Everybody knows fresh chicken eggs must be washed. The debate remains on whether to wash them as soon as you collect them or whether you should wait until you use them. The other - newest debate - is whether to use soap and water or the new egg wipes from MannaPro.
Now if you're like me, you don't wash the eggs when you collect them unless they are soiled. You know the poultry eggs have their own protective coating and that when you wash the eggs you are essentially washing that coating off. Soiled eggs are another matter however. After all you don't want something dirty in your refrigerator. Instead of washing the entire egg when this happens, I gently wash the soiled area, leaving the rest of the egg alone.
In the past, I have used moist paper towels to clean the soiled eggs with - then I came across these Wipe 'N Wash Egg Cleansing Towelettes from ProManna and decided to give them a try. I liked them because they are compostable. They are are made with plant-derived cleaners and thus I knew I would not be introducing chemical contaminants to the shell of the eggs which could end up being absorbed into the eggs through the eggs pores. I also liked the idea they were compostable. Since we do not have trash pick-up, these wipes would be one less thing for me to have to figure out how to dispose of.
I also like the fact that the wipes are made with recycled paper. Another plus. Each towel cleans up to one dozen eggs - and while it is true I generally do not use a dozen eggs at one time, I could put a partially soiled wipe (depending on how badly it was soiled) into a ziplock bag or small sealed container and re-use it. This would certainly prevent the wipes from being wasted.
I liked how thick the wipes were - they didn't tear when I used them even though I was rather rough with them. I also thought the size was very nice. They are close to the size of a dish rag which - in my opinion - is a great size. There are 25 towellettes in a container - so if you have a lot of chickens this may not be practical at all. However, since I have just four hens now these towelettes are ideal.
Will I ever go back to using just soap and water? Maybe - should I get more hens or should money become tight. The towelettes are convienent and I could take them into the chicken coop with me - unlike soap and water (since I would also need a rinse bucket - and this could be inconvient) - and I like the idea I could clean the eggs (if necessary) before putting them into my egg collecting basket.
The final choice is up to each individual person, but - in all honestly - I can see where these Wipe 'N Wash Egg Cleansing Towelettes have a place in every home where there are fresh poultry eggs.