Vodka for laundry! Patric Richardson’s hacks for cleaner clothes for less money

At the age of 3, Patric Richardson received a washing machine for Christmas, and it set the course for his life's calling. He has since become The Laundry Evangelist, whose show can be seen on HGTV's "The Laundry Guy". He also has written books, conducts laundry camps, and tours the country spreading the word of wash.

Says Richardson:

My love of laundry goes all the way back to when I was a little kid. I lived long enough that, when I was three, Santa brought me a toy washing machine.

I've loved doing laundry my whole life. I associate it with taking care of other people. When I was a kid, I associated it with being taken care of because my mom and my granny wash my clothes.

Then you know, when I got older, I kind of started doing it. When my granddad died, one of our neighbors came and did all of our laundry. I've never forgotten it because it was such an act of like, "care". So as an adult,  I've done that for other people.

Richardson, who appeared at the New Jersey Home and Garden show on February 25th, called my New Jersey 101.5 radio show to reveal some great laundry hacks for cleaner clothes for less money. One great hack involves vodka:

Vodka actually removes the odor from anything. So, if you go to your favorite restaurant, and after the shirt may be clean, but smells like fried food. You can spray it with vodka and the odors are gone.

You can spray vodka in your sneakers, you can spray it on your hat, you can spray it on your equipment; it's a great trick. And you want the cheapest vodka; good vodka for you, but cheap vodka for your clothes.

What's the hardest stain to get out?

The hardest stain to get out, believe it or not, is lipstick. Lipstick. The better the lipstick, the harder it is to get out. It's the toughest of anything.

What about those stains that come when you spill food on yourself, say, eating while driving?

You can use two things. One is you can use a mixture of white vinegar and water. 50% vinegar 50% water, spray it on, or you can use some kind of oily soap. And I'm not going to tell you to use dish soap because it's usually too acidic. That like, liquid hand soap, drop a liquid hand soap on it and toss it in the washer, and really get in. In fact, I have done laundry in my hotel and I have some drying.

Best advice you could give someone doing laundry?

Use less stuff. You only need about two tablespoons of detergent. You don't need a pod, it's too much detergent. Really, tablespoons of detergent, no fabric softener, no dryer sheets, less stuff, and your clothes will be cleaner.

They're less likely to stain. So if you get a stain on it's less likely for that stain to stick. And it'll save you a lot of money because fabric softeners and Unstopables and dryer sheets are expensive, and they're useless. They're actually terrible for your clothes, and they're terrible for you.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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