Soak for two weeks? Using patience to restore the pots and pan, I never would have thought that the important detail to restore cast iron is patience. Thank you for this posting this effort!
@farminghowto you really only need to wait overnight, like 24 hours for the vinegar to work! Just don't dilute it with any water! Just use white vinegar and it will take that rust right off in 24 hours usually.
I just restored a cast iron honey pot. 100% vinegar and some baking soda for a month. Then sanded by hand. Then the same solution for another month. Then mini wire wheels on a drill with extension. The pot was to small to fit a hand inside. Drying now. Gonna season with grapeseed oil 3 times 450*. 60 minutes each run. Darn thing almost looks new. Has to be 80 years old
Wow now I feel bad for throwing my mom skillet out that was starting to rust a little and it wasn’t no where near rusty like this. I bought a new one. That skillet was older then me! You’ve done an amazing job with these skillets!
Thank You! Believe me, I have passed up a lot of cast iron because I did not know that I could save it. Now I am testing this process on removing rust from metal and old farm tools. Thanks for taking the time to post, I really appreciate it.
Love this! I had a bunch of my dads tools, hacksaws, axes etc that were so rusty! I used this method and they look brand new! He would be so proud! Thank you!
Hey and thank you tremendously‼️this truly works, we are 11 days in and everything you said came to pass. Our huge container of water looks just like yours and my 8 year old has enjoyed what looks like a daily science project in the water. As our 2 weeks are quickly approaching, my only hesitation is sticking my hands in the water to take the pots out😩🤣thank you so much as I almost lost hope and was ready to toss my severely rusted and beloved cast iron collection❤️
Thank you for sharing and I love the fact that your little one is having fun...that's a great memory being made. Next time I will use gloves because the smell of rust can stay on your hand for a few hours. Blessings to you and your family.
So glad I found this! I just found about 8 pans buried in the yard by an old shop. Had tried the course salt and vinegar scrub tech but these are SOOO rusty it didn't make much difference. Gonna try this method then follow up detailing the other way! THANK YOU ❤❤❤
@@farminghowto worked like a charm reseasoned and hanging in my pantry now. Only had 1 that I gave up on.... couldn't seem to keep the rust from coming back.
Thank you for sharing 🙏🏽 my Dutch oven has some rust and this is the simplest best video I have found about how to fix it. I oiled it and put it away for a few months and pulled it out for winter and the inside is rusty 😢
Thanks Selena for sharing and I appreciate your kind words. Another channel member also mentioned using grapeseed oil to help season the cast iron after cleaning them. Thanks again for posting
@@jesv4026you rinse out the 50/50 vinegar and water mixture with warm water. Throw baking soda on it while it's still get, you hear a sizzle and it'll bubble a little bit. Use a chain steel product to scrub it down. Then rinse it again, dry it clean, put it in the oven or stove for 10 minutes to get out all the moisture. Then season it.
Vinegar will definitely work but one way to try when you have a lot of pans is get a good fire going outside and chunk them in the fire. Give em about 10 minutes and pull them out. Pour some used cooking oil on them. They'll start to smoke and then catch fire. Let em burn out and wipe with a rag careful not to get burned. They'll be like brand new every time. My grandma was a collector of cast iron and the old school way works amazing.
While that definitely does work, it’s also risky. If the pan doesn’t heat up evenly, it can warp beyond repair. I find a lot of pans in antique stores that have suffered this fate. We call them spinners, because the bottom always warps outwards and causes the center to bulge, which then makes the pan spin on a flat surface instead of sitting solidly. Most serious collectors that I’m aware of basically won’t touch a spinner. I’m just a cook, not a collector, but a spinner is pretty much useless to me as well. So please consider less violent means of stripping a pan.
Good job you have a good shot at doing this right! this is a great video man you really did a good job. I would be surprised to hear you edited this yourself
Thanks James for such an awesome compliment. I edited my very first RU-vid video in December 2022. Threw myself into the learning curve and tried to get better. Yes Sir! I edited this video...thanks again.
Looks pretty good. Should make a great using set once you get it all seasoned. Be aware that vinegar's acetic acid can eat into the good iron too. Diluting vinegar with water will work slower but be less likely to do damage to the good iron. I forgot a piece in an undiluted vinegar bath once and it did some acid damage to it. At least it was a cheap imported griddle. Learned not to soak iron for more than a few minutes and then scrub and repeat. Keeps me out of trouble caused by forgetting them.
Thanks for your enthusiasm. I only used one gallon of vinegar in a medium sized storage bin. Then I filled it with water. Did not know vinegar was that strong. Have fun with it
The danger with cast iron in vinegar is putting the surfaces with the acid in the vinegar. The vinegar will do more damage than the rust did. Soak it a couple hours at most and get scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad.
