Dirty Laundry Items That Could Use An Extra Soak Before Washing, According To Our Cleaning Expert

If you've struggled to remove certain difficult stains from your clothes or linens, you might want to consider soaking your laundry before washing. Melissa Pateras, author of "A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home" and cleaning, DIY, and laundry content creator on Instagram and TikTok, spoke exclusively with House Digest about when it's necessary to soak your laundry.

Depending on the type and size of the stain, your clothes could need to soak for a few hours to get rid of tough laundry stains. "There are a few reasons why pre-soaking an item before washing is relevant. Some suborn stains or larger stains will require a soak before washing. For example, if you've got a large wine [or] coffee stain," Pateras said. She further explained that fabrics that have started to turn yellow or look dull can benefit from soaking overnight, and that pre-soaking laundry may also aid in breaking down any residue from using excess fabric softener or detergent.

When stains are particularly bad or have been sitting for a while, they may seem impossible to remove. Melissa Pateras exclusively told House Digest that by allowing your clothes or other laundry to sit in a solution of hot water and oxygenated bleach, you can start wearing down the stain ahead of time. "A larger stain might be more difficult to remove during a regular washing cycle, so pre-soaking that [laundry] item will allow the product to penetrate the stained area for a longer period of time, making it easier to remove in a regular cycle after," Pateras said.

While you may be hesitant to throw clothing that isn't white into a solution of water and bleach, oxygenated bleach doesn't contain chlorine and is considered a color-safe bleach. This is why it is capable of pulling stains out of fabric without also removing their color. The brand OxiClean contains this ingredient, and can be found on Amazon for $12.

When washing clothes that have a combination of stains and lingering odors like workout gear, Melissa Pateras suggests skipping the oxygenated bleach and using other products, though they typically don't need to be soaked ahead of going in the washer. "Using a product like Rinse and Refresh or Tide Clean Boost [is] very effective when it comes to washing certain athletic fabrics like dry-fit ... Those clothes don't benefit from a pre-soak as the root cause of odor is bacteria in synthetic materials and those products act [as] a bacteria fighter," Pateras exclusively told House Digest. "It simply goes into the fabric softener dispenser in the machine and is part of the regular wash," she added.

If you don't have time to pre-soak your stains, Pateras mentioned that treating the stains right away can save you from the hassle. "Using a good quality liquid detergent or pre-treating a stain with that detergent or a stain remover beforehand will minimize the need for soaking," she said.