Soak iT Up exists to gently wean us off single-use paper products and prove something important: sustainable choices can be joyful, beautiful, and easy to stick with.

Because I think a greeting should be the beginning of a story, not the end of one.

Traditional cards live a short, sad life: read, displayed for a few days, then filed away or trashed. It’s well-intentioned… and also kind of a bummer. That “gifting guilt” is exactly what I set out to solve with something that feels good, does good, and actually gets used.

Meet Clards®: the greeting that turns into a cleaning cloth

Clards are patented greetings printed on Swedish dishcloth material. They start as a heartfelt message, then become reusable cleaning cloths they’ll reach for daily.

So instead of being another disposable moment, your card becomes a useful little sidekick that can replace up to 3,000 paper towels.

Yes. Your card just became the responsible adult in the room.

How this all started (and why it was strategic)

I’m Carla Scholz, the founder and designer behind Soak iT Up.

The spark happened when my daughter gave me a Swedish sponge cloth. I loved the compostable material, and my design brain immediately thought: “What else can this be used for, why not greeting cards?”

But I knew the idea needed a real foundation. So, with help from a close friend in the wholesale industry, I started by selling Swedish dishcloths to learn the market, build relationships, and create the runway to patent and produce Clards to be able to scale.

That first step is what made the “wild idea” possible.

Beauty meets utility (aka: the stuff you’ll actually use)

Alongside Clards, we have a line of bright colored Swedish dishcloths and plant-based laundry detergent sheets (Sheet Happens) to help you swap disposable bad habits for functional, cheerful alternatives.

We consider the parts of home life where single-use is the default, and we make the switch feel easy and satisfying, with a splash of FUNction.

Rooted in purpose, built with care

I grew up with a “tree-hugging” dad who taught me to care deeply about the planet. That legacy is in everything we make: eco-friendly printing methods, minimal recycled packaging, and products designed to be used again and again.

Soak iT Up grows because of an incredible community of customers who want their purchases to mean something and still look cute on a counter.

I’m honored to be a 2024 Tory Burch Foundation Fellow and a recipient of the Brooklyn Brewery “Calling All Makers” Entrepreneur Award. Those milestones remind me to keep going because people are ready for what I call sustainable joy.

Thanks for being here.

You’re not just buying a product. You’re choosing a little less waste and a lot more usefulness.

Let’s reduce waste together, one Clard, one cloth, and one load of laundry at a time.

It’s a beautiful day. Soak iT Up.

Carla