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Updated: Mar 28, 2024 97 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Laundry Stick

Coffee Break | ·

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I clicked on one of those clickable articles from BuzzFeed recently (“36 Products that Work So Darn Well They Deserve an Award!“) — some weren't a surprise (duh, the Revlon One-Step Brush/Dryer), but I was very happy to hear about this cool laundry stick sold by Celsious.

They describe the stick as being great for pre-treating all kinds of stains, “from yellowing pits to oily smudges. Works for oil, makeup, food, soil, and other stains (even poop!) on all fabrics. Unlike conventional stain sticks or pens, our formula is non-toxic, biodegradable and fragrance-free. The labels and pouch are fully compostable!” AWESOME — sounds like a real upgrade from your basic laundry stick.

According to BuzzFeed, Celsious is a Black woman-owned small business laundromat in Brooklyn [Williamsburg]. The shop is energy efficient, and they also sell eco-friendly garment care products and accessories.

Love it! You can buy a stick for $8 at Celsious.

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Sales of note for 9.30.24

Sales of note for 9.30.24

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Comments

  1. Anonymous

    This sounds intriguing! Related, does anyone have a favorite detergent that isn’t sold in plastic? I’m trying to reduce our plastic usage and I’d like to start using something that comes in a cardboard box. We have an old top-loader, so it would need to work for that, and I’d prefer as “green” (and fragrance-free) as possible. TIA!

    • Anonymous

      You could make detergent by grating a Fels Naptha bar and mixing that with borax . . .

        • AnonMon

          That is actually a very normal DIY laundry soap recipe. I mix in washing soda (not baking soda), and it works pretty well if you have soft water.

      • anonshmanon

        All else equal, powder detergent is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly detergent delivery mechanism.

      • Anon

        Yup, I buy Tide Free & Gentle in boxes. It’s getting difficult to find; b*stards are trying to force us all into using pods.

          • Curious

            So much more volume per load, meaning more volume to transport and higher carbon footprint. Why must these products add water themselves? I’m perfectly capable of doing so at home.

          • Curious

            Comment in mod, but generally if a product contains water its carbon footprint is higher than the dehydrated version because of the carbon cost of moving it.

    • Monday

      Do you have a “zero waste” or “refill” store anywhere nearby? Places like this sell various home products by weight. So you bring in your existing container–whatever you want–and they fill it up for you with, in this case, detergent. The charge would be per gallon, minus the weight of your empty container.

    • Alanna of Trebond

      Blueland is sold in paper bags. I like them because the old school powder detergent comes in tins (Nellie’s) and still has more waste than Blueland.

      • Panda Bear

        +1 – I’ve been using the Blueland laundry tablets for a few weeks and have been happy.

    • Duckles

      Haven’t tried them yet but I bought the grove laundry detergent sheets that come in a cardboard box. The convenience of not having to measure like a powder but no plastic.

    • FP

      Dropps are pods but sold in cardboard boxes and I’ve liked their quality of fragrance-free.

    • CapHillAnon

      My household loves the Laundry Egg (linen scent), which produces very little waste.

    • Anonymous

      Neutral 0 % powder laundry detergent is great. No scent, various European environmental and asthma and allergy requirements met, cardboard box.

    • CB

      Late to this but we have used soap nuts for years. I add some laundry sanitiser if there are clothes that have gotten gross (muddy clothes, potty training etc). But the nuts are compostable and my clothes stay much softer.

    • Anonymous

      I love The Simply Co. detergent from Package Free. I signed up for a subscription, so once a month a new 60-wash jar arrives. Comes in unscented and lavender.

  2. Anonymous

    From your own circle of friends/family, does it seem like the people who are traveling a ton and moving on the most with regular life are drs and nurses? Mind you not ER/ICU drs or nurses, but primary care, ortho, anesthesia etc. I feel like these are the people who are non stop traveling. Sure they were vaccinated back in Dec/Jan and are reasonable about masking in crowds, but are also the ones flying from high vaccinated areas like NY/NJ/Md. to places like Florida, Vegas etc. where you are surely crossing paths with tons of non vaccinated and unmasked people and doctors in those areas are saying do not come here, it isn’t safe. Come to think of it a few of these folks traveled for fun even pre vaccine, when they were vaccinated but their spouse wasn’t etc. What do they know that we don’t? Or is it just a different risk assessment.

