Well, now,
After living in Europe for over 25 years now...yes, we do so pre-treat upon occasion.
And soak.
It is true that the US has to put up with very weak laundry detergents, but I really doubt that all those shelves of Gallseife and Oxi-diesesundjenes are there because Metro doesn't mind losing valuable sales territory for the fun of it.
Persil color gel, as mentioned above, is a very good pre-treatment, especially if you have to worry about unstable colors.