Does anyone do a pre soak before washing?

Question

I’m asking this since I live in college housing... so each load is $1.25 a load and drying is $1.50 a load. I know $1.25 isn’t much but I’m unsure how many times I’ll have to run the wash per wash routine and then multiply that by 2-3 times a week, a load of baby clothes and then my boyfriends clothes and mine 😂 we also have hard water so I’m trying to find the best ratio to avoid mineral build up! 
Okay so normally I read online for a pre wash, wash, rinse...
Can someone advise me/ help me with my was cycle? Positive critiques?  
Could I pre soak my diapers in the sink or bathtub instead??? 
I figured I’d pre soak in half a standard bath full of cold water and 1/8 cup of dawn dish soap and 1 tbs of white vinegar 1/2 cup of foca detergent powder 
Next I’d wring out the diapers and haul them over to the laundry mat on campus (very limited wash selections) 
Put them in and I planned on using 1/2 cap of colgan as a water softener, and 1 cup of FOCA detergent- super cheap I use it anyways and it’s a top pick on fluff love University and washing on medium heat and using the “soiled” option 
One air dry cycle- hang to finish drying 
Here are my questions 
1. Would pre soak be a safe alternative to a pre wash?
2. Is medium heat okay? Or should I wash on hot? (Pockets and insert diapers) 
3. Should I do a final rinse if I don’t use a pre wash? 
4. Should I just skip the air dry cycle and just air dry?

Answer

I’ve been using clothe diapers for four years—same ones! I love them. Here’s my routine:
-first wash: inserts and diapers separated on heavy duty cold water, no extra rinse.
-second wash round: heavy duty hot water, extra rinse
-Diapers do NOT go in the dryer!! It will make the water repellant (what keeps pee in the diaper) weaken. I have microfiber and hemp inserts, and I do put them in the dryer. When we were poorer, I hang dry them like I do my diapers.
To get stains out: lemon juice and place in the sun for a few hours.
 Do NOT use bleach.
Check nickisdiapers.com.  They have a whole bunch of information on how to care for diapers. They’re fabulous!
Happy washing! Those diapers look super cute hung up :)

Answer

I use the bucket/plunger method and it works great, but is a little time consuming.  Probably no worse than having to go to a laundromat though! If you are looking to save money I would totally recommend going that route! I dont think just a pre-soak would work as you need the agitation to get the pee/poop out.
We also air dry everything as we dont have a washer/dryer.  If you plan on air drying I would highly recommend getting some flats (or flour sack towels) to use as inserts as they dry way faster than anything else!

Answer

I would skip the dawn and vinegar. And I’d agitate the diapers while they’re soaking. I’ve heard of using a bucket and plunger to prewash/wash. Maybe look into that. 
I’d wash on hot with no extra rinse due to the hard water. 
And you can definitely just air dry all the way. Just takes a lot longer. Or you can choose to just dry the inserts and line dry the pockets themselves.

Answer

I would skip the dryer. The previous users likely used dryer sheets and that could give you repelling.

Answer

Honestly, using a pre soak instead of a double wash is iffy.  I think the lack of agitation would leave some urine in the inserts.  
What kind of diapers are you using?  I air dry mine.  Prefolds/covers will dry fastest, followed by pockets and inserts.

Answer

This is what I do (pocket diapers):
Spray solids into toilet (for older baby) 
Rinse cycle 
Wash cycle on hot 
Another rinse cycle (until recently I've realized they are very clean by that point and I don't really need it) 
Then I dry my inserts twice in the dryer on high. I know it's not recommended that way, but they literally do not dry otherwise. In summer I can dry once on low heat and then leave them outside to finish drying. 
And now that

Answer

You’ll have a hell of a time trying to rinse the dawn soap out. I did it once when I was having stink issues. Never again.

Does anyone do a pre soak before washing?

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