By Lora Kroush, staff writer
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Opal Whaley has an extensive collection of homemade soaps waiting for a home.
“Shop local.” “Homemade is best.” These things are heard all the time regarding small town businesses and crafts. Some people sew or quilt and sell it online, others like to make decorative wall hangings. For Opal Whaley, 75, Altamont, her hobby is crafting ornate soaps.
Whaley has been making her own soap for a little over a year now. After undergoing back surgery, she couldn’t do much physically on their small farm. To keep herself busy, she read about making homemade soap bars and took it up as a new hobby.
“It’s addictive,” Whaley said. “You can do so many different things with the patterns, molds, oils and stuff.”
Whaley has created a wide variety of scents and styles for her bars. She starts with the basic ingredients – water, lye, lard and/or aloe – then personalizes the bars with scents and embellishments. Essential oils, homegrown herbs, glitter, pigments, shea butter, even olive oil are just a few materials she has used to spice up her soaps. Whaley has special molds to give the bars unique shapes. She even shaves or carves patterns into the bars to further personalize them.
These soaps are for more than just washing hands. Whaley personally uses her bars as a shampoo or bodywash substitute. She sometimes shaves the bars with a potato peeler or grater and tosses the shavings in the washing machine to wash her clothes in her favorite scents.
“I don’t waste any of it,” Whaley said.
Whaley now shares her delectable soaps with the neighborhood. Cost ranges from one to three dollars depending on the size or customizations of the soap. For more information on customizations and purchases, call 816-718-9223.