Not from my perspective. Here in Missouri I have never soaked the garlic in anything. I just stick it in the ground and more or less forget about it till frost, at which time I cover it up with row covers, so that the sun and rain can penetrate.
Eventually I have to throw some straw on the row cover and I also line the back of the area with some Milk Jugs of water. They absorb heat during the day and give it off at night. Also the process of freezing the water releases heat.
I use those cheap white wire fences from Walmart for the front and part of the sides so that when I toss on the straw it remains off the plants. It works for Mo. weather.
Do you water the garlic during the winter? I just don’t “get” things that grow underground.