0:07

Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition

0:09

of the Art of Manliness podcast. If

0:11

you didn't grow up doing your own laundry, once you

0:13

head it out on your own, you probably just figured

0:15

things out on the fly, hoped for the best, and

0:17

have been doing things the same way ever since. But

0:20

while you may be getting the job done okay, you

0:23

also might be making some mistakes that are costing you

0:25

time, money, and cleaner clothes. In

0:28

this episode from the Art of Manliness Department of Essential

0:30

Life Skills, we'll cover all the things you should have

0:32

learned as a young man, but never did, and how

0:34

to do your laundry effectively. Our

0:36

guide is Patrick Richardson, aka The Laundry Evangelist,

0:38

a laundry expert who runs how to do

0:41

laundry camps, hosts the television show The Laundry

0:43

Guy, and is the author of Laundry Love.

0:45

Today on the show, Patrick shares the one

0:47

cycle and water temperature you should use for

0:49

all your clothes, exactly how much detergent

0:52

you should be using, which is a lot less than

0:54

you think. How often you should wash

0:56

your clothes, which is less often than you think, why

0:58

you shouldn't ever use dryer sheets, and what to throw

1:00

in your dryer instead, how regardless

1:03

of what the tag says, you can wash anything

1:05

at home, including a wool suit, how

1:07

to easily get rid of stains, including yellow pit

1:09

stains, and many more tips that will save you

1:12

time, money, and hassle in doing your laundry. After

1:15

the show's over, check out our show

1:17

notes at aom.is.laundry. Patrick

1:32

Richardson, welcome to the show. Thank

1:35

you so much. Thanks for having me. This

1:37

is going to be fun. This is going

1:39

to be a lot of fun because you

1:41

are The Laundry Evangelist. You run a popular

1:43

laundry camp where you teach people how to

1:45

do laundry better. You host a TV show

1:47

called The Laundry Guy. You are The Laundry

1:49

Guy, and you've written a book called

1:52

Laundry Love all about the ins and outs

1:54

of laundry. So how did you become

1:56

The Laundry Evangelist

1:58

slash laundry guy? guy. Well,

2:01

let me give you the longest possible answer as

2:04

short as I possibly can. When I was

2:06

two and a half years old, one

2:08

of my earliest memories is handing my granny

2:10

clothes pins to put clothes on the clothesline.

2:13

And I loved laundry enough by

2:15

that point that I turned

2:17

three in November and that

2:19

December Santa brought me a toy washing machine.

2:22

And from that point it was off to the races. I

2:25

always loved laundry so I studied apparel

2:27

and textiles in college. When

2:29

I left the University of Kentucky, I moved to

2:31

Minnesota and I worked for Neiman Marcus and then

2:33

for Nordstrom. And about a little, oh gosh,

2:36

it was 12 years ago now. I don't know if time

2:38

flies. I opened a designer

2:40

vintage store and I carried

2:42

these beautiful vintage pieces but

2:45

I knew they wouldn't survive if people

2:47

didn't know how to take care of them. So

2:49

I carried laundry product. And from there, everybody was

2:52

way more interested in the laundry product than

2:54

they were the designer vintage. There

2:56

was an article written about my love

2:59

of washing everything and everybody kept

3:01

asking the same questions. So I launched

3:04

a laundry camp and from there everything

3:06

else happened. You know, somebody saw me

3:08

and talked about the shows. Karen, who

3:10

helped with the book, you know,

3:12

came to camp and was like, you really need to write a book

3:14

and I'm gonna help you do it. And you

3:16

know, all bets are off from there, right? Right.

3:19

So you are a textile expert. Like this is

3:21

what you, I mean, you've been doing this since

3:24

you were a kid. You went to college. You

3:26

studied textiles. You're the expert

3:28

and I'm hoping in this conversation we

3:30

can help make laundry better,

3:32

easier, and even a bit more enjoyable for people

3:34

because it's one of those chores like it

3:37

just never stops. You have to do your laundry

3:39

for the rest of your life. So

3:41

let's talk about supplies and equipment first.

3:43

Let's talk about gear. Sure.

3:45

Let's start with washing machine. What kind

3:48

of washing machine do you recommend for

3:50

people to get to have the best wash? Okay,

3:53

so any more. The Technology has gotten

3:55

so good. I Don't have the hardcore

3:58

opinion that I used to have. I

4:00

will tell you I still prefer front

4:02

loader. I will always prefer front ladder

4:05

but top floating washing machines with no

4:07

agitators. The technologies gotten so good that

4:09

if you like top loader. You.

4:12

Know, go ahead. it's fine. I'm

4:14

always going to prefer Front Letter because

4:16

I just like that I like the

4:18

mechanisms that make them work on like

4:21

the way they work little better. But

4:23

more importantly, make sure that you can

4:25

control the time to get that thirty

4:27

minute wash cycle and you do whatever

4:29

you need to do to make sure

4:31

that your clothes are being lost in

4:34

water that at least sixty five degrees

4:36

in my book. I. Say you

4:38

need to wash and warm and you

4:40

are hearing it here first because I

4:43

literally found this out two days ago.

4:45

There's. A washing machine company now that

4:47

is setting their cold setting with of

4:49

thermometer so it's actually blending in has

4:51

much warm waters it needs to to

4:53

make their cold water was sixty five

4:56

degrees. So if you're going to go

4:58

buy a brand new machine if you

5:00

if you haven't bought one in last

5:02

few months, you don't have that. But

5:04

if you're going to go buy a

5:06

brand new machine that is actually now

5:08

an option So. Being. Able to

5:10

a sword cycle and get the water. Sixty

5:12

five degrees would be the two most important

5:14

things to me. Okay, I need to sell

5:17

me on the highest system see washing machines

5:19

can My wife and I we've got the

5:21

the old school agitator washing machine that in

5:23

our Mars had grown up in. the reason

5:25

why when we seen the the high efficiency

5:28

washing machines in accidents we lieutenant like there's

5:30

not any water in there, there's hardly any

5:32

water in there and it shows. Had a

5:34

couple gallon jugs just kind of like to

5:36

sort of gently moving it around like how

5:39

are close. Getting was in that sub

5:41

make the case for the high efficiency

5:43

should we did the old school agitator

5:45

washing machine. Surmount. The reason

5:47

he said it's the old school

5:49

agitator is because the worst thing

5:51

you do to your clothes in

5:54

the laundry process is actually agitation.

5:56

Or a brazen. You know it's your

5:59

clothes rubbing against them. So that's the

6:01

way the agitator cleans his. It forces

6:03

the clothes against each other. The.

6:06

Way a high efficiency missing planes. Like let's

6:08

do a front loader first as it's an

6:10

easier visual. The closer. Lifted up out of

6:13

the water and they fall back into the

6:15

water. Their lifted about of the water and

6:17

they fall back into the water when that

6:19

water forces through the clothes. That's the cleaning

6:21

process. Modern top loaders have what's called in

6:23

the power and it makes your clothes move

6:25

like a carousel. so they come out of

6:28

the water. Go back in the water, come

6:30

out of the water. go back in the

6:32

water and it really is the water that

6:34

cleans your clothes. It's not the detergent so.

