St. Paul laundry guru Patric Richardson's new book argues 'House Love' is self-care

There's a lot going on in "House Love," the new book from St. Paul's Patric Richardson and his "Laundry Love" collaborator Karin B. Miller.

It's partly a memoir of Richardson's beauty-appreciating youth in Kentucky. It's definitely a guide to cleaning your home. As in "Laundry Love," there are recipes. It has music playlists to help you plan quick touchups. It's about purchasing thoughtfully. It shows how to have parties in your garage. And the book, which hits stores Dec. 26, offers decorating hints, such as what color not to paint your bedroom.

In trying to sum it up, I passed the buck to the Laundry Evangelist himself, who's also the proprietor of the Mona Williams store at the Mall of America and a nationwide expert on stains and spills.

Q: I don't know how to describe "House Love," but you've been putting the book together for a couple of years, so I figured I could make you do it.
A: I hope the book gives people permission to fall in love with their house, but also not become slaves to their house. The reason it's written room-by-room is very specific. You don't have to attack cleaning your whole house at the same time. Ultimately, you take care of your house because you love you and you love your family and you love your house.

Q: The chapters begin with the foyer and proceed to the garage. Would it be accurate to say it's a room-by-room guide to loving your own space?
A: It is very cleaning-focused but there are also little tips like, "Add something you like to look at, something that smells good." That comes up in the beginning, in the foyer. Those little things make us enjoy our house so much more. After 2020 — which we're not going to say out loud because we don't want to jinx anything — but we went back into our houses and it became more important to care for them.

Q: And what's the link between cleaning and house love?
A: You can do little things that make you love your house. And sometimes you just have to clean your stuff. But if you stop and be mindful about vacuuming, you'll remember why you love that carpet you bought.

Q: One difference between "House Love" and "Laundry Love" is "House" focuses more on sustainability. Has that become more important to you?
A: I personally have this focus on sustainability because I'm the one who turns everything into an heirloom. I struggle with fast fashion because I can't imagine getting rid of a garment, ever. To me, it's a horrible day when I have worn out that flannel shirt and have to throw it away, but some people are cavalier with their houses. "I spilled on that pillow so I'm going to throw it away," whereas I become attached to everything. So I do think I focus more on sustainability.

Q: One way that's manifested is your disdain for packaged cleaners. A 50/50 mix of vinegar and water seems to be your answer to everything except "What cocktail should I enjoy after scrubbing the toilet?"
A: It will clean everything in your house except granite countertops. It's so great to clean your bathtub. It's great for sealed hardwood floors because it's so gentle. It's both/and. Both incredibly gentle and incredibly effective. I love that it's not chemical-y.

Q: Do you get calls from friends saying stuff like, "How do I get tar out of my sofa?"
A: It happens all the time. This morning was, "My dog peed on the stairs." Which is oxygen bleach [confuse it with chlorine bleach at your peril — see below] and water. And the other one — these are kind of boring examples because it's the same answer — was, "I ran my tablecloth and everything through the washing machine after Thanksgiving and it still has stains on it." And I said, "Did you soak it in oxygen bleach?"

Q: Which is not the same as what we usually think of as bleach bleach?
A: Bleach bleach is chlorine bleach. You don't need that in your house. It's almost as bad as fabric softener, one of those things that is nearly taboo, I think. I would disinherit someone if I walked into their house and they had fabric softener or chlorine beach.

Q: On your TV show, "The Laundry Guy," you cleaned a wedding dress that was damaged by fire. What's your most challenging household stain?
A: A friend bought that bitter apple stuff to keep your dog off furniture and she spilled it on a granite countertop. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal until you remember granite is porous. She couldn't set food on her countertop because everything picked up bitter apple. She contacted me and it took a few days. The situation was ultimately simple. It involved paper towels, which I also do not like, but this was an exception. She put paper towels on the countertop and poured vodka on. We needed to get the apple to float to the surface.

Q: Have you ever been stumped?
A: Occasionally, I will have to say, "You know what, I have to call you back." I need to think through the material or the stain or, in the rarest of circumstances, I need someone to explain the chemical makeup of the stain to me.

Q: I got the sense that writing the book made you appreciate the home you share with Pioneer Press music writer Ross Raihala more. Is that true?
A: I'm extraordinarily sentimental. I have this very romantic sense of everything. But writing about the house kind of made me fall in love with my house and I did love it already. I loved it even before I owned it. When we lived in Lowertown, I used to take the bus past this building every day and I loved it before I ever went inside. Then, when we looked at it, the house looked like I thought it would. It's the only house we looked at.

Q: You tell a story in the book about how great it was to host a New Year's party there.
A: That was when the house became a home. It was filled with people who were important to me, having a good time. And writing the book did make me appreciate it even more. It made me appreciate my life more. How can you not when you have a home that makes you happy, when that's something so many people don't have and long for?

House Love
By: Patric Richardson, with Karin B. Miller.
Publisher: Harvest, 256 pages, $27.99.