    • Anonymous

      I mean, they may see so much worse and be so much more exposed at work that masked vaccinated travel exposure is degrees of magnitude less dangerous to what they’ve already been exposed to and (successfully) dealt with. I am pretty sure that they aren’t the problem but are showing us how to do things correctly.

      I know an idiot doctor and his idiot nurse wife who refuse the vaccine, but they are idiots in many, many facets of their lives, so this doesn’t surprise me. And is probably why my hospital system is mandating the vaccine for all employees.

    • Anonymous

      I think you’re way over generalizing and also when you spent a year a risky being exposed to Covid you have a different risk assessment

    • Anon

      I run in cautious Covid circles and pretty much everyone I know is vaccinated and living life relatively normal-ish, including travel, except a lot of people I know have resumed wearing masks indoors (or never stopped). The only people I know who are still refraining from travel are doing so because their kids are unvaxxed and they don’t want to or don’t have the opportunity to travel without their kids.

    • Anonymous

      They don’t know anything we don’t.

      In my circles, it’s mixed. Some providers are very cautious and others are “back to normal.” The one common thread is that everyone is getting really pissed at unvaccinated people. My best friend was going to get on a flight for the first time since 2019 and attend her grandmother’s 100th birthday party (with her own new baby in tow), but now with Delta on the rise and a large family contingent of hardcore anti-mask, anti-vax, party-like-it’s-2000 types planning to attend as well, she’s going to cancel. It will likely end up being an event causing significant spread and that’s too big a risk for her baby.

      • Anonymous

        Yep. I’ve had more than one doctor admit to me they’re finding it really hard to be sympathetic towards unvaccinated covid patients right now.

        • Anon

          It’s frustrating to me that hospitals have to treat uninsured, unvaccinated patients. I feel like you should waive your right to $$$$ Covid treatment (a two week ICU stay is I don’t even know how many hundreds of thousands of dollars?) when you decline the vaccine.

          • LaurenB

            I don’t know why some major insurance company (United Healthcare, BCBS, etc.) hasn’t either refused to cover COVID treatment for those not vaxed, or at the very least added some premium cost. If we aren’t going to have universal health care, why can’t the free market penalize not-vaxing?

          • Anonymous

            Uh you do get a bill if you’re uninsured and you’re put on a payment plan – often for years and years. Sure the hospital only recovers a small % but the person isn’t off scot free – and for lots of people even 49.95/mo for years is a hardship.

          • Anonymous

            Nope nope nope. It’s unacceptable when people say this about smokers or the obese. It’s unacceptable now.

          • Anon

            Yeah, my insurance has a smokers premium so I don’t know why they couldn’t add an unvaccinated person’s premium. Although I guess they kind of take your word for it on the smoking, so everyone would probably just lie and say they’re vaxxed.

        • LaurenB

          My spouse who is normally super-patient and super-empathetic has run out of patience with them. His new buzzword is “you are making poor choices” and “you are tragically misinformed.” He’s so tired of asking what their info sources are and hearing Fox News, OANN and Facebook. He is close to just not caring any more what the stupid ones do; they’re making their beds, let them lie in it.

    • Duckles

      Not really true anymore, but my friends who are doctors and nurses were the ones who were still going to house parties, traveling, eating inside, etc. (big city if it matters). Now, There’s a pretty clear split between my friends with small kids or health issues who are still being pretty careful and the rest of us who are vaccinated and have pretty much forgotten about the pandemic.

      • Anon

        Agreed, everyone is traveling now except the most cautious people. But I do agree that doctors and nurses were among the few people I knew traveling pre-vaccination. And teachers. One of my teacher friends attended a bach party in Miami in July 2020 when Florida was the biggest US Covid hotspot. And then posted multiple rants about how having to show up in person and do her job was “endangering her life.” At least the healthcare workers are less hypocritical about it.

    • anon

      My mother and my FIL are both doctors. They have both resumed normal life and are traveling extensively. They are both fully vaccinated. They’re between 65 and 70. My observation is that they trust vaccines, trust masks (and both wear N95s), and don’t find Zoom meetings and virtual wine tastings and using FaceTime to communicate with family to be fulfilling. My mother also has a fatalistic attitude toward pandemics–I’d be rich if I had a nickel for every time she’s told me “Viruses mutate, that’s just what they do!”