6:36

The way that you force the water

6:38

through the clothes is the cleaning process

6:40

and so new machines. Because they don't

6:42

have that much water, it's easier for

6:44

your close to come out of the

6:46

water. go back in the water with

6:49

an agitator. They don't come out of

6:51

the wonder what actually happens. If you

6:53

ever look at it, it'll span and

6:55

turks span in church. and when it's

6:57

jerking, it's forcing the water back through

6:59

the close. But it's also rubbing them

7:01

against themselves. This. Added so that's

7:03

the big park to the A T. Okay

7:05

so it's in a put less were interned

7:07

your clothing. And will say

7:09

cleans better and using less water,

7:11

you're using significantly less water biden.

7:14

I mean I say that Laundry

7:16

Love is a sustainable book because

7:18

all the practices in it are

7:20

very sustainable. When. I didn't

7:23

write it from a standpoint of

7:25

stuff sustainability. so. Yes, you

7:27

use less water. It's one

7:30

hundred percent correct by it.

7:32

You know I don't tell people that

7:34

on a cities and eighty machine or

7:36

tell them I should use it is

7:38

because it's better for your flyers. Yeah

7:40

and those agitators can get really violent.

7:42

Few weeks ago I think we had

7:44

a load of seats in the washing

7:46

machine and some our like a ball

7:48

formed inside the city seat. Refined, always

7:51

sunny. Heard this. Goo

7:53

and The Know I walked in the

7:56

laundry room and are washing machine was

7:58

literally walking across. Workers as.

8:01

Ball. Was just beating against the

8:03

sign of like oh my gosh yeah gets

8:05

about a balance yeah freak me out. Okay

8:07

Sunday we might. it's think about getting the

8:09

the front loader l one of the things

8:11

to you can stack those things if you

8:13

want are you get to on top of

8:15

each other and due to loads of you

8:18

I've seen people do that sort of those

8:20

and of yeah I see if I had

8:22

you know the laundering of my dreams which

8:24

I don't. But. If I did, I

8:27

would do to stack of also due

8:29

to washers to dryers because you could

8:31

do them in the same footprints. Yeah

8:33

what you mentioned washing machine technology that

8:35

you not really strong opinion on things

8:37

these days to technology has changed. How

8:40

has it changed? Like so that you

8:42

don't have much of an opinion on.

8:44

Whether. You get this one of that one. Both.

8:47

I mean they just did gotten

8:49

so good. Like every manufacturer has

8:51

tested the machine. And

8:53

had gotten so good at water efficiency. I

8:55

mean that on almost every machine now has

8:57

a computer in it. Which.

9:00

I mean gives you all sorts of little

9:02

things that you don't know, like it keeps

9:05

your machine in balance, A controls the water

9:07

temperature, controls how much water it's and sense,

9:09

but just even the basic technology if you

9:11

about the most. Basic.

9:14

You. Know a team is seen, the technology

9:16

is better than the most high end.

9:18

A dream A seemingly first launched in

9:20

the nineties because we've just figured out

9:23

how to move the clothes and the

9:25

real key to getting your clothes clean

9:27

is moving the clothes. you know in

9:29

the seventies the machines of the seven

9:31

days we didn't know like if we

9:33

put sins and the bottom of the

9:36

machine little move the close up and

9:38

down in all we knew is turning

9:40

dirt and fill it up with water

9:42

and add a bunch of out. A

9:44

detergent and pray. In. now

9:46

we know like we can speed up the

9:49

spin cycle we have the ability to speed

9:51

up the spin cycle first of all you

9:53

know because the motors are so much more

9:55

powerful so more water spins own clothes which

9:57

means less time in the dryer You

10:00

know, my washing machine, if you

10:02

do a warm wash, it actually

10:04

cools before it does the rinse,

10:07

you know, which is something that just didn't exist

10:11

10 years ago. You know, and

10:13

now you can like add steam if you want

10:15

that extra little cleaning boost. Just

10:17

the technology of just regular

10:19

washing machines has gotten so

10:21

fantastic. I mean, I'm not

10:23

talking about, you know, machines that are nine

10:25

or $10,000. I'm talking about what

10:27

you would go into, when you

10:30

go to an appliance store and you go in and you

10:32

buy a washing machine, these are just,

10:34

that's what I'm talking about, just everyday washing

10:36

machines. It's just, we have

10:38

sensor dry, we have high speed spin,

10:41

they can take more weight. You

10:43

know, the washing machines in the 70s, you can only

10:45

do about 15 pounds worth of clothes. Now you can

10:47

easily do 30. You know,

10:50

we just understand technology in general. Okay,

10:53

so washing machine, the high efficiency washing machine,

10:55

that's the way to go, less wear and

10:57

tear, uses less water, just

10:59

does a great job of getting your

11:01

clothes clean. What about detergent? What do

11:03

you recommend for detergent? Well, my

11:06

favorite is soap, but that's kind of rare.

11:08

It's hard to find. I

11:10

prefer soap to detergent. Their

11:12

difference is the way they're manufactured. Soap

11:16

is a base plus an

11:18

acid and it creates, it's

11:20

saponophiles, it creates soap. Detergent

11:23

is cleaning ingredients that are

11:25

mixed together. I prefer

11:27

soap because it rinses cleaner, but

11:29

if you're just gonna buy detergent at the

11:31

grocery, great. Look for something

11:34

that's plant-based, but what matters the

11:36

most is only use about

11:38

two tablespoons for a full load. You

11:41

don't need very much detergent. Why

11:43

is that? Because it isn't

11:45

the detergent that cleans your clothes, it's the water.

11:48

And the detergent does two things. It

11:51

lowers the viscosity of water, which is

11:53

a fancy way of saying it softens

11:55

the water. But The big

11:57

thing is there's a surfactant in soap. Where

12:00

did urgent and surfactant means it floats

12:02

on the surface of the water. The

12:04

dirt comes out of your clothes, It

12:06

gets trapped in the surfactant. It goes

12:08

down the drain if you're using too

12:10

much detergent. the dirt comes out of

12:12

the closer gets trapped in the surfactant,

12:14

but it can't rinse away. So the

12:16

only place that has to go is

12:18

to resettle back in your clothes. That's

12:20

how we end up with a crunchy

12:22

towels or dingy whites. or sometimes things

12:24

have this com musty odor when they

12:26

come into the washer. That's.

12:29

All because the detergent is still there. There's

12:31

just too much detergents. is Smc because like

12:33

when you look at the do instructions for

12:35

detergent on the the big brand detergents a

12:37

you're putting a lot in there is like

12:39

a cop earlier than the lid for. right?

