This is not another useless plush toy.
This is a cute plushie with a clear purpose (which is more than what many of us Gen-Ys / Millennials can say).
It is a door stop by design and potentially, your doggy’s best friend (or enemy).
Notice how it stands erect on duty with a noble sense of purpose.
The Problem
We have a door on the balcony that opens outwards towards the balcony and will slam shut if we leave it open unattended. We’ve never had a good solution for it and have spent the past 3 years living with a variety of compromises.
We’ve tried everything from silicone door handle stoppers that are designed to hold a door in place, a McGyver type solution involving bicycle chains, a 3m long aluminium laundry pole, to an IKEA rubbish bin weighed down by bricks.
The silicone door handle stoppers worked until the silicone broke off due to exposure to the elements.
The McGyver type solution worked but it was terribly unsightly and became something of a non-solution when the bicycle chain started to rust because of accumulated moisture from the rain.
We do not wish to risk indescribable feelings of shame and bring dishonor to the family by showing ugly photos of these ‘solutions’.
Here’s a picture of an IKEA rubbish bin and a sneak peak of the bicycle chain in question.
We finally settled on this cute plush duckie doorstop for the door located on the balcony.
At an approximate weight of 800g, we were initially concerned about whether the Duckie would be able to help prevent the door from slamming when encountering strong winds.
After testing it for over 1 month now, we are happy to report that the plush Duckie works as it is supposed to and there have been zero incidences of the door slamming shut while the plush duckie was deployed on duty.
It holds the door in place and prevents it from slamming when there are strong winds.
Look at how I am stress-testing the duckie by pulling on the door handle…rock a bye duckie..
We chose the Duckie design out of the many designs available in consideration of the clearance between the door and the ground.
Because the clearance of the door from the ground was approximately 30cm, we could only choose between the duckies, the giraffe or the cow which were above 30cm in height.
We settled on the Duckie because it seemed to have a larger base and a stiffer neck based on our impressions from the images seen on the Taobao shop.
Due to how the Duckie is designed, its tushy works nicely as a nice firm wedge between the door and the ground.
As the plush duckie is made out of fabric materials, there was some initial concern about how suitable it might be for use in an outdoor type setting on the balcony.
In practice, the duckie was only ever going to be used when it wasn’t raining but it will have to sit out in the sun for extended periods of the day.
In any case, I could not resist giving the duckie a nano-spray water repellent treatment just in case it ever got caught out in the rain. More on the nano-spray later in the next review.
Seeing a cute rubber plush duckie instead of an industrial styled blue IKEA rubbish bin propped up against the door definitely adds a little bit more joy to our lives. Just don’t get misled into thinking it is judging you for not having a clear purpose like it does.
Conclusion
Veraland Plush Duckie Doorstop – S$11.36
For S$11.36 I personally feel that it is well-worth the money in terms of how it solves a practical problem and looks good.
I am giving it 3.5 Carrots out of 5 because there seem to be other similarly priced options on other shopping platforms (even though they look less cute in my opinion).
However, if you want to be an absolute cheapskate, you can try collecting 1,136 Singapore 1 cent coins, put them in a plastic bag and use that as a doorstop instead.
At 1.24g per coin, this will most definitely weigh more than this cute plush duckie door stop. Good luck finding that many 1 cent coins.
Get it HERE