Laundry Detergent

DALLAS - Miniature laundry detergent packets arrived on store shelves in recent months as an alternative to bulky bottles. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored packets with candy and swallowing them. Nearly 250 cases have been reported this year to poison-control centers. Though they remain a tiny fraction of the thousands of poisoning calls received every year, doctors are concerned. The symptoms they see in connection with ingesting the packets - such as nausea and breathing problems - are more severe than typical detergent poisoning.

Police have identified suspects in the shooting of a West Philadelphia grocery store clerk Tuesday night but have not been able to interview the victim because he has been in surgery and heavily sedated. The 35-year-old man is expected to recover, Lt. John Walker said yesterday. The gunman walked into the Ventura Papi grocery store, at 58th Street and Washington Avenue, and asked the employee to lead him to where the laundry detergent was stored, police said. When the employee turned toward the back of the store, the robber opened fire, striking the man in the lower back and an arm, police said.

A tiny Philadelphia company thinks it can make a tidy profit in the 25-billion-washload-a-year liquid-laundry-detergent business, a battlefield dominated by Procter & Gamble Co. and other titans of industry. The company, Cot'nWash Inc., is small, indeed. There's a chief executive, Jonathan Propper; a chief financial officer, Thomas Crawford; and a brand manager, Remy Wildrick. There's also an administrative assistant, and two others who are still students at the Wharton School.

Their brand new labor contract was just two weeks old when workers at the Dial Corp. plant here were told management was closing the facility. The deal would have continued a half-century of laundry detergent production at the plant for four more years. But on Wednesday, Dial announced it would close the plant, leaving 100 employees - some of whom had worked there for more than three decades - facing possible unemployment. Speaking outside the plant yesterday, workers said they were shocked and disappointed, but still optimistic about their prospects in a tight labor market.

'TO BE OR NOT TO BE' ONE OF 3 JAILHOUSE HAMLETS They built scenery, tailored stage costumes and acquired a human skull from a medical school - all to produce Hamlet, Poland's first play staged in prison. Inmates at Opole prison in southwestern Poland recently performed for their families, students and regional government members in the play by William Shakespeare. The cast included 11 male and three female performers, with Hamlet played by three prisoners in relay.

OK, so I was annoyed. My husband, Scott, took the grocery list and came back with the wrong stuff. Again. I had detailed every little item down to the aisle in which he would find the julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes. And still we wound up with the wrong stuff, forgotten apples, and no Paul Newman dressing for the salad. Then Scott went to Target with my organized list detailed down to the brand name, color, quantity and aisle where he could find each item. What did he bring home?

Twentysomethings think I, as a Social Security recipient, am a greedy geezer. They argue that since they, as a generation, have little prospect of ever acquiring the material possessions they so greatly desire, they object to paying Social Security taxes to subsidize the income of retired people who, as they see it, are spending their government checks on luxuries such as vacation cruises to the Caribbean. Nonsense. If my wife and I had not saved during our working years and if our income came only from Social Security we would be lucky to afford a day trip to an Atlantic City casino.

Nothing in Paul Cohen's stores sells for more than $15. Ask him, and he'll tell you that little items have made him a big success. Cohen's Boothwyn-based firm, Dollar Discount Stores, specializes in taking last year's leftover merchandise and turning it into this year's profits. He buys from manufacturers the party favors, back-to-school items, Christmas cards and toys of seasons past, marks them down, and sells them. "We basically are what you call close-out buyers," said Cohen, who is president of Dollar Discount.

Jay Deakins may not have the most modern laboratory, but he knows a foolproof product-testing method when he sees one. The product in question was Deakins' new air freshener and deodorizer, and he wanted to see how well it worked. He found the answer one recent day when his wife was changing their son's diaper. "I want that," Deakins said, pointing to the dirty diaper. "You're weird," she replied as she handed it to him. The air freshener killed the smell. And a new product was born for Deakins, 26, president of the Sun & Earth Co., a fledgling King of Prussia firm that sells what Deakins says are "100 percent biodegradable" household cleaning products.

Good thing my clothes can't feel anything or talk. If they could, they'd surely berate me. I used to bathe them in nice warm water. These days, they're thrashing about in cold. From my viewpoint, it's all good. Cold water means they don't shrink, they don't fade, I save money by not using hot water, and — more to the point of this column — I'm helping the environment by not using as much electricity. According to most estimates, heating the water accounts for about 80 to 85 percent of the energy consumed by a typical batch of laundry.