12:42

The best way I can explain that is

12:44

in ah. so. I have a store in

12:47

the Mall of America and I sell laundry

12:49

soap and it's twenty six dollars or pounds.

12:51

If there's some way that I could convince

12:53

you that you needed a pound of soap

12:55

for every load of laundry, and you do

12:57

it, I would be rich. Your.

13:00

Clothes would be filthy. But.

13:02

I would be rich. Forget

13:04

what about laundry pause and a lot of

13:06

people use that for this mean sector. What

13:08

are your thoughts on that? They're easy, but

13:10

there's enough detergent in one pod to do

13:12

five loads of laundry. Aussies. I I'm I'm

13:14

not really a fan because I like to

13:17

be able to control how much because you

13:19

know you've talked about you and your wife

13:21

forcing the seeds. That's a big load of

13:23

laundry. See, you need a full load, but

13:25

what if you just threw in you know,

13:27

like you're out gardening and both had you

13:29

know, shorts and a t shirt. but it

13:31

was dirty and you wanted to Was it's

13:33

that's. A really small load so you

13:36

don't need as much detergent. anything with

13:38

pods as you just can't control that.

13:41

is so laundry soap were some people find

13:43

i can you get it on amazon work

13:46

in your the government you it using get

13:48

it on amazon i mean you can get

13:50

and how and like co ops are whole

13:52

foods coca what's great is i'm starting to

13:54

see it pop up in grocery stores elsa

13:57

because it's a greener option so it's becoming

13:59

more com So, you know,

14:01

that to me is super exciting. Does it

14:03

come in flakes? Is that how it is?

14:05

It's usually flakes. Occasionally, it'll be powder, but

14:08

it's most often flakes. I've seen

14:10

bars of laundry soap before. What

14:12

are those for? That's like

14:14

more for a stain removal. It's

14:17

usually too aggressive. Like there

14:19

are people who shave it and use it as laundry

14:21

soap. Not a big fan because

14:23

it's actually formulated for stain removal. It's

14:26

pretty aggressive. Okay, besides the

14:28

laundry soap, any other supplies you

14:30

recommend having on hand so you

14:32

can get your laundry done easily?

14:34

Well, spray bottle of vinegar and

14:36

water for sure because that

14:39

is my go-to stain remover. If I have a

14:41

stain on a shirt, I'm always going to spray

14:43

it with vinegar and water. And then

14:45

your bar of laundry soap, you just ask about,

14:47

and a horse hair brush because if you wet

14:49

the brush and you run it across the bar

14:51

and build lather up in the brush and

14:54

attack a stain, you can get out just

14:56

about anything. And

14:58

the reason you do it that way is

15:00

because if you use the bar and you

15:02

wet it, you're actually pushing the stain further

15:04

into the fabric. If you use

15:06

the bristles of the brush, the bristles like, it's like

15:08

brushing your teeth. You know, it sort

15:10

of lifts everything up and gets it out of the

15:13

fabric. I think it's interesting,

15:15

the vinegar and water mixture, that's your go-to

15:17

stain removal. So you're not using like the

15:19

shout or things like that to get rid

15:21

of stains? I don't use anything. For

15:24

my laundry, I use an

15:26

oily soap, which you could

15:28

use liquid hand soap. People use dish soap.

15:33

Here's my issue with dish soap. The

15:36

technology, the number one brand of

15:38

dish soap, the technology has

15:40

gotten so good, they have put it in a

15:42

spray bottle. And you can literally spray

15:44

it on a pan and wipe it

15:46

off and like wash the pan. The

15:49

way they did that is they made it really,

15:51

really acidic, which is great because

15:53

it does what it's supposed to do perfectly.

15:56

The thing is, if you were to do it on

15:58

a black t-shirt and you... you spray that

16:00

on, it's so acidic, you'll get the

16:03

stain out, but it'll look like

16:05

it left a mark. So I

16:07

use liquid hand soap, which same

16:10

thickness, because that's what I want,

16:12

but without that acidity.

16:15

So liquid hand soap, stain

16:17

bar, stain brush, vinegar and water, and

16:20

then occasionally oxygen bleach, and that is

16:22

literally everything I use for the laundry.

16:24

What's the oxygen, is that oxy

16:27

clean? Yeah, that's

16:29

the most common brand. The

16:31

reason I love oxygen bleach, it'll take out red

16:33

wine, it'll take out blueberries, it'll take out blood,

16:36

but the big thing is, if you have

16:38

polar fleece or you have active wear, and

16:41

you wear it, and when you wash

16:43

it, you put it back on, it

16:45

smells terrible, that's because it's hydrophobic and

16:47

oleophilic, it hates water, it loves oil.

16:50

So it loves the oil from your skin, and the

16:52

bacteria in the oil in your skin, and

16:55

the water isn't enough to take it away. The

16:57

oxygen bleach will break it down, so it'll

16:59

actually break that sweat down and

17:01

wash it out of the fabric, so it doesn't have that

17:03

odor anymore. All right, hopefully we can

17:05

talk more about that, getting your active wear clean, because

17:08

I know a lot of people have that problem. We'll

17:10

talk more about how you use those supplies you mentioned,

17:12

the liquid hand soap, what you call the oily soap,

17:15

brush, vinegar, and oxygen bleach when we talk

17:17

about stain removal. But now that we have

17:19

our supplies on hand, let's

17:21

talk about washing our clothes. And

17:23

you recommend that we should probably

17:26

wash our clothes less often than

17:28

we think. So how often do

17:30

we actually need to wash our clothes? Well,

17:33

like my jeans, I have a pair of jeans on right now

17:35

while I'm talking to you, and I've

17:37

worn them several, I don't really know, because

17:39

I don't wear them every day, I mean, I don't wear

17:42

them back to back, but I think you should wear your

17:44

jeans nine or 10 times before you wash them. I

17:46

try to wear my shirts two or three times,

17:48

unless, like if I get a spot, I spot treat

17:50

it, but you know, if I get sweaty or whatever,

17:53

then I'm gonna wash it. But

17:55

our clothes just really aren't that dirty. You

17:58

know, we don't have to wash them every time. time and the

18:00

washing leads to abrasion which causes them

18:03

to write down. Yeah. So

18:05

I prefer, you know, I mean

18:07

boxers and socks, we're going to wash those

18:09

every single time. Right. But

18:11

your shirts, your jeans, that

18:14

kind of stuff, you just don't really have to wash it as often as you

18:16

think. So what do you do? Can

18:18

you hang it up or should you air it out? I mean,

18:20

what do you do in between washes? You

18:23

can, if you need to air it

18:25

out, that's great. I always, you know,

18:27

I mean, I hang everything just because I don't have much

18:29

drawer space and I have a lot of hanging space. But

18:31

like if you needed to fold the jeans up, I'd let

18:33

them air out a few hours to make sure they're bone

18:35

dry and then fold them up. My shirts,

18:37

I just put them back on the hanger. And

18:39

if you put them back on the hanger when they're still warm, like,

18:42

you know, if you take your shirt off and immediately put it back

18:44

on the hanger, usually the wrinkles just fall back

18:47

out of it. You don't even have to resteam it. That's

18:49

cool. Something that we do in our household

18:51

is we have like a hazy pile. So

18:54

it's like, we have like a rack in

18:56

the closet where you put

18:58

things on there where, you know, it's you

19:00

wore it once. It might not be dirty,

19:02

but it's not ready to be

19:05

washed yet. And it allows it to air out and

19:07

then you can always just pull it off whenever you're

19:09

ready to wipe. Right. Do

19:11

you know what's really funny? Do you know there's a trend

19:13

for that and it's called the laundry chair. The laundry chair.

