Egg Yolks in Soap

I'm reviewing my very first soapmaking book for inspiration, The Handmade Soap Book by Melinda Cross. Melinda has a recipe for "Poached Egg Soap" where she adds egg yolks that have been blended with olive oil at trace. She writes, "Eggs are packed with protein and are a valuable addition to both soap and shampoo bars." She also uses microwave egg poaching dishes as her soap molds for this recipe to continue the egg theme.

I would love hearing from those of you who have experimented with eggs and soap!

I have the same book and have been wanting to do the same. My wife thinks I'm crazy to do that soap but I already have the microwave egg poaching dishes. I'm intrested to see if anyone has made that soap also.

I have never heard of this. I am very interested to see if you guys actually make this soap and what the results would be?
I have heard that egg yolks are very good for hair treatment masks, face masks. So I guess it is the same properties that are carried in the soap.

I added an egg yolk almost exactly one year ago this week to a 100% Castile soap. Since it was also the first time I had ever made a 100% Castile soap, it's unfortunately hard for me to say what, if any, benefits the yolk contributed to it. It turned out quite nice, but seeing as how I had nothing similar (but without a yolk) to compare it to, I wonder if it couldn't just have easily been as nice without the yolk, you know?

What I really need to do is make another yolk soap, but with one of my regular soap formulas instead of a formula I've never used before so I can get a better idea of what differences the yolk adds.

In any case, all went smoothly- i.e., nothing funky or unusual happened in my yolk soap. It soaped beautifully and it didn't go rancid or anything like that.

My batch was a 1.1 lb batch using 1 egg yolk. I stickblended the yolk to about 1/2 cupful of raw soap batter that I had removed from my main pot when it was at the emulsification stage, and then I poured the blended yolk/soap mixture back into the pot and finished soaping as usual with nary a problem.

The only thing I'd like to make mention of for those of you who want to try this is that when you add a yolk, make sure to remove the thin membrane that surrounds the yolk first. You don't want to add the membrane to the soap or it will add white lumps or curdles. What I did when I made mine is this: after I first separated the yolk completely intact from the white, I poked a small hole in the thin, transparent membrane that surrounds the yolk and holds it together. I then let the yolk run freely out of the hole into a cup and threw the membrane away.

HTH!
IrishLass

Excellent idea Irishlass!

Jaaret you are always coming up with terrific ideas for soap.....and I am always reading them and saying to myself...."now I have to try that"!

Where would my soaping adventure be without your input?

Tanya

I have the same book and made the Shampoo Bar with the egg yolks in it. Can't remember the name of the soap off the top of my head but it made a lovely bar - I actually use it as a shaving soap instead of shampoo. I can't comment too much on effectiveness of the yolks as I would have to make the same recipe without the yolks to compare too iykwim. But I say go for! I was scared that the soap would end up being stinky cause of the egg, but no, its great

IrishLass said:

The only thing I'd like to make mention of for those of you who want to try this is that when you add a yolk, make sure to remove the thin membrane that surrounds the yolk first. You don't want to add the membrane to the soap or it will add white lumps or curdles. What I did when I made mine is this: after I first separated the yolk completely intact from the white, I poked a small hole in the thin, transparent membrane that surrounds the yolk and holds it together. I then let the yolk run freely out of the hole into a cup and threw the membrane away.

Click to expand...

Thanks, IrishLass! Wonderful tip! You are a pro!

Jaaret, I'm glad you raised this cos I've got this book and I was going to make this recipe yesterday but I chickened out and made the vanilla delight instead So I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's input on the recipe!

Also, have you made any other recipes from the book. I've made the Oatmeal, Beeswax and Honey and the next recipe from that. The Oatmeal was lovely and lathered really well, however the second was quite slimy, and I'm wondering what it was that contributed to this. Any ideas?

Hi there,

It's funny how the cosmos works.....this was actually mentioned on another forum and here is what I learned there. It is a great addition for a shampoo bar and some people add flat beer to it as well. Egg Yolk is 9% lecithin which adds shine to the hair and you can use whole eggs for a conditioner. They also recommended using Apple Cider Vinegar. They also said that it takes about 2 weeks for your hair to adjust to this shampoo but once it has it is amazing.

HTH


Cheers
Lindy