      • Anon

        That generation also all had measles and the Asian flu as kids, and wasn’t that far removed from diseases like polio. I think when you’ve survived measles, Covid isn’t as scary. Our generation has been a bit spoiled by vaccines eradicating most of the contagious viruses (except HIV, but that’s not spread through casual contact). They also don’t have as much life left. My mom has flat out said to me “I’m 70, I have at most 10 good years of life left, I’m not losing any more of them. If I get Covid, I get it, and if I’m one of the few vaccinated people who dies so be it.” I understand that attitude, to be honest.

        • anon@4:07

          Yes, my mother is the same way, though I didn’t include it because it’s more generational than specific to doctors. She’s retired and knows she’s not going to live forever. She’d rather be the fully vaccinated person who dies of Covid after living her best life than be stuck in her condo avoiding Covid, just to die of something else in the next 10-15 years anyways.

          And, yes, she remembers lining up at the elementary school for her polio vaccine, and it being treated as a miracle. She’s pretty judgmental of anti-vaxxers, especially those who treat not getting vaccinated as some kind of Trump loyalty test–and she’s a life-long Republican who voted for Trump the first time, thinking he’d rise to the occasion or something. (She admits she was very wrong about that.)

    • Anon

      No, it’s all sales people and truckers who have to travel for work anyway. But my circle is more blue collar than what I suspect is the norm here.

    • Anon

      Yes,and I don’t judge them for it. They believe that the vaccines work and are enjoying their lives after a horrible 18 months.

    • Anon

      I think there is a psychology of “If I catch this, chances are I’ll catch it at work” with some healthcare providers.

      I suspect different specialties take long COVID much more or less seriously. Long COVID is either really scary, or “probably just something psychosomatic I could snap myself out of.”

      • Anon

        Or it’s just a remote risk that you take general precautions about but isn’t worth refusing to live a decent life over. I could get into a car accident and wind up with a life-long disability any time, but I’m not going to avoid auto travel because of that risk. Post-vaccination long COVID is in a similar risk bucket.

        • Anon

          The statistics on post-vaccination long COVID don’t make it seem like all that remote a risk. It’s a much higher risk for me than hospitalization! Though I guess I bundle it in with the risk of post-COVID chronic illness generally (whether from organ damage, a brand new autoimmune disease, etc.).

    • anon

      Yes, people who were out and about more during the pandemic due to their job (not just docs) are travelling now. I will say after having to travel and go to in person court appearances pre-vaccine, it did loosen up my risk calculus to venture out more. With that said, I think the big difference now is that we are all admitting to trips/travel/going out since it is more socially acceptable. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve caught up with who were naughty pre-vaccine (restaurants, travel) and did an amazing job of keeping it off social media.

    • Anon

      I posted this AM at the end of the thread about my unvaxxed sis who is an RN. Fortunately, air travel has never been her thing (they probably don’t treat her enough like royalty) so she has traveled but by car.

      I am not medical personnel, vaccinated and traveled in June. But reading about the delta variant and the Israel study has convinced me not to get on a plane again if I can avoid it until the inevitable delta wave is over. I’m not totally concerned about dying but I also don’t want to have a breakthrough infection, particularly with the study in progress on long-term cognitive effects for even mild cases. Menopause has been bad enough!

    • LaurenB

      All the doctors I know were appropriately vaxed. I think they simply seem to feel … they are vaxed, the science says they are protected from severe illness, and (unless they live with an immunocomprised person or some such) they aren’t going to restrict themselves anymore for the sake of the (stupid) anti-vaxers.

      As for me personally, I am taking some driving trips where it’s easy to avoid other people.

  3. anon for this

    I’ve never heard of laundry sticks but I absolutely love Fels Naptha laundry soap.

    So, WWYD: We are working with an architect to plan a renovation of our small home. Yes, I know that costs for everything are crazy high. With that in mind, at every step of the way we discussed our budget ($300K) with our architect — asking him is this reasonable, what prices are you seeing on current jobs you are bidding, please let us know if we need to refine scope, etc. The architect has done a ton of work in our neighborhood and came highly recommended by neighbors. I thought it was clear that staying on budget was a priority for us. We’ve spent over $10K on plans and the bids came in at $525K-$590K — there isn’t an outlier so I guess this is just where the market is, but it’s not feasible for us. Is it fair to be completely irritated with the architect and have expected that he would design something closer to our expectations? We are meeting with him later this week to discuss and I want to be fair to his work, but also we were relying on him to help us understand what was realistic and I am concerned that he kept stringing us along knowing that it wasn’t feasible.