19:16

Yeah, that's what it's actually called. Yeah. It's

19:19

people who have a chair in their bedroom and they take something off and

19:21

throw it on the chair. Okay. Because

19:23

they want to wear it again. I think there's like butler's chairs and

19:25

they're like a butler chair that people used to have in their closet

19:27

where they'd hang stuff up. Yeah, there

19:29

was. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

19:33

So you don't need to wash your clothes as often as

19:35

you think. Underwear socks, you know, wash that stuff all the

19:37

time, but other stuff you don't need to wash as much.

19:39

You know, like, like the jeans I'm wearing right now, I

19:42

think it's been a month or two since

19:44

they were washed. Yeah.

19:46

Yeah. They just don't, they don't need

19:48

it. Yeah. And I guess one downside of washing

19:50

your jeans a lot is that it can reduce some

19:52

of the, I don't know, the look on it like

19:54

the dye, but maybe that's not

19:56

a problem. You actually want that. Well,

19:59

it's funny. We generally want that out of

20:01

denim because we have the ability to

20:03

set the dyes so they don't fade, but

20:06

most people like them to fade as they wash

20:08

them. I mean, I

20:10

do. If you don't like them to fade, you

20:12

actually can soak them in really

20:14

hot water with a fourth a cup of

20:16

salt and you'll set the color forever. Really?

20:18

Okay. I didn't know that. Yeah.

20:21

So you do that once you get like a new pair of

20:23

jeans, you just soak it in salt? Yeah, or even if you

20:26

bought this pair of jeans a couple months ago and you just washed

20:28

them for the first time. Let's say you

20:30

wash them two or three times and you

20:32

love the way they look at that exact

20:34

moment, you can do it then. Okay,

20:37

that's cool. Yeah, something that

20:39

I've been playing around with too lately

20:41

was the Levi's shrink to fit

20:44

jeans. The non-stamped. Such a great

20:46

look. Yeah. So that's cool. You get

20:48

to a point with those jeans where like they look like

20:50

you want to keep this forever. It's

20:53

like that salt trick. That is cool. Okay, I

20:55

like that. I'll tell you something

20:57

really funny about shrink to fit jeans. Because

21:00

this also is back, and it's totally unrelated

21:02

to this conversation, but it's funny. When

21:04

I was in college, I was in

21:06

a store that was

21:09

doing, that's when shrink to fit had just come

21:11

out. And if you

21:13

bought a pair, you could climb into a hot

21:15

tub with them and

21:17

shrink them to fit on you. That's awesome.

21:20

Isn't that hysterical? That is cool. No, it's like right there in

21:22

the store, they had like a hot tub, you just, you put

21:24

them on. Yeah, right in the middle of the store. That's awesome.

21:27

That's cool. And you just took your socks and shoes off and

21:29

climbed in. And then you got

21:31

out and you stood basically on

21:33

this, it was kind of a

21:35

big rack, I don't know, until you know, enough water dripped

21:37

off. And then it was really hot outside. So

21:39

they were like, well, just go outside. You'll be good to go. We're

21:42

gonna take a quick break for you. Words from our sponsors. And

21:50

now back to the show. The

21:52

very first rule that you talk

21:54

about of laundry in your book

21:56

is don't let your clothes

21:59

tell you what to do. And basically

22:01

what you're telling people is just

22:03

ignore the laundry care tag, which when I

22:05

read that, like, this is blasphemy. Like, my

22:07

mother told me, like, you always read the

22:09

tag. The internet says you read the tag.

22:12

Why are you saying ignore the tag? Because

22:15

the tags say

22:17

stupid things. Like, you

22:19

know, I'm wearing a cotton dress

22:21

shirt right now. And it's just a

22:24

cotton shirt, but the tag says dry clean

22:26

only. Well, that's idiotic. It's a cotton shirt.

22:28

You know, a cotton shirt can be washed. The

22:31

one that always gets me is dry clean only

22:33

for cashmere sweaters. I love cashmere

22:35

sweaters. I live in Minnesota. I wear

22:38

them all winter long. Okay. Cashmere

22:40

goats are these smelly goats that

22:42

live on the side of a

22:44

mountain. And they just

22:46

run around as, you know, smelly goats.

22:49

They stand in the rain and

22:51

the cashmere is fine. The

22:53

reason that it says dry clean only

22:57

is because people don't

22:59

know how to do laundry. So,

23:02

you know, if you treat a cashmere sweater

23:04

like you treat a cotton towel, no, you

23:07

can't wash it the same way, but you

23:09

can still wash it. The hair is totally

23:11

washable. The other thing that's really

23:13

interesting is if you buy a sweater in

23:16

the United States and you buy the same

23:18

sweater in Europe, it will have different care

23:20

instructions because the Europeans are more familiar with

23:22

laundry. So something in the US that

23:24

says dry clean only in Europe, it will

23:26

have washing instructions. That's an

23:29

entry. I didn't know that. Yeah. So you make

23:31

the case you can wash every bit of clothing

23:33

you own at home. You don't have to take it to

23:35

the dry cleaners. Yeah. I haven't been to the dry

23:37

cleaner in at least 16 years. Could

23:40

you wash, can I wash one of my wool suits at home if

23:42

I wanted to? Yeah. In fact, I just

23:44

washed a wool suit last week. You have to put them

23:46

in a mesh bag. I mean, you can't just throw them

23:49

in the washer like anything. You have

23:51

to put them in a mesh bag really tight

23:53

so they don't move around. You just

23:55

toss them in the washer. When they're dry, you hang

23:57

them up, let them dry and steam them out. That's

23:59

it. And it doesn't harm the lining,

24:01

like the silk lining you might have

24:04

or whatever? No, I mean it's because

24:06

dry cleaning isn't really a dry process.