I only used one gallon of vinegar and simply added water. I filled an 18 gallon bin about 3/4 full. I am still experimenting and having fun. Blessings to you
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I just uploaded a new video about how I seasoned the cast iron with vegetable oil on the grill...lol. Thanks again
Thanks a lot for posting. Just out of curiosity and for future projects, what seasoning method has worked best for you, if you don't mind sharing. Thanks
@@farminghowto OLIVE OIL , IT smokes AT HIGH TEMP ABOVE 400, one hour in the oven and let it cool down in the oven nice and slow, has worked best for me, I have a small cast-iron pan that I need a restore and also a cast-iron griddle but this time I’m going to try out the method used in this video. Thanks for sharing.
Great.. Great question and because I am a complete amateur, I just added one gallon of white vinegar to the tug of water. Considering how strong vinegar is perhaps more water was better. I was completely surprised. Thamks for replying
Never thought about that but that is a great idea. It's amazing how many great ideas we all can come up with and I love the feedback on this channel. I haven't been fishing in a long time but I must add this to the channel list of things to try. I appreciate the post
Do you know what manufacturers made some of those skillets? Some are large without any helper handle so i was interested if any were Griswold, Wagner, or BS&R?
Great question! No Griswold or BS&R but I do have several Wagner pieces. One SK#5 with a letter (D) on the bottom. One Essential Traditional CastIron (No Clue). One Dutch Oven #8 with no name on it. Several with no name on the bottom with a raised ring. Thanks for the posting and I look forward to your feedback because you sound very knowledgeable.
@farminghowto I'm certainly not an expert on vintage cast iron especially when they have limited markings on the bottom lol. When they have the heat ring on bottom with little notches missing at the 9, 12, and 3 o'clock positions that is a Lodge one notch at 12 o'clock is also a Lodge. I don't know how to identify unmarked Griswold & Wagner. Some people say BS&R cast can be identified by the underside of the handle I think it has a distinctive ridge in it. Anyway you did good.
Test different amounts predicated upon what you are trying to clean. One bottle of vinegar diluted goes a long way. I had no idea what I was doing when I soaked the cast iron in vinegar and water. I basically ignored them for two weeks
Thanks so much for the tip. I will definitely delve deeper into electrolysis...sounds interesting. Not to mention that my channel is experimental. Thanks again!
@@farminghowto No prob. I tried it myself last year on my old tools and it works. But they started to oxidize (rust) again almost immediately, so I learned to put oil on them right after. Rust paint would also work and be less messy. All you need is a plastic bin, some copper wires (I used stripped electrical wire), a piece of scrap metal (like rebar) for the positive (red) charge, and something to hang the target piece (negative charge, black) onto -- like a piece of wood with hangars or hooks -- and an old car battery. Also, salt water or a conductive liquid like water with washing soda is better. You can see it working if bubbles start to float up after you set it up. Within a few hours, it gets the rust off, then you wash the piece and paint or oil it. Chemically, it separates the oxygen from hydrogen, producing hydrogen and oxygen gas which is potentially flammable so do it outdoors. I did it and it works.
I used only one gallon of vinegar and added water in a large storage container. I am still surprised by how well this worked. I don't think you need to wait two weeks like I did.. I had a lot in castiron. Thank you for posting
I am not sure I had to leave them setting for two weeks but they were very rusty. You may not have to leave them in the vinegar and water that long. Thanks for posting and good luck to you
Good Day! I used one gallon of vinegar in a large storage container and filled with water. I didn't want to dilute the vinegar too much bit vinegar is strong. You could probably reuse after your first try. Thanks for posting...blessings to you.
I was shocked to get all of these from an older lady having a garage sale for only $45. She just did not want them anymore and at the time I did not know how I was going to clean them.
OMG! Trying this on weights is a wonderful idea. I only used one gallon of vinegar and filled the container with water. You could test it out in a medium size container and test the results. In my second video I used an 18 gallon container with one gallon of vinegar. Thanks for sharing...good luck to you
How do you get rid of the taste? I bought a new cast iron and didn't use it for a while. But when I used it a couple of times recently, the food tasted iron/metaly. I tried washing well but still tasted metal.
Good Day! I was experimenting and I only used one gallon of vinegar along with a large storage bin. I had no idea the results would be so great. Thanks for posting
That was not a dumb question...very intelligent actually. I will keep you posted if anything abnormal occurs...like rust appearing again. Great question
I only used one gallon of vinegar and I think the tub was an 18 gallon container. It is amazing how strong vinegar is. Vinegar and water are great for cleaning windows also.
That is a very interesting question. I would like to think so, but I am not sure if the part of the vehicle in question is going to be removed and placed into the vinegar and water.