About

Minnesota Mom’s Clever Eco-Products are the Latest Craze on the Clean Scene

After decades of designing witty T-shirts, totes, and other products—plus art directing hundreds of direct mail catalogs—Carla Scholz found herself searching for an outlet for her creativity that was fun, practical, useful, and sustainable.

In 2017 Scholz decided it was time to create something that appealed to her growing interest in all things green.

That something is Soak It Up, reusable Swedish sponge cloths that do the work of 1,500 paper towels. They're practical with a punch: brightly colored, graphically pleasing, even laugh-inducing. 

“Dishcloths don’t sound like a very special gift, but I love them because they are useful,” says Deb Brown, gift guru at touchyourclientsheart.com. “People will interact with it on a daily basis and remember who gave it to them.”

Americans use more than 13 billion pounds of paper towels a year, according to the website paperlessproject.com. If every person in the United States used one less roll a year, 544,000 trees could be saved.

Stats like that drove Scholz to question her own paper towel use—and create this eco-friendly alternative. “Next time you're reaching for a paper towel, stop and ask yourself if you really need to,” she says.

Naturally, Scholz’s 96-year-old mother Ruth is a big fan. “They are so practical and fun to give as gifts,” she says. “My friends don’t know what they are at first, but once they use them they can’t stop raving.”

Making it fun and easy for everyone to be more eco-conscience consumers with products that feel good to give and are great to get.

 

Soak iT Up Clards patent granted! 

The idea for a greeting that transforms into a useable cleaning cloth came to Scholz when she first discovered Swedish dishcloths. It took a few years, but  with some determination and luck Clards were introduced.

Clards are greetings that clean up, literally. The extraordinary greeting utilizes European sponge cloth to create, fun, practical, eco friendly greetings.

"Clards are the reason I started Soak iT Up. Soak iT Up Cloths allowed me to establish vendor relationships, create a production process, and manufacturing to help determine the most effective production and design for Clards. Bonus, it allowed time for a patent to be granted" said Scholz. CLARDS.com

 

WHY SOAK IT UP?

Soak it Up Cloths and Clards turn practical, environmentally friendly, Swedish sponge cloths into clever, fun, gifts and greetings.

Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to consume less.
Soak iT Up products feel good to give, are great to get, and add cheer to your chores!

Soak It Up products are designed in the United States and manufactured in the US and Sweden. They are environmentally friendlier than similar cloths because we use minimal supplies and colors to cut down on manufacturing materials and ink.

Soak it Up products have hundreds of uses. Because they air dry fast, there’s less chance for bacteria and smells to develop like thick sponges. They can be washed over 200 times in the dishwasher or washing machine and can be sanitized in the microwave or in boiling water, not to mention, they are bleach safe. When cloths are worn, compost or chop them up and put in your plants to help keep soil moist.

We take eco to the next level. Our minimal, eco-friendly, recycled paper, shipping packages utilize the mailing label to seal.

Our packages are sent in a custom, cute, eco-friendly self mailer. No plastic, no extra tape or glue. We seal it with the mailing label.

GIVING

Soak it Up is proud to be a Minnesota Public Radio sustaining member.
A monthly contribution from sales supports the Arbor Day Foundation, A Time for Trees.org, givewell.org and others.

Watch Behind The Business on KARE11

 

Thank you for supporting our small business!

 Carla Scholz founder, Soak iT Up