Patric Richardson was destined with a clear—and, might we say, clean—path to become The Laundry Guy.
The first clue might have been that his favorite childhood gift was a toy washing machine Santa delivered to him at the age of 3.
The second was majoring in fashion merchandising and textiles at the University of Kentucky.
The third was working in fashion at both of Texas’ iconic retail brands—Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
The fourth clue was opening a vintage design shop, learning how to give classic designer creations new life.
“I’ve always loved laundry,” Richardson said while in Fort Worth to speak at a home and garden show where he was awash in cleaning tips and tricks, all presented with a heavy load of humor. “I can tell you how to clean anything.”
Many of the tips he learned from his mother and grandmother.
“They love clothes. We are clothes people.”
Patric Richardson is Airing His Dirty Laundry
The cleaning guru and fashion authority is known from HGTV’s series The Laundry Guy. Otherwise known as “The Laundry Evangelist,” Richardson has made a religion of keeping things clean and converting disciples who have great faith in his teachings.
He hosts an annual summer program known as Laundry Camp, he started a cleaning product company, and he owns a storefront in Minnesota’s Mall of America. His converts line up for photos with him and ask him to sign his books, “Laundry Love” and “House Love.” At 1:30 p.m. Central every Thursday, he hosts a Q-and-A session live on YouTube where the faithful can ask him all sorts of questions.
While in Fort Worth, he had two stops on his to-do list: a trip to Fort Worth’s Neiman Marcus and a barbecue dinner elsewhere, not the Neiman’s cafe. For those interested, barbecue stains are best managed with a spritz of vodka and water.
“Everyone should care about Neiman’s,” he said. “If people don’t care about Neiman’s, they aren’t my kind of people. And Dillard’s. I like them, too.”
Dreaming of Suds, Washers, And Dryers
While in Texas, though, he addressed how to design the ideal laundry room—one with a “Texas-sized budget.”
To start, buy two washers and two dryers. If space is limited, he suggests stacking them, adding that “stackables” are much improved and worth buying. Better yet, have two laundry rooms — one upstairs near the bedrooms and another downstairs to handle kitchen towels, throw rugs, and dinner napkins.
A must is a steam cabinet. “They’re heaven,” he said, detailing how the wrinkles just fall out of clothes. Also needed are two “big and smooth” laundry sinks, one for soaking and one for washing. Laundry sinks now come with whirlpool spray jets.
What’s not needed are a lot of cabinets. If the cabinets are filled with laundry products, that’s just wrong. He preaches less is more in all things laundry and hopes to convert his followers to a bar of laundry soap with a brush or his magic 50-50 mix of “college vodka” (meaning cheap) and water.
“If you have full cabinets in your laundry room, get rid of them,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You need the space to hang clothes.
Space also is needed for folding clothes, once they have hung to dry over the tile floor—with a drain—that he prefers. A great laundry room would have adjustable drying racks. Never put clothes in the dryer—”it’s hard on them“—just hang them to dry on the right hangers. He’s particular about that.
“You know what’s funny?” he said. “I like the QVC ones, the Joy ones.”
What is Laundry Room Perfection?
Oh, there’s more on his must-have list.
“If it was the perfect laundry room,” he said. “It would have a wet bar.”
A fridge would be included with his proper wet bar. His pro tip? Creating a perfect laundry room could be a great thing for parents.
“Tell your kids you going to the laundry room,” he said, “and your kids won’t follow you.”
Then the final instructions for creating the ideal laundry room come from Richardson, whose father was a homebuilder. In fact, Richardson practices this in his own 1880s home in Minnesota.
“The only other thing your laundry needs is a disco ball, because laundry has to be fun,” he said.
