Sample how to use soft delete with Eloquent in Laravel PHP framework. Description of how to use can be found in the example. I've used Laravel 3.2.13.

eloquent_soft.php

<?php

// Extending Eloquent to support Soft Delete

abstract class EloquentSoft extends Eloquent {

  	public $soft_deletable = false;

	public function delete()
	{
		if ($this->exists)
		{
			if ($this->soft_deletable)
			{
				$record = $this->to_array()
				$record["deleted_at"] = new \DateTime;
				unset($record["pivot"]);
				DB::table('deleted_'.$this->table())->insert($record);
			}

			$this->fire_event('deleting');
			$result = $this->query()->where(static::$key, '=', $this->get_key())->delete();
			$this->fire_event('deleted');

			return $result;
		}
	}
	
	public static function restore($id)
	{
		$model = new static(array(), true);
		if($model->soft_deletable)
		{
			$deleted_record = (array) DB::table('deleted_'.$model->table())->find($id);
			
			if(!empty($deleted_record))
			{
        			$this->fire_event('restoring');
				unset($deleted_record["deleted_at"]);
				$result = self::create($deleted_record);
				
				DB::table('deleted_'.$model->table())->delete($id);
        			$this->fire_event('restored');
        
				return $result;
			}
		}
	}

}

?>

example.php

<?php
// You can use soft delete by adding the file above in your 'libraries' folder 
// and extend all your models with 'EloquentSoft'.

// NOTE: create a duplicate of your table (schema-only) in the database and prefix it with 'deleted_', 
// also add the deleted_at (datetime) field to this table.

// Example Model

class Modelname extends EloquentSoft {

	public $soft_deletable = true;
	
}

// In your controller it is very easy to use soft delete.

// Soft Delete record
Modelname::find(1)->delete();

// Restore soft deleted record
Modelname::restore(1);

?>

Updated the code to allow models with pivot tables be soft deleted.