24:08

It's a liquid. It's dry because it

24:10

isn't water. It's a chemical. It's

24:13

a chemical, right. So it's a liquid

24:15

process. It's just not water. The

24:17

reason dry cleaning ever came into being was

24:20

because when we first started doing dry cleaning in

24:22

like the 30s, when it became a thing, silk,

24:25

at the time, silk is the second strongest fiber bone

24:27

to man. And at the time, we

24:29

didn't have the ability to dye

24:32

silk permanently. And we

24:34

actually dyed it with salt. And so if you got

24:36

it in water, the water would

24:38

dissolve the salt. What they

24:40

found was petroleum wouldn't dissolve

24:42

the salt. So dry cleaning

24:44

became a thing because of silk. That's

24:47

interesting. And you make the point in

24:49

the book that this idea that you

24:51

have to dry clean wool or even

24:53

a wool suit, it's kind of silly

24:55

because wool suits existed before dry cleaning

24:57

existed and people cleaned those. Right.

24:59

I mean, think of the Victorians, they changed

25:01

clothes more than a four-year-old

25:04

and they didn't have dry cleaners. They

25:07

washed everything. And we know that the clothes survived

25:09

because we still see them. I mean, you can

25:11

go to museums. You know, I

25:13

mean, it's not uncommon to go to a

25:15

museum and see like a Civil War uniform

25:17

or, you know, a mourning dress

25:20

from the 1820s. And

25:22

that stuff didn't. There was no

25:25

dry cleaning. Yeah. Okay. So ignore

25:27

you can wash things at home. You just have to

25:29

know how to do it for certain things. Right. You

25:31

got to do it differently. We will talk about some

25:33

of those things. Let's talk about this sorting laundry. Do

25:36

you recommend people sorting their clothes before

25:38

washing? The best way

25:40

to sort is

25:43

white as a load, black

25:46

as a load, the cool colors. So

25:48

blue, green and purple with gray, the

25:51

hot colors, red, orange and yellow with

25:53

brown. And then if

25:55

you wear performance wear like athletic,

25:58

Lululemon, armor in

26:00

of those, sort those in a

26:02

separate load and that's it. So

26:05

you don't have to separate your white towels from

26:07

your white t-shirts from your white dress shirts

26:09

from your white sheets. They can all

26:11

go in the washing machine together. Why

26:14

do you sort the laundry based

26:16

on these colors? It's based

26:18

on the weight of the dye.

26:20

I'm trying to minimize abrasion and

26:22

different dyes have different weights. So

26:25

how does the dye cause that abrasion?

26:29

It's the weight. Okay, the weight of the

26:31

clothes. Computer white t-shirt. Yeah, okay. A white

26:33

t-shirt weighs less than a pair of... A

26:35

black t-shirt. Black t-shirt. Okay. Okay,

26:37

that's interesting. So you're sorting colors because you want

26:39

the clothes in a load to be the same

26:42

weight. You don't want to mix them together to

26:44

have heavier clothes, abrading lighter weight

26:46

clothes in a load. So it's not for

26:48

the reason I think, you know, I think

26:50

people in the past, you know,

26:53

you're told in the past, the reason why

26:55

you sort is because you want to avoid

26:57

dark stuff mucking up your white stuff. Well,

26:59

right. And it originally happened because

27:01

of the wringer washer. And then

27:03

from there, you're exactly right. Like we didn't have

27:05

the tech... Now, there again, we're going to use

27:07

technology. We didn't have the technology to

27:09

set the dye. So, you know, there's

27:11

an episode of the Brady Bunch, I think, where Bobby

27:13

does a load of laundry and he throws in a

27:16

red sock and everything in the

27:18

load turns pink. Yeah, that happened when I was

27:20

a kid. Yeah, it was a

27:22

thing then. If you did that right

27:24

now, it probably wouldn't happen. Okay.

27:26

Because the technology has changed. The dye just sets

27:28

better. Yeah, it's just the quality of

27:30

the dye is so much better. Okay,

27:33

so we sort by this, what you

27:35

just said. So whites together, black together,

27:37

cool colors together, hot color, warm colors

27:39

together, and then you want your athletic

27:42

wear separate. Right. Let's talk about washing.

27:44

Are we going to wash these

27:46

clothes any different from each other? Because you usually think

27:48

you have to sort your whites because you're going to

27:50

wash them out hot, but you're dark, you're going

27:52

to wash on cool. We're going to

27:55

wash everything on warm and we're going to

27:57

wash everything on the express cycle. So the

27:59

30 minute wash. cycle and warm

28:01

water across the board. Now I just

28:03

said earlier, you know, I have been

28:06

schooled in the last two days because

28:08

there is now a machine where you can wash on

28:10

cold. As long as your water is

28:13

65 degrees or warmer, I

28:16

don't care what you call the cycle. I

28:18

live in Minnesota. Our water

28:20

is naturally very cold, so

28:23

I never was able to use cold because

28:25

I never had a machine that would

28:27

bring the temperature up to

28:30

65. People in San Antonio, Texas

28:32

can use cold, so I don't care what you

28:34

call the cycle. I just want the water to

28:36

be 65 degrees or warmer. And

28:38

that 65 degree mark, is that

28:41

when the detergent actually starts doing

28:43

what it's supposed to be doing? Is that why you

28:45

wanted that? Yes, that's exactly why. Why not go hot?

28:48

Because the cotton, like your cotton

28:50

towels, for example, they can totally

28:52

take the hot water, but they're

28:55

sewn with polyester thread. Polyester just

28:57

cannot take hot water. It breaks

28:59

down too fast. That's the

29:01

reason, like your towels, the edges look like bacon

29:03

because the water was too hot in the washer

29:05

or the dryer was too hot and

29:08

the polyester thread shrank. So warm

29:10

is warm enough to get everything

29:12

clean without doing any

29:14

damage. And you said the

29:16

cycle, you just want that express cycle. Like

29:18

a lot of washing machines come with those

29:20

different things that are, like permanent press is

29:22

one of them, I think, or whatever. Is

29:25

that the driver? Yeah, there's permanent press, there's

29:27

delicate, there's hand wash, there's heavy duty, there's

29:29

sanitary. Yeah, the express cycle, if

29:31

you don't have an express cycle, by the

29:33

way, use permanent press, but you

29:36

just want that short cycle because

29:38

once you bring the temperature up,

29:40

you bring the water to temperature

29:42

and you add the detergent, it

29:44

really only takes about two minutes for your

29:47

clothes to come clean with a little bit

29:49

of agitation. So when your clothes wash for

29:51

eight minutes in a 30-minute cycle, that's more

29:53

than long enough for them to come clean.

29:56

And If you wash longer, you're just wearing your clothes down

29:58

more? Yeah, you're just breaking them. Down there I

30:01

do. You do this all your who's

30:03

your whites, your genes, your dark colors,

30:05

your read. It doesn't matter. Absolutely.

30:08

I mean I just do this across the board.

30:10

Even like a wool sweater, cashmere sweater do the

30:12

same thing. Yes, as long as you put it

30:14

a mess bag is. Erica, I'm

30:17

you know, easy. Was

30:19

a speaking of cold water washing.

30:21

I seen detergents that like this

30:23

is designed for cold water washing.

