A:Answer In my old one, water starts up and you can add you cloths along with when the water was getting filled up. Once done, I used to keep the lid open for 45 minutes to an hour for soaking. In this LG 4.8, to start the water, you need to select the wash cycle, select all the parameters and hit start. Then the water starts to fill up. During this time, it gets locked automatically and you cannot lift the lid. So, if you want to soak it overnight, then you need to have the water completely filled up, pause the washer, so that it thinks you want to add more cloths and will unlock, now you keep the lid open overnight. If over night is not required, then use the Pre-soak option which adds 35 - 45 minutes to your wash cycle for soak time, which is more than good enough. Hope this helps.