K Bar Soap Co. is a veteran-owned soap company based in Clover, South Carolina. Owner Chris McKinney makes "natural soap for manly men" and explains that one day, the idea for creating his brand just "clicked." He says, "Every time I'd go into a store, I'd see these handmade soaps that always catered to the female side, but why is there nothing catered to men?" It was then that he decided he was going to make hand soap in the shape of grenades, and name each scent after his time in the military. He acknowledges that his product is a "tough sell" because men "usually just use whatever their wives get them." That said, customer Marshall Bruce is sold. He says, “The first time I used it, it was refreshing. It reminded me of my first shower at my house when I came home after a 15-month deployment.”
Made Here is a digital series that explores small businesses in the Carolinas.