30:26

his anything to that. Well

30:28

it's funny if you read the

30:30

fine print. they say that they

30:32

think cold water is sixty five

30:35

degrees because the industry things coldest

30:37

Sixty five degrees. The industry things

30:39

warm water doesn't com till about

30:41

eighty degrees. So the industry thinks

30:43

of called is sixty five. It's

30:45

just be miserable water. you know,

30:48

in Duluth, Minnesota in the winter

30:50

municipal waters forty one degrees. Yeah.

30:53

That's. It. As he

30:55

he's an example talks about we

30:57

wash cold water like this is

30:59

your Duluth, Minnesota. He was in

31:01

cold water even with a cold

31:03

water designed detergent because it's not

31:05

warm enough to sort activating all

31:07

what's happening that detergent sustain in

31:09

your clothes. Exactly. And

31:11

you know it's easy to test because

31:14

if you're cold water washer, flip your

31:16

water to sir cycles of warm, put

31:18

something you've watched of something that you

31:21

know it's quote unquote Clean back in

31:23

the machine. Don't. Do anything else

31:25

to turn it on warm water and it's

31:27

gonna sides because all that it turns and

31:29

from activate read to didn't get activated First

31:32

tenure be asked. It's who who detergent we

31:34

talked about that you don't want to use

31:36

much is and he's had two tablespoons two

31:38

tablespoons for a full load and if the

31:40

load get smaller you need to start cabinet

31:43

down as a full load is I get

31:45

all would have taught. His. Out

31:47

considered a full that? I'm it depends

31:49

on your machine. Usually with the top

31:52

loader, it's somewhere between seventy and seventy

31:54

five percent fall, and with a front

31:56

loader, it's usually up to about eighty

31:59

percent fall. Okay, so you're

32:01

going to wash your clothes on warm

32:03

and on the express cycle which takes

32:05

only thirty minutes for all your stuff.

32:07

I think that's it's easy to remember

32:10

you, not to think about things too

32:12

much anymore. Sarah bleeds should you bleacher

32:14

white cells on the night? My Monday

32:16

Grown Up. Yeah, you should

32:19

never bleacher seats their get it's

32:21

a technology take. The reason you

32:23

shouldn't bleach white is because the

32:25

color that you're thinking of is

32:27

why. you know, like a white

32:30

dress shirt right? It's this beautiful

32:32

vibrant white that color is known

32:34

as optic. Why. It. Is

32:36

not a naturally occurring color to get.

32:38

What we sick of is why we

32:40

use of blue dye. It's called an

32:43

optical whitener or an optical bright. Nervous

32:45

it's a blue dye and so we

32:47

die. the white wait to get it.

32:50

That. Bright white collar when you

32:52

use bleach, we know that bleeds

32:54

lists taller. That's why we don't

32:56

put bleach and black for example.

32:59

Mississippi bleach black. It comes out

33:01

on a spotty gray. That's what

33:03

happens to white. It just takes

33:05

three or four terms of doing

33:07

it before our eyes can perceive

33:10

the difference in our. but once

33:12

it happens, then you're white with

33:14

stingy and you know there's no

33:16

repairing it. Yeah

33:18

I remember I experienced that when I was on

33:20

my own for the first time and had of

33:22

was some white dress shirts and were all throw

33:25

bleach on it and i don't think i actually

33:27

so that the washington with water first before it

33:29

but the blues I just put the bleach right

33:31

on my shirts and and i pulled out halls

33:33

got holes and like these yellow. Yep!

33:36

Stand the like. Okay, I'd use bleach wrong.

33:38

so I stopped using bleach after that. Good.

33:40

So don't use bleach and I did. You

33:42

have a talk about like that when I

33:45

even using bleeds to disinfect stuff anymore even

33:47

in hospital that using other stuff. Yeah,

33:49

there's other things are better. I mean at home.

33:52

If you need things to be sanitary, just add

33:54

vinegar. The. vinegars all

33:56

natural cleaner does wonders yet

33:58

seven amazing paying really vinegar.

34:01

It really is. I've been using vinegar

34:03

on my glass shower door. Yeah, absolutely.

34:06

On the shower cleaner. And I've always

34:08

had problems with the soap scum or

34:10

just like the water stains. And I'd

34:13

buy the really expensive, really smelly, doesn't

34:15

like my eyes would burn shower cleaner.

34:17

And it would never get the stuff

34:19

off. And then I just started using

34:21

vinegar and water. And it's

34:24

awesome. It's crystal clear. It's amazing. It

34:26

does better than Windex. It's awesome. Yeah,

34:28

it's great and easy. Yeah.

34:30

And cheap. Yeah, it's super cheap. Okay,

34:33

so for most stuff, you can

34:35

just throw it in the laundry, the washing

34:37

machine, you're going to be good. With certain

34:39

items that are a little more delicate, you

34:41

want to get these mesh bags. So what

34:43

are you going to put in these mesh

34:46

bags? So wool sweaters, other types of knits?

34:48

Anything wool or anything silk is the easiest

34:50

way to think about it. Okay. And

34:52

this could be also your wool suit.

34:54

Yeah, absolutely. If you do it, the jacket goes

34:56

in one bag and the pants go in another.

34:59

Okay. And you said they have to be packed pretty

35:01

tight. Is that right? Yeah, you want it like a

35:03

sausage. So if your bag is too big, just

35:06

push it to the bottom of the bag, then roll the bag

35:08

around it and put a rubber band around it. You

35:10

want it to be like a sausage when

35:12

you wash it, because the water will still

35:14

move through it. It'll still come clean, but

35:16

you don't want it rubbing against itself. That

35:18

the whole point is for it to not

35:21

move inside that bag. And then

35:23

when you dry sweaters or a suit, you're not going to

35:25

put these in the dryer, right? You're going to let them

35:27

air dry. No, anything that goes in a mesh bag never

35:29

goes to the dryer. Okay. When

35:31

you dry sweaters, something that we do is we

35:33

lay them out flat on the ground on a

35:35

towel. Do we need to do that? Yeah,

35:38

that's a great way to do it. The other thing you

35:40

can do is you can lay them

35:42

across a drying rack. You don't want to

35:45

hang sweaters up when they're wet because you'll

35:47

get those hanger ears. Yeah. So

35:49

you can't hang them on the dryer rack to save

35:51

space if you needed to do that. Yes, you absolutely

35:53

can. Because you kind of, when you lay them on

35:55

the drying rack, you lay them kind of, you know,

35:57

you're folding kind of across the middle, you know, so.

36:00

the weight is evenly distributed. So

36:02

nothing really stretches out. Okay,

36:05

all right. So we just say people some

36:07

dry cleaning bills. You can wash your wool

36:09

sweaters, your suits at home, just

36:11

air dry them out. Let's talk

36:13

about drying in general. Besides those items of

36:15

clothing, which we're gonna allow to air dry,

36:18

with the clothing you are throwing into the dryer

36:20

or the textiles you are throwing in the dryer,

36:22

this can include sheets and towels. How

36:24

do people mess this up? Dryer

36:27

sheets is the first one, because you

36:29

should never use those. And then the other

36:31

thing is, is like people will turn the dryer

36:33

on for two hours. You know,

36:35

their clothes are dry in 30 minutes, and

36:38

then they just tumble in hot, dry heat.