    • Piper Dreamer

      That sucks! Would it be possible to bifurcate the plan so you are only doing part of it? We did a kitchen reno that required removing a wall. The plan our architect drew up would also allow us to open up the back wall and build a deck. When it was clear that building a deck would double the cost, we were able to keep within the budget by hiring a GC to do everything other than the deck portion.

    • Anonymous

      My experience with stand-alone architects is that they have no clue. Design-build firms may be different. I once designed a simple covered porch and it was at least 85K to build, not counting moving a gas line (did not do the project at all — the house wasn’t worth enough to have an 85K porch).

      • Cat

        +1, design-build firms charge a premium but this is a reason they are popular. The architect works directly with the builder so that costs are factored in along the way.

      • anon

        I worked with a design-build landscaping firm a few years ago and had a similar experience—was told range for my project was X to 2X if we got fancy. When plans came in, it was 2X, only possible to get a tiny bit lower by using inferior materials. It seemed that X was never in the cards.

        Despite being able to afford 2X, I didn’t go through with the project because I didn’t want even more surprises once physical work started. I chalk it up to a costly lesson to insist on talking to the senior person on everything important early on and asking a lot of questions to verify everything.

    • Anon

      Did you post previously about the architect who kept missing details in plan revisions? If this is you, I’m sorry your process has been such a hassle!

      The threshold question for me is whether what you asked for could be achieved for your budget, irrespective of the pandemic. There’s only so many places in design that costs can be cut – if your requirements for the project are [whatever – new bedrooms, baths, basement, etc] and that costs $X00k, it is what it is. The architect and the builders you got quotes from should be able to tell you, “Hey, this would have cost A before the pandemic, but with everything going on now, it’s B.” But it doesn’t sound like that’s what’s going on here – if the architect gave you a plan that meets your requirements, you’re not going to magically have $200k-$300k of “extras” that he can just edit out.

    • Anon

      I’m encountering this right now on a smaller project, but likewise about 50% greater than the upper end of what I’d prepared for. I think it’s just the current normal along with long lead times.

    • Bonnie Kate

      I’d be super irritated, because how are you supposed to know that he doesn’t actually have a clue? Your reaction is super reasonable.

      I also am glad you posted because so many people think that architects and engineers are good people to get advice from when it comes to costs, and in my experience they just are not at all. If you want to get costs on things, talk to people who really do the work and buy the material. Architects and engineers are excellent at designing and specifying things but because they very rarely actually buy the things/put together bids they’re just not good at estimating costs. This counts both in residential and industrial. In my professional work (industrial projects), I work with a lot of professional engineers and projects that have architects. They are required to put together budgetary numbers. The good engineers will tell you that these are guesses, hopefully based on conversations with actual suppliers – but even then general contractors/labor is a wild card. One of the big projects that I have slated for 2022 is on hold right now because it came in double (like $10 million+) more than the original engineer estimate that they did all the funding based on and now they have to redo all the funding. It’s a mess, and there were a bunch of highly paid, experienced engineers and architects planning that project for 2 years prior.

      So yeah, you’re not alone. That doesn’t help you at this point. I absolutely believe that prices are going to come down; I’d have some conversations with one or two of the bids you were most comfortable with and explain the situation (heck I’d explain it exactly how you explained it here – architect told us it would be $300k, obviously it’s not that and we understand it’s not your fault our expectations were off) and ask how much they expect supply prices to come down. You could also ask them if there are some particular items that are causing the pricing to really spike. As a contractor project manager who bids, I’d be happy to have the conversation with you. I’m going to be a less happy to put together 20 different cost saving options on paper (because that’s a lot of time for me), so it’s very helpful to only ask for deducts you’re really serious about.

    • Anon

      Your architect should have a general idea what it costs to build. I worked with an architect to build an addition and the bids we received were in line with his expectation. This was pre-Covid.

    • Anon

      I’m an architect so am definitely biased here, but I’d say that as a profession, our involvement with and knowledge of construction costs can vary widely. Architects who manage the bid processes and administer construction contracts for their work often have an excellent understanding of costs. Architects who work in environments where they don’t do so (often because a local permitting process lets them hand off drawings to a contractor and never revisit things during construction) may really have no idea. A $10k fee on a $300,000 project feels quite low to me so I wonder how full-service this particular architect is.