DALLAS - Miniature laundry detergent packets arrived on store shelves in recent months as an alternative to bulky bottles. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored packets with candy and swallowing them. Nearly 250 cases have been reported this year to poison-control centers. Though they remain a tiny fraction of the thousands of poisoning calls received every year, doctors are concerned. The symptoms they see in connection with ingesting the packets - such as nausea and breathing problems - are more severe than typical detergent poisoning.

Good thing my clothes can't feel anything or talk. If they could, they'd surely berate me. I used to bathe them in nice warm water. These days, they're thrashing about in cold. From my viewpoint, it's all good. Cold water means they don't shrink, they don't fade, I save money by not using hot water, and — more to the point of this column — I'm helping the environment by not using as much electricity. According to most estimates, heating the water accounts for about 80 to 85 percent of the energy consumed by a typical batch of laundry.

A man in a Wegmans uniform clutching reusable shopping bags waits for a cart with eyes downcast. When it's his turn, he cruises aisles stocked with pork chops, Annie's organic macaroni and cheese, fresh milk, eggs, carrots, cannoli, and even a $20 fruit tart. When the cart's full, he and other shoppers walk out of the Lord's Pantry in Downingtown with $200 in free food, CFL lightbulbs, and laundry detergent - enough to help the suburban poor gut out another tough month. "I've been to pantries where they just put a bag in your hand," Tammy Borden says after filling her cart.

Police have identified suspects in the shooting of a West Philadelphia grocery store clerk Tuesday night but have not been able to interview the victim because he has been in surgery and heavily sedated. The 35-year-old man is expected to recover, Lt. John Walker said yesterday. The gunman walked into the Ventura Papi grocery store, at 58th Street and Washington Avenue, and asked the employee to lead him to where the laundry detergent was stored, police said. When the employee turned toward the back of the store, the robber opened fire, striking the man in the lower back and an arm, police said.

A tiny Philadelphia company thinks it can make a tidy profit in the 25-billion-washload-a-year liquid-laundry-detergent business, a battlefield dominated by Procter & Gamble Co. and other titans of industry. The company, Cot'nWash Inc., is small, indeed. There's a chief executive, Jonathan Propper; a chief financial officer, Thomas Crawford; and a brand manager, Remy Wildrick. There's also an administrative assistant, and two others who are still students at the Wharton School.

OK, so I was annoyed. My husband, Scott, took the grocery list and came back with the wrong stuff. Again. I had detailed every little item down to the aisle in which he would find the julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes. And still we wound up with the wrong stuff, forgotten apples, and no Paul Newman dressing for the salad. Then Scott went to Target with my organized list detailed down to the brand name, color, quantity and aisle where he could find each item. What did he bring home?

Their brand new labor contract was just two weeks old when workers at the Dial Corp. plant here were told management was closing the facility. The deal would have continued a half-century of laundry detergent production at the plant for four more years. But on Wednesday, Dial announced it would close the plant, leaving 100 employees - some of whom had worked there for more than three decades - facing possible unemployment. Speaking outside the plant yesterday, workers said they were shocked and disappointed, but still optimistic about their prospects in a tight labor market.

Twentysomethings think I, as a Social Security recipient, am a greedy geezer. They argue that since they, as a generation, have little prospect of ever acquiring the material possessions they so greatly desire, they object to paying Social Security taxes to subsidize the income of retired people who, as they see it, are spending their government checks on luxuries such as vacation cruises to the Caribbean. Nonsense. If my wife and I had not saved during our working years and if our income came only from Social Security we would be lucky to afford a day trip to an Atlantic City casino.

'TO BE OR NOT TO BE' ONE OF 3 JAILHOUSE HAMLETS They built scenery, tailored stage costumes and acquired a human skull from a medical school - all to produce Hamlet, Poland's first play staged in prison. Inmates at Opole prison in southwestern Poland recently performed for their families, students and regional government members in the play by William Shakespeare. The cast included 11 male and three female performers, with Hamlet played by three prisoners in relay.

Jay Deakins may not have the most modern laboratory, but he knows a foolproof product-testing method when he sees one. The product in question was Deakins' new air freshener and deodorizer, and he wanted to see how well it worked. He found the answer one recent day when his wife was changing their son's diaper. "I want that," Deakins said, pointing to the dirty diaper. "You're weird," she replied as she handed it to him. The air freshener killed the smell. And a new product was born for Deakins, 26, president of the Sun & Earth Co., a fledgling King of Prussia firm that sells what Deakins says are "100 percent biodegradable" household cleaning products.