36:40

I mean, you're just breaking them down right

36:42

in front of you. Why

36:44

don't you use dryer sheets? Because they

36:46

coat the fabric. So fabric softener

36:49

and dryer sheets, they coat the fabric, that's how

36:51

they work. And it does a

36:53

couple things. It takes away absorbency. The

36:55

first time you use fabric softener and dryer sheets

36:57

on your towels, you reduce their absorbency

36:59

by like 80%. It

37:02

makes it harder to get stains out,

37:04

because stains get sort of trapped under

37:06

this coating. And

37:08

then it also takes away breathability. Like

37:11

I'm thinking of like golf shirts or linen in the

37:13

summer. If you use fabric

37:15

softener on them, they can't breathe. So that's

37:17

probably the worst thing you do to your

37:20

clothes, is fabric softener and dryer sheets. And

37:22

so for the setting on the dryer, where are you gonna put

37:24

that at? Just like the lowest setting possible? I

37:27

put it on warm and then I do,

37:29

I always do it by time. Like I

37:31

know that towels and sheets will dry in

37:33

my dryer in 30 minutes. So I just

37:35

do it by time. Okay. What

37:37

do dryer balls do? We

37:40

use those, but I'm wondering like, what do

37:42

they actually do? They actually speed up your

37:44

drying time, because they speed up the, or

37:47

they maintain the centrifugal force of the dryer.

37:49

So they keep the clothes tumbling so that they

37:52

don't knot up like your sheets did in the

37:54

washing machine. They keep everything tumbling. And since it's

37:56

tumbling and kind of loose, it's

37:58

just drying faster. So

38:01

I mean they're pretty great. I leave them in the dryer. I

38:03

never take them out. I've

38:05

seen these things that kind of look like

38:07

porcupines. Is that the same thing as a dryer ball? Yeah.

38:10

It's a dryer ball. They're just rubber. Okay.

38:12

Some people prefer those, whichever one you

38:14

like. They work the same way. Oh

38:17

yeah, we use the wool ones. These are

38:19

big giant wool balls. I feel like

38:22

they soften clothes a little and maybe

38:24

slightly reduce static. Do they reduce static?

38:26

They don't. But you know the greatest

38:28

thing in the world to reduce static

38:31

is a ball of aluminum foil. You

38:33

take a one yard piece of aluminum foil

38:35

and make a ball a little bit bigger

38:37

than a softball. Throw it in the dryer.

38:39

It will remove static better than anything you've

38:42

ever used. It'll continue to compress

38:44

on itself when it gets to the size of

38:46

a walnut. You just throw it in recycling and

38:48

make a new one. But you will be amazed

38:50

at how great it is on static. All

38:53

right. No more dryer sheets. No more fabric softeners

38:55

then. Exactly. I'm not

38:57

a big fan of the smell when

39:00

you're walking in your neighborhood and you

39:02

can tell someone's using a dryer sheet.

39:04

Not the worst because you go outside to

39:06

breathe the outdoors and then you end up

39:08

breathing in chemicals. Yeah. Well, speaking

39:10

of this, people use fabric softener because some

39:12

people like that smell, that downy fresh. Any

39:16

tips for people who want to make their

39:18

clothes smell nice but not use fabric softener?

39:22

Yeah. Put some essential oils on your wool ball. You

39:25

can put a few drops of essential oils on your

39:27

wool ball and it will send

39:29

your clothes in the dryer without staining anything.

39:32

It's great. If you love that fresh, sort

39:35

of linen-y, outdoorsy kind of smell, try

39:38

lemongrass or bergamot. Some

39:40

people use lavender. I actually sent my

39:42

sheets with peppermint. You can sort

39:44

of pick what you want. What's great is

39:46

then you can pick whatever you want. You're not relying on

39:48

river rain or something. But

39:53

the essential oils are also completely

39:55

safe. I'm going to throw

39:57

out a caveat here though, which I always do. If

40:00

you're going to start using essential oils for your laundry,

40:03

you need to do your own research as

40:05

far as babies and pets. Okay.

40:08

Why is that? I guess there's like become an

40:10

allergic reaction. Some essential oils

40:12

are not pet safe and

40:14

some essential oils make babies grumpy.

40:17

Interesting. You don't want a grumpy baby. Absolutely

40:20

not. If you wash their clothes, you

40:22

want them to take a nap. Right.

40:25

Maybe give them some lavender. Yeah.

40:27

I think the essential oils tip

40:29

would be really nice to have

40:32

sandalwood. Sandalwood smelling clothes. Sandalwood

40:34

would be fabulous or oud would be

40:36

great. I mean the thing is

40:38

you can play around with them. Depending

40:42

on how far you want to go, if

40:44

you want to do your active wear or

40:46

something, you could do something citrusy because it

40:48

would keep you very alert. Ooh. Yeah. I

40:50

like that. I like this hack.

40:53

Okay. I think I'm going to get some essential oils. Usually

40:55

I'm like, essential oils, that's kind of weird, but I like

40:57

the essential oils for making your clothes smell nice. Yeah. Speaking

41:00

of athletic wear, I want to get back to more

41:03

detail in this. Why is it

41:05

so hard to get the stink out

41:07

of athletic wear? It's

41:10

the fabric. It's, you know,

41:12

the fabric is polyester and polyester is awesome.

41:14

It is an amazing fabric. We

41:17

could do anything with polyester, but we've

41:19

never been able to get over this

41:21

oleophilic hydrophobic thing. You know,

41:23

hates water, loves oil, and it just

41:25

loves the bacteria in your sweat. And

41:28

your sweat under your arms, between

41:30

your legs and behind your knees, is

41:33

oilier than any other sweat on your

41:35

body. Okay. So it's just holding onto

41:37

that oil. Yeah. It's just holding

41:39

that oil and the sweat's in it. So that's the

41:41

reason we kind of held the active wear off because

41:44

we're going to throw oxygen bleach in with it. And

41:46

the oxygen bleach is just going to break that oil

41:48

down. I mean, the very first time you do it,

41:51

it's usually gone. If, you

41:53

know, they're biking shorts and you've had

41:55

them for several years, you may have

41:57

to wash them a couple of times before all the sweat's

41:59

out. that's gone, but you'll notice

42:01

a huge difference the very first time you do

42:03

it. Do you need to pre-soak

42:06

the shirts or the clothing? You can just

42:08

toss it in the washer with, just

42:10

put the oxygen bleach in with the shirt and you're good

42:12

to go. Do you have to dry them

42:14

any differently? Like you're gonna use high heat or anything like that?

