots into permanent marks.
Yes, many washing machines did have a pre-wash/soak cycle but lots of people didn't bother in favour of getting wash day over with and or to save energy/water.
To get around having to pre-soak/wash for stain removal, products were invented to "pre-treat" stains. Mind you in days of old everything from bile, urine, pepsin, petrol, soap and so forth had been used to deal with stains before things went into the wash, but these new products generally produced consistent results and certainly were much more pleasant to use.
Things really took off when enzymes were added to stain removal pre-treat products as they truly removed the need for all that pre-soaking, provided the stains were few. If there was a large number of stains rather than coating items in all that product it generally is best to do a pre-soak instead.
Of course on the other side of the pond there were front loaders with built in heaters. Starting with cold water and gradually heating to hot generally removes the need for pre-soaking. Being as this may many washers included a "Pre-Wash" as part of the "normal" cycle until perhaps the 1980's or so. My Miele W1070 uses a pre-wash this way and only skips it when one choses "short" cycle.
Enzyme containing detergents on both sides of the pond didn't really come together until around the same time (1980's or so), but there were plenty of enzyme pre-soakers (Bionet, Biz, Axion, etc) and that is what one used (mainly) for the pre-wash. Once Persil, Tide, Ariel and the lot perfected enzyme containing (Bio for you Brits *LOL*) detergents, the need for a separate product much less cycle was reduced or eliminated. What European front loader makers did do is either incorporate a "Bio" portion of the main wash cycle or some how find a way to pause the heating of wash water at the proper temp and for enough time to give enzymes a chance to do their thing before the higher temps of hot or boiling water took over and killed them.
As for the bleach additives such as Tide "Stain Release", Ariel and so forth: yes many TOL and MOL detergents already contain oxygen bleaching systems, but that is restricted to powders and even then only those for use on whites and colourfast items. While not as common in the states, there are many detergents for colours sold across the pond that do not contain any sort of bleach. Regardless of what enzyme makers state some stains simply will not totally shift without the use of a bleach.
Liquid and gel detergents do not contain any sort of bleaching system at all (bleach alternative is just that, the product still does not contain the stuff), so as market share increases for such products consumers may still find they need a bleach now and then.
At least as far as the UK is concerned, those using a "non-Bio" detergent may also require some sort of bleach (with or without enzymes) extra product for certain wash loads.
Yes, many washing machines did have a pre-wash/soak cycle but lots of people didn't bother in favour of getting wash day over with and or to save energy/water.
To get around having to pre-soak/wash for stain removal, products were invented to "pre-treat" stains. Mind you in days of old everything from bile, urine, pepsin, petrol, soap and so forth had been used to deal with stains before things went into the wash, but these new products generally produced consistent results and certainly were much more pleasant to use.
Things really took off when enzymes were added to stain removal pre-treat products as they truly removed the need for all that pre-soaking, provided the stains were few. If there was a large number of stains rather than coating items in all that product it generally is best to do a pre-soak instead.
Of course on the other side of the pond there were front loaders with built in heaters. Starting with cold water and gradually heating to hot generally removes the need for pre-soaking. Being as this may many washers included a "Pre-Wash" as part of the "normal" cycle until perhaps the 1980's or so. My Miele W1070 uses a pre-wash this way and only skips it when one choses "short" cycle.
Enzyme containing detergents on both sides of the pond didn't really come together until around the same time (1980's or so), but there were plenty of enzyme pre-soakers (Bionet, Biz, Axion, etc) and that is what one used (mainly) for the pre-wash. Once Persil, Tide, Ariel and the lot perfected enzyme containing (Bio for you Brits *LOL*) detergents, the need for a separate product much less cycle was reduced or eliminated. What European front loader makers did do is either incorporate a "Bio" portion of the main wash cycle or some how find a way to pause the heating of wash water at the proper temp and for enough time to give enzymes a chance to do their thing before the higher temps of hot or boiling water took over and killed them.
As for the bleach additives such as Tide "Stain Release", Ariel and so forth: yes many TOL and MOL detergents already contain oxygen bleaching systems, but that is restricted to powders and even then only those for use on whites and colourfast items. While not as common in the states, there are many detergents for colours sold across the pond that do not contain any sort of bleach. Regardless of what enzyme makers state some stains simply will not totally shift without the use of a bleach.
Liquid and gel detergents do not contain any sort of bleaching system at all (bleach alternative is just that, the product still does not contain the stuff), so as market share increases for such products consumers may still find they need a bleach now and then.
At least as far as the UK is concerned, those using a "non-Bio" detergent may also require some sort of bleach (with or without enzymes) extra product for certain wash loads.
