FIVE QUESTIONS for ‘Sudster’ Leah Sage

together and reduce violent crime. We wish we shared her optimism. Meanwhile, in Kim Gardner’s second contempt hearing of the week (dun dun): Judge Mike Noble blasts the Circuit Attorney’s Office as a “rudderless ship of chaos” and instantly proves he has a better way with words than anyone in St. Louis journalism. The headlines Noble garners are good news for Andrew Bailey, who has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in court — his attempts to enact a new “emergency order” on trans care are rejected by judges in two different courts

FRIDAY, APRIL 28 Kim Gardner wants a new judge in the quo warranto case seeking to remove her from office (she doesn’t explain why, but she doesn’t have to). Meanwhile, thanks to the departure of Assistant Circuit Attorney Alex Polta, she’s now down to just three pros- ecutors in violent crimes. When your local alt-weekly has more editors than the city has violent crimes prosecutors, you know you’re in trouble. legit. It wasn’t until March of 2021 that an order popped up. It said “five bags, estimated at $100,” and I was like OK, I’m gonna give this a try. That first order ended up being like seven contractor bags full of clothes. They were so heavy I could barely lift them; it was almost 300 pounds of laundry. Sudshare charges $1 a pound. I ended up making about $240 off of that one order, and then I was hooked.

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 At 10 a.m. on this beautiful spring morning, a 69-year-old county man allegedly shoots a 21-year-old to death on the MetroLink. Police charge him with second-degree murder. Whatever happened to the idea that people age out of crime?

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 The federal government is now hiring stoners, or in the words of the New York Times, “significantly relaxing drug screening rules as agencies struggle to replenish the ranks of a rapidly aging workforce in a tight job market.” Maybe next they’ll let legit cannabis businesses access the banking system? Also: RIP Mike Shannon. The Cardinals great was 83. As Benjamin Hochman writes in the Post-Dispatch, “The crack of the bat, the crackle of KMOX and the cackle of Shannon’s laugh were summer soundtracks, soliloquies and lullabies.” Meanwhile, Shannon’s beloved Cards are now 10-19 and last in the NL Central. Isn’t it time to win one for the Moon Man?

Do you wash all this at home or go to a laundromat?

I typically take it to a laundromat just so I can get it done quicker. Then I bring it home and fold it.

How much time do you think you spend on this?

Well, now I have a day job, so I’ve been doing it a little bit less. But whenever I was doing it more, I would say I was probably spending like 25 hours a week on it.

How much have you made so far?

Since I started, I’ve made $14,000. But there are people who make way more than me who have more time.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever come across in someone’s laundry?

Leah Sage came across an interesting new app on Facebook three years ago. The app, SudShare, boasted that “sudsters” could make up to $20 per hour by washing strangers’ laundry. Sage gave it a chance. She’s since turned the app into a lucrative, yet sometimes messy, side gig.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you become a “sudster”?

I downloaded SudShare to my phone about three years ago, but I didn’t do anything with it for a few months. I didn’t know if it was

One time there was dog poop in an order. I just rewashed it and had to wash out my machine and stuff. Now I know not to take that person’s order again. I can’t deal with that again! I’ve also had moldy laundry, like someone got their clothes wet, and it sat too long. Technically people aren’t supposed to give us anything unsanitary, but it’s kind of up to the sudster whether they’ll wash it or not. But sometimes sudsters just do it. So anytime I’ve had something [nasty], I usually just finish the order.

I worked at Plato’s Closet for seven years and had to go through people’s clothes there, so I was kind of already used to going through stuff and finding not-so-clean things. But for the most part, it’s been totally fine.

—Monica Obradovic