42:16

No, no, I mean, I usually, like that

42:18

stuff I usually hang it all up. I don't even put

42:20

it in the dryer, but

42:22

once you do the oxygen bleach,

42:24

I mean, you're golden. Right,

42:27

okay, that's a good tip. Let's talk about stain

42:29

removal. How do you get rid of the most

42:31

common stains you see? So, you know, like red

42:33

wine, coffee, spaghetti sauce, like how do you get

42:35

rid of that stuff? So usually,

42:38

okay, you kind of mentioned, it's funny,

42:40

everything you ask uses one thing. Oxygen

42:43

bleach will take out red wine, it'll take

42:45

out blood. If there's color

42:47

and there's oil, spray it with vinegar and

42:49

water, blot it, and

42:52

then scrub it with soap and a brush. The

42:54

reason you do it in that order is because the

42:56

oil keeps you from being able to get at the

42:58

color with the horsehair

43:00

brush. So when you take the vinegar,

43:02

you spray it with vinegar, it actually

43:05

breaks down the surface tension of the stain

43:07

so then you can scrub that color out because

43:09

you've already gotten rid of the oil. The

43:12

reason people have trouble with those stains

43:15

is because they don't use the

43:17

vinegar first. If you

43:19

use the vinegar first, it'll come right out.

43:22

I loved your advice about getting rid of

43:24

stains. You don't really sweat stains. You're like,

43:26

yeah, we can take care of pretty much

43:28

anything. You had an instance where someone called

43:30

you, they were getting married that day, and

43:32

the kid, permanent marker, shirving marker, just drew

43:35

all over the dress. And you're willing to

43:37

say that. While she had it on, she

43:39

was at her wedding. She

43:41

was at her wedding. Yeah,

43:43

and I had to leave the store. And

43:46

it's funny, because as I told you, I have a store, it's

43:48

in the mall, so I couldn't close.

43:51

And I was trying to get one of my employees to

43:53

come in so I could get over to her. We were

43:55

actually at the point where we were

43:57

thinking about getting one of her bridesmaids to come work

43:59

in my house. store so that

44:02

I could get to the wedding to get the Sharpie out

44:04

of the dress. Fortunately, somebody showed up and

44:06

it was somebody who used to work for me and I was

44:08

like, I need you to stay here 20 minutes. I'll be back.

44:11

You know, we used some rubbing alcohol. It came right out. What's

44:13

so great about anything is once you know, you

44:15

can remove a stain. You can wear

44:17

anything you want. You know, you can

44:20

wear your tuxedo jacket with jeans and a

44:22

t-shirt to a Taylor Swift concert if you

44:24

want to, you know, you can wear your

44:26

cashmere sweater fly fishing because once

44:28

you can get it out, once you can get

44:30

it clean, you can wear it when you want to wear it.

44:33

Yeah. You don't have to be so precious with your clothes. You

44:35

can actually enjoy them. Right. What

44:37

about this stain? I know a lot of

44:40

guys listening might have experienced this with white

44:42

dress shirts, the yellow armpit stain. Yes.

44:44

Hardest stain there is to get out. Yeah. What's going on

44:47

there? What is that and why is it so hard to

44:49

get out and how do you get it out? So

44:51

the reason it's so hard to get out

44:54

is because it throws the pH of the

44:56

shirt off so

44:58

far that the detergent just

45:00

can't do it. I'm going to tell

45:02

you a two part trick to this because there's a trick and

45:04

then a hack. Okay. The trick to get

45:06

it out is take your oily hand soap or

45:09

your oily laundry soap,

45:11

put it on there, sprinkle oxygen bleach

45:13

over the top of it, rub

45:16

it in and let it sit. And you may

45:18

need to let it sit a couple hours, turn

45:20

the hot water, the tap all the way to

45:22

hot and put it under there. And

45:25

you'll watch that stain like melt out.

45:27

Usually it'll happen once. If

45:29

it's really, really bad, you may have

45:31

to do it twice, but

45:33

it'll come right out. But here's the hack. Once

45:36

you get that stain out or you're starting with a

45:38

new shirt, if every

45:40

single time immediately before you

45:43

start the washer, so

45:45

you're getting ready to wash your white dress shirts. If

45:48

you spray the pits or the collar, that's where the other

45:50

people get it or some people get it or

45:52

the cuffs with vinegar and water and throw

45:55

it in the washer and the vinegar still

45:57

has to be wet when the washer starts.

45:59

You'll never. have the stain again. Oh,

46:02

that's nice. I like that. Yeah, it's

46:04

great because it actually, what it does is

46:06

the stain is basic. The

46:08

vinegar is acidic. It brings the pH back

46:10

close enough to neutral that your soap or

46:13

your detergent can wash it out. Is

46:16

the same, is that just a mixture of sweat and

46:18

the deodorant? Yeah, it's mainly

46:20

the sweat. It's the sweat acting with the

46:22

fabric. You know, the deodorant is

46:24

there, which actually makes it a little harder because

46:26

it's sort of waxy. Yeah. But

46:28

it's really the sweat and the fabric that

46:30

caused that yellowing. Oh, this

46:32

has been great, Patrick. I mean, there's a lot of

46:35

great stuff in here for make your laundry better. Um,

46:37

where can people go to learn more about your work?

46:40

The easiest place is go to laundry

46:42

of angeles.com because you can watch

46:44

my YouTube videos. I do a live

46:46

every Thursday on YouTube where I answer

46:48

questions. You can see videos.

46:50

You can see, you know, places I've been

46:53

featured. So if you want to see TV

46:55

or, you know, the wall street journal, whatever,

46:57

you can see those and you can actually, you

47:00

know, you can see the products, but you can

47:02

actually even submit a question and then I answer

47:04

them on live. So, you know, if you have

47:06

a question that you didn't get today, you can

47:08

ask it. And then I answer them every Thursday.

47:11

That's awesome. Well, Patrick Richardson, thanks for your time.

47:13

It's been a pleasure. Thank you

47:15

so much. Thanks for having me. This was so much fun.

47:19

My guest here is Patrick Richardson. He's the author

47:21

of the book, laundry love it's available on amazon.com.

47:23

You can learn more information about his work at his

47:25

website, laundry, evangelist.com. Also check out our show notes

47:28

at a one dot is slash laundry, refine links

47:30

to resources, we delve deeper into this topic. Well,

47:39

that wraps up another edition of the art of

47:41

manliness podcast. The art of manliness podcast hosts guests

47:43

from a wide range of fields. You can improve

47:45

each and every area of your life. One

47:48

week we could be discussing the philosophy of physical

47:50

fitness, another the art of laundry. If

47:53

you enjoy the ever fresh variety of the A1

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podcast, consider taking a minute to leave the show

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47:59

all the. generous folks who do so. As

48:01

always, thank you for the continued support. Until next

48:03

time, it's Brett McKay, reminding you to listen to

48:06

our podcast and put what you've heard into

48:08

action.