West Virginians once made soap from ashes and meat scraps—and it could take your skin off
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Long before bottles of detergent and wrapped bars of soap became fixtures in West Virginia homes, some families made a cleaning agent from two things they already had—wood ashes and leftover animal fat. According to an account by late Parkersburg journalist Cordelia Moellendick, preserved in volume 11 of the W.Va. Heritage Encyclopedia, … Read more