      The market truly is crazy right now. That said, your architect does have an obligation (professionally, and also under the AIA contract…) to make revisions to bring your project in on budget. I try to view initial bids as learning tools, not final verdicts, and work to use the new information to make needed adjustments. The architect should look at the bids for items that were high and propose alternates, understand where their drawings were unclear and drove costs up, etc. I’d also ask to see comparable projects and their costs so that you can get a sense of whether waiting say six months or so until things calm down might knock 20% off the numbers.

  4. Lola

    This looks like a good idea! I use stain remover spray all the time, would be nice to not have to keep buying a new container

  5. Anon

    The ingredients are listed as “Coconut-based Vegetable Soap (Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Organic Cocos Nucifera Oil, Water)”

    Maybe it’s as great as they say and we should be using “straight up soap” on laundry stains more often?

    • Anon

      That’s pretty much what I do. Dawn dish detergent works on most of my stains, with exception of berries, which just need hot water, immediately. I’m pretty ecofriendly, but I don’t believe in buying lots of extra products. I buy big old jugs of vinegar, big boxes of baking soda, and Dawn, and that’s mostly it for cleaning- that’s way more environmentally friendly than a bunch of different bottles of specialty products you don’t end up using, even if they claim to be ecofriendly. Just get stuff that works and stick with it.

    • Anon

      You actually can use regular soap or Dawn/dishwashing detergent for stains. A lot of specialized products are an excuse to sell more stuff.

      • Anon

        I pretty much only use Dawn for stains. I keep it by my laundry basket rather than by the washer, in case this hot tip helps anyone. I treat as soon as I take off the garment.

  6. Pants Anon

    Who has great recs for BASIC black/navy/gray pants? Heading back to business casual office soon and my current pants situation is rough. I used to go strictly to Loft for this, but my most recent try-ons from there were bad…they only had side zip, no pocket pants that were one step above leggings. I just tried the Vince Camuto pants (NAS) but those were baggy and frumpy with a high(er) waist. ON pixie pants also leave me sad after a few washes.

  7. Anonymous

    Any good books similar to Red White and Royal Blue? Not the authors next book it was bad

    • Anonymous

      What did you like about it? M/m romance? The sarcastic hot shot voice of the hero? The romcom bits? The “discovery of a new part of myself through union with someone new” trope?

    • Allie

      Yes! Royal We, Eligible, The Selection, From the Corner of the Oval (though I found this one a bit inadvertently sad).

      • Anon

        Yeah I wouldn’t say From the Corner of the Oval is similar to Red, White and Royal Blue at all except in the fact that they both involve presidential administrations. The former is depressing and not a light and fluffy rom-com at all and I was so frustrated with the main character’s series of terrible decisions.

    • Anonymous

      Try K J Charles, who does Regency style M/M romance with great historical detail, snark and romance. Some are Regency, some are more historical fantasy, some are post WW1, all UK based. Also – massive bonus – some of them are M/M romance with non-white heroes, well researched and believably done. I don’t like the fantasy ones (Magpie series) as much, but some are very nice, sort of M/M Jane Austen.

    • Anan

      Try the House in the Cerulean Sea. Not a rom-com, but definitely has strong rom com elements, and absolutely delightful read.

    • Senior Attorney

      So funny! I’m reading that next book (One Last Stop) right now (not sure how I stumbled across it) and loving it!

  8. SF

    Has anyone joined the networking group Chief? Is it worthwhile/worth the fee? I would mostly join to hopefully help with my biz development (I work at a comms agency). Any thoughts welcome.

    • Anonymous

      I interviewed (with) them two weeks ago. It’s new in my city and quite pricey given that. I may see if my employer will reimburse the cost later, but this wasn’t a good time for me to approach them about it.

  9. anon

    Today’s a day when I’ve had to send several exceedingly polite eff-you emails. In one case, I got what I was ultimately asking for. So why do I wonder if I’m the a-hole when I do this kind of thing so infrequently? I have this knee-jerk reaction to being perceived as difficult or unlikeable. I would truly love to let go of this mindset.

    • Anon

      Own the a-hole. I’m so sick of feeling like I need to apologize for asking people to do their jobs, or for everything for that matter.

  10. Vicky Austin

    AAAAAUUUUUUGH, I hate job postings that give you sneaky little tests “to see if you follow directions!” Does anybody else feel like those are weird?

    • MechanicalKeyboard

      I haven’t seen such postings, that I know of, but I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s probably a good weeding-out technique that goes both ways. I would definitely fail those tests and I would definitely not want to work at a place that thinks they’re a good idea.

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