# Do you add soap to the cold soak cycle?



## marymamma (Mar 22, 2004)

This might be a silly question, but when you do a cold soak cycle before the wash, do you add the soap to the soak cycle and the wash cycle, just to the soak cycle, or just to the wash cycle? Thanks!


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## octobermom (Aug 31, 2005)

When or if I do a cold rinse I don't add any detergent if I do a soak I ussually add a little borax.


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## curly_mommy (Aug 28, 2006)

I don't add anything to the presoak, I add detergent to the wash, and add vinegar to the rinse. Not a silly question!


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## LizaBear (Feb 1, 2003)

Nothing in the cold rinse or wash, detergent in the hot wash. Occasionally vinegar in the rinse.


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## sugarski (Oct 22, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *marymamma* 
This might be a silly question, but when you do a cold soak cycle before the wash, do you add the soap to the soak cycle and the wash cycle, just to the soak cycle, or just to the wash cycle? Thanks!

I have a FL, so rather than presoak I do a cold/cold wash, then a hot/cold wash with 2 rinses. I do add detergent to the first wash only, that way it gets rinsed really thoroughly.


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## Oceanone (Oct 24, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sugarski* 
I have a FL, so rather than presoak I do a cold/cold wash, then a hot/cold wash with 2 rinses. I do add detergent to the first wash only, that way it gets rinsed really thoroughly.









We always do this too. Maybe it's a front loader thing. There is always enough detergent left for the hot wash and it rinses much cleaner if I add detergent to the initial cold wash.


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## EmmalinesMom (Feb 9, 2003)

No detergent here. We have a top loader.


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## amykoysgirl (Apr 1, 2006)

sometimes I add a little borax, otherwise no.


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## masonite (Jul 12, 2006)

Sometimes to my presoak I'll add some baking soda. But other than that, I don't add detergent until I do the hot wash!


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## bandgeek (Sep 12, 2006)

I add everything to the cold pre-rinse. That way, there's enough detergent left when I do the hot wash to really get the diapers clean, but not so much that I have to do an extra rinse. So my routine is:

cold pre-rinse with detergent and sometimes a little vinegar, hot wash with nothing, cold rinse with nothing

I use to do cold, hot, cold, cold so this way has eliminated an entire cycle from my routine.









Also, I rinse the poopies so the diapers aren't washing in poop water.


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## marymamma (Mar 22, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amykoysgirl* 
sometimes I add a little borax, otherwise no.

What does the Borax do? Does it help with stains? How much for a small load?


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## Tofu the Geek (Dec 2, 2003)

I have a FL and I do a pre-wash (my washer only does this on cold), followed by a hot (or sanitary) wash/cold rinse. I add soap to the pre-wash ONLY. This is what was recommended to me by the mom who makes my diapers.

My FL has a temperature control that ensures the cold water is the proper temp to dissolve detergent (I think that is 65 fahrenheit?). What it does is heat the water as it's filling so that it is still cold, but not too cold to do its job. Excellent for winter time when the water coming out of the cold water tap is icy cold!

This seems to be working nicely for me so far.


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## wawoof (Aug 17, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TechnoGranola* 
I have a FL and I do a pre-wash (my washer only does this on cold), followed by a hot (or sanitary) wash/cold rinse. I add soap to the pre-wash ONLY.

Yep, I add detergent only to the pre-wash, then run sanitary cycle with calgon water softener (we have super hard water), then extra rinse. My dipes are MUCH softer with this routine than when I added the detergent to the sanitary cycle.


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## mvlg (Jul 17, 2005)

I always rinse or do a cold/cold wash on my diapers, but I don't put anything in there. This is just for getting the majority of the pee out. I rinse the poopy diapers with a minishower and sometimes even run them through a rinse cycle after that before putting them in the pail.







I add my detergent to the hot wash because I think it works better in hot water. You get more bang for your buck so to speak.


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## maylea_moon (Mar 4, 2005)

this is what i do...

1. cold soak for about an hour with a bit of baking soda and a few drops of TTO
2. cold pre-wash
3. HOT wash with 1/2 oz. bio-kleen laundry detergent
4. when it's done rinsing i go ahead and give it a second rinse

it's worked for 2 years


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## Leiahs (Jul 29, 2005)

I used to do:

1. Short Cold/cold wash cycle with nothing.
2. Hot/cold cycle with small amt. of detergent
3. One or Two more hot/cold cycles (no detergent) depending on how much I felt they needed it.

Then I decided to change it, because it seemed so silly to wash on hot so many times trying to get them rinsed clean. Now, I do:

1. Long cold/cold cycle with 1/3 cup of detergent
2. Hot/cold cycle with a tiny amount of detergent
3. One more Hot/cold cycle for a really good rinse

And I'm getting much better results.


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