Cast Iron Restoration Hobby

[Alan]

Well, this is a good news for me. People are getting into restoring old rusty pan... like soaking, scrubbing, and re-seasoning them to like-new. I've been seeing a lot of video tutorials on YouTube and Facebook. They are very satisfying, affordable hobby, and saves old iron from the scrap heap but it’s a messy, time-consuming hobby, and takes trial and error to get the perfect black patina. How about you, what have you been seeing in social media about Cast Iron restorations?

 

[badGamer]

I have seen that many social media postss about cleaning old cast iron show different methods besides using vinegar and a wire brush. Some people use car batteries with electrolysis to remove rust while others try lye baths to take off old seasoning faster.

 

[night game]

Actually, sime people are sharing tips that are useful because many of these pans are very old and still work well once they are cleaned.

 

[BubblyCat]

Many posts show the before and after photos that highlight the change but skip the long cleaning work. I also noticed that they are giving advice on how to keep the pan in good shape, such as using flaxseed oil or adding a light coat of oil after each use.

 

[timtamtim078]

The best one I have seen was bringing something old back to life instead of buying new.

 

[MaisonF]

I have restored dozens of old pans using the EZ-clean oven cleaner spray method. Messy, time consuming, costly at $4.00 a can and often needed 1-2 cans per item. I finally broke down and made a lye bath with a deep plastic bin and a 1lb box of lye powder from Walmart. WOW, what a difference. Drop the nasty pan into the bath, come back in a day or two with a nylon brush. If anything sticks, drop it back in for another day, done. Total time cleaning after the lye bath is like 5 minutes. And my lye bath has done probably 8 pieces already.

Anyone doing the oven cleaner spray for more than 1 or 2 items, please make a lye bath and make your life easy.

For anything rusty, get another bin and do the 50:50 Vinegar bath. Same technique, but less time for the vinegar soak. 1/2 day, little scrub, repeat until all rust is gone. With these 2 restoration techniques I can clean up the nastiest skillet with maybe 10 minutes of actual work. Skip the grinder, skip the sand paper, a stiff brush and maybe a stainless steel wool pad for any stubborn bits, and you will be restoring like a pro with zero need for power tools or abrasives.

Regrettably I didn't get a before photo of one of my recent finds. Next time I do a crusty pan I'll get a before and after pic and post it.