Book Review: House Love

April 19, 2024

A few weeks ago, I was talking to one of my very dear long-time clients about cleaning. We both love cleaning and love finding the best homemaking solutions. I was saying, “I wish I knew exactly when and why to use baking soda, versus borax, versus washing soda”, and she turned me on to a podcast she had just listened to by Patric Richardson, The Laundry Evangelist. About a minute into the podcast, I was already hooked. He is so non-judgmental and funny. I needed to learn more from him. He wrote the book “Laundry Love” in 2021 and just came out with “House Love” in 2023. I instantly ordered “House Love” and then was pleasantly surprised to find “Laundry Love” gifted to me a few days later from my sweet client. (Thank you!!) This post is about “House Love”, and I’m sure I’ll write another one on “Laundry Love” very soon.

“House Love” is not only laugh out loud funny, but it’s inspiring, and has lots of helpful advice along the way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who either loves cleaning and wants to be entertained and learn more, or to someone who doesn’t love cleaning, but wants to get into it. Richardson is originally from Kentucky, and has a very charming Southern way of speaking. If you listen to the podcast (or his YouTube videos) first to hear his voice, it makes reading the book even better. He is someone who has enjoyed doing laundry from a very young age, (he got a toy washing machine at the age of 3), and so he speaks about cleaning with such joy. Usually people don’t think of someone who likes to clean as also being easy going, but the way he talks about cleaning is very inviting and inclusive rather than being an uptight, snobby, bossy, “it’s got to be done exactly like this”, kind of guy. He loves it, and he wants to share his love of cleaning with his readers too.

You learn a lot about his personality from the way he talks about the people in his life and his love of entertaining and décor. Instead of freaking out if someone spills some red wine, his solution is to just bring them more red wine. (He’ll clean it up after the party). He loves having a good time and wants his guests to feel at home in his home. He is so creative and comes up with all kinds of great ideas for how to decorate. He even offers ideas for fun activities for his guests to do while spending time together. I also love how he includes lots of his favorite recipes in the back of the book.

One of the things I loved about the book is how simple he likes to keep his cleaning regimen. But instead of slaving away with lots of elbow grease, he introduced me to some tools that I hadn’t known to use before, like orbital buffer drill attachments for cleaning the tub. And even though I don’t love the smell of cleaning with vinegar, his calm and cool description of just grabbing a microfiber rag and your spray bottle of 50/50 vinegar/water makes me want to clean with it. My only gripe about the book is that he also talks about cleaning with a combination of vinegar and baking soda. This seems to be a popular recipe for green-cleaning enthusiasts, but since I live with a chemist, I know that vinegar and baking soda actually just cancel each other out. The foaming action looks like it’s doing something really good, and makes you think “clean”, but it’s actually not bubbling away the dirt like it looks like it’s doing. Instead, if you need the extra punch, you can add baking soda to a mild soap or mild detergent (like Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap or Sal’s Suds) for extra scrubbing action. (More on Dr. Bronner’s for a future post). I don’t fault Richardson for this recommendation though. I know lots of professionals who advocate for the baking soda/ vinegar cleaning method. The book also has a great month-to-month checklist for what to clean (and shop for) each month.

I love his sense of humor. Not only are his word choices and language ever-so-endearing, his advice is sure to put a smile on your face. If this gives you any idea of what I’m talking about, he talks about his cleaning outfit and accessories such as a great ball cap, colorful socks, an insulated tumbler, and a pair of earbuds. He also talks about hiding snacks around the house to nosh on to admire your good work. I love all his decorating advice too. He encourages readers to trust themselves to make daring color choices and use fun and unexpected themes for decorating.

While “House Love” isn’t a prepper guide, and Richardson doesn’t advocate for “living off the grid, growing your own food, and weaving your own clothes.” He does talk about caring for the planet as best you can. I loved the part in the book where he was talking about “greenwashing”. Greenwashing is a common marketing ploy that many brands use to make their products seem to be much less toxic and harmful to the earth than they actually are. When he talks about doing your due diligence, he lists several examples of misleading claims that companies make. One of my favorite excerpts is this:

“Even some pet-product companies can’t be trusted- one claimed its waste bags for pet poo were recyclable. The hitch? You’d have to pack up all those small green bags (with their precious cargo) in your suitcase on your next vacation to a country where processors actually can recycle them. I guess we all need to read the fine print.”

Whether or not that’s an exaggeration, his writing made me laugh out loud. But I do know there are LOTS of companies that market their products as easy-to-recycle, or compost, or that their products are “earth friendly”, when in actuality, the processes that it takes to make them (or dispose of them) are just as bad (or even worse!) as their non-earth friendly alternatives. So just do your best.

To summarize, this is the highest-vibe cleaning/décor book I’ve ever read. It’s fun, funny, lighthearted, entertaining, and helpful! I’m a big fan, and I look forward to continuing to reference this book for inspiration and tips. Here is a link to the book on Amazon. I hope you’ll love it too!