The first attempt of our April meeting was sidelined by an unwelcomed April snow storm! The skies were clear on Thursday, April 25 and FCS Professionals and their guests were treated to a fantastic program at the Mona Williams store at Mall of America. Our speaker for the evening was Patric Richardson, also known as “The Laundry Evangelist”, owner of Mona Williams. Participants snacked on individual meat, cheese and cracker trays and yummy desserts while learning from Patric!
Patric’s love of beautiful clothing began as a child growing up in Kentucky. His granny loved designer clothing but there was not a dry cleaner in town so she learned how to wash the clothing herself and passed along this knowledge to him. Patric also studied textiles in college and learned more about fabrics and their care. He came to Minnesota when he was hired by Neiman Marcus and then went onto a management position at Nordstrom. He opened Mona Williams first in Minneapolis and then moved the store to Mall of America.
Patric shared more tips and tricks about laundry than one could possibly put in a blog post! For those that were unable to attend, Patric holds public “Laundry Camp” sessions. Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance. Click here for dates and times. Also, Patric has a book that will be published within the next year!
Some highlights from Laundry Camp
- You can machine wash anything–except wedding dresses and fur coats. Those can be washed in the bathtub! Yes–you can machine wash your wool coat and favorite suit!
- Never use fabric softener or dryer sheets–they coat the fabric with oil making it harder to remove stains, increase fire risk, and contain chemicals known to disrupt your endocrine system! Use wool balls with drops of essential oil instead.
- If you have “crunchy towels” it’s likely they are full of detergent–we use way too much detergent. One Tide Pod could wash 5 loads of laundry! Use 1 T soap or 3 T commercial detergent per load
- Always wash on “warm” cycle–never cold. The cold setting is too cold to activate the detergent so the residue stays in your clothes
- Never use bleach
- Athleisure items and swimming suits should be their own load. Add 1 T bleach alternative to the load to get them clean. Bacteria tends to build up in spandex.
- If you have an extra dirty load of laundry, add 1/4 c baking soda. He recommends getting the big bag from Sam’s Club or Costco
- There is no such thing as a “set stain”. Some stains take more effort–but he believes you can get out any stain
- Treat the stain immediately before washing. Do not pre-treat and then throw into the hamper for a few days
If you want to learn all of his tricks I highly recommend attending Laundry Camp. His enthusiasm and wit are so endearing and bullet points just don’t do it justice!
Mona Williams is located on the first floor between Nordstrom and Macy’s. Thank you to Patric and his assistant Martha for a wonderful evening!
Where have you been all of my career? I am a hairstylist who focuses on safety…we need YOU!