EASIEST way to RESTORE Cast Iron Cookware WITHOUT fancy equipment! 

Thank you, I really appreciate that! And I’m glad you can recognize how much time and effort went into making this video 🍳

Agreed. So much good information in his videos and no nonsense.

🤣 thanks for watching and the support!

Whoop WHOOOOOOOP C Duuuub😎👏💯

Thank you my friend, I appreciate that greatly!

Aw thanks!

Love to hear this! Good luck on your restorations 🍳🔥

Ah man I love hearing this! Thanks for subscribing! My main platform is TikTok so if you’re on there make sure you look me up!

Get on it!

Haha welcome! Just subscribed back- I need to get on your level of subscribers!

I’ll make a video deviated to the lye bath, but you can use this over and over so you don’t have to dispose of it for a long time, but if you want to, pour vinegar in it to neutralize it and throw it on a part of your lawn you don’t like.

Hey Mike, vinegar is acidic and can eventually damage the iron. You want the cast iron in the vinegar bath long enough to remove rust but not long enough to damage the iron. Vinegar can damage the iron and affect the way it seasons after a long enough time, but it's not accumulative. Think of it like holding your breath: you can't hold your breathe for 10 minutes or you'll die but you can hold your breath for 1 minute, 10 times with no issues. Some restorers swear you can't leave cast iron in vinegar for more than even just 20 minutes, I think that's silly. Do I think you'll destroy a piece leaving it in for a few hours? Probably not but doing short soaks assures no damage will be done, especially on rare pieces.

@@cast_iron_chris thanks. So if I understand correctly, you can do as many short vinegar baths as you want and you're not running a risk of permanently damaging the iron? Followup question: I've shifted to doing a lye bath now to get rid of the crud, and vinegar like you say just for the rust. I just did a Wagner Ware #10 that had a HUGE rust circle on the bottom when I first took it out of vinegar. The rust scrubbed right off though! I think I put it through 3 rounds of vinegar and on the 3rd one, there was no more rust, but I didn't scrub all the dark discoloration away. (I thought as long as all the rust was gone, that was all that really mattered.) When I seasoned that pan there was a big spot that was totally a different color. Did I mess up? Is there still more rust in there that I didn't get? Or do I just need to do a better job scrubbing off the discoloration? Or does it just happen sometimes after a pan has had that much rust, and everything's fine and I just have to live with that spot being a bit lighter color? (And what DOES happen if you don't get all the rust out but then you reseason the pan and start using it? Will the remaining rust continue to grow like a cancer? Or does proper seasoning prevent more rust from forming and more or less make the pan safe for years to come, until the next time somebody strips it down to bare iron?) I'm toying with either reselling this piece or giving it to a family member, so I'd really like to know beforehand if it's safe to give them as is, or if I should re-strip it and start over... Thanks

Lye is also used as a drain cleaner, so you could just put it down the drain. My check out my “how to build a lye bath” for all the details, including how I dispose of it.

Out of interest, as a chemist, I looked up the safety data sheet on purple power. I wouldn't get it on my hands either if possible. Manufacturer says it is pH 12.5 (very alkaline) and contains 1-5% of both sodium silicate and diethylene glycol dibutyl ether. But is an interesting alternative.

@@Rockhunter329 This is very interesting that you knew to do this. Here's a good comparison PPower vs Awesome at any Dollar Store. I need to soak one in Awesome, both are good cleaners but not so great when it comes to mouthwash. This will also make sense, I soaked a test piece of aluminum in PPower for 3ish weeks and it does start eating away at the aluminum. The only thing that works well on aluminum is leaving it where ya find it. Hats off to the aluminum guys, I won't be driving up the price.

@@turdferguson5300 You can a SDS on about every commercial product. But if something is in there at

Hey Ethan, thanks for following! Email me some pics so I can get a better idea of what you’re talking about. CastIronChris88@gmail.com

The first rounds of a resto I don’t heat up the pan. Generally, all the rounds after, I apply oil to a warm pan.

@@cast_iron_chris Ok cheers, I’ll go with a cold oil first round then. Chemicals arriving tomorrow.

Hi! You can use Easy Off oven cleaner, but that also contains lye. I’m curious, why do you want to avoid lye? Or is it that you want to avoid making a lye bath? Electrolysis is also a fantastic method but is unnecessary if you just want to restore one piece.

@@cast_iron_chris We live a clean/toxin-free life as best as we could. I know that sodium hydroxide is a harmful substance. I also know that cast iron is porous. So if it can absorb water/soap, and oils, it could also absorb the lye. That raises some concern for me. 😕

@@Neetz422 Hi! I'm a soapmaker, which means that I regularly work with sodium hydroxide, and I definitely understand your concern about it, but maybe I can help. 😀 NaOH (sodium hydroxide) is a chemical that neutralizes really fast when it's exposed to air and moisture. It's even used when making certain foods and snacks like lutefisk and pretzels. 😁 The lye bath that you put your cast iron skillet in is very, very caustic, and it will burn your skin and severely damage your eyes if you accidentally get it on your skin or splash it in your eyes, so you should definitely use proper protection (goggles and gloves) and make sure no kids or pets can get into the tub of lye. When the skillet is done in the bath and you have scrubbed and rinsed it, there will not be any NaOH left in any pores, and if there would be (which it won't 😜), it would not be detrimental to your health whatsoever, because the only thing that would happen is the tiiiiniest lowering of the pH of your food, even waaay less than just using a single cherry tomato in a whole pot of stew. 😜 Don't let your fear of lye residue keep you from restoring your cast iron to its original glory! 🥰 You can do it! 😁 💪 Oh, and the lye water that's left when you're done can be used as a very efficient weed killer that is completely eco friendly. Just don't spread it where you want to keep the soil healthy, because it will kill the soil's microdiversity at the exact spot where you put it. I've used it on those tufts of grass in my gravel driveway that are impossible to pull up for example. 👍

@@attesmatte Your response answered a ton of questions for me. Thank you so very much!

@@slhemp3556 I'm so glad I could help! 😀👍

Geeeeeeeently pour it down your sewage drain, preferably in small batches to aid against splashing. Wear ALL PROTECTIVE gear including quality eyewear protection and durable chemical resistant gloves.

When I dump mine, I'll probably first neutralize with citric acid. Be sure to use lots of water afterwards as there's lots of sludge if you've used it for long.

I know you didn’t ask me, but I followed his instructions with some ancient pans I was restoring, and a couple of them ended up spending 2 weeks in the lye bath. Since he said it doesn’t damage them, I just checked on them/scrubbed them down every 2-3 days and in the end they turned out great.

Let em soak. They won't go bad in there so the longer the better

You can keep using the lye bath over and over for a long time. When you do decide to dispose of it, I like to pour vinegar in it to neutralize it and I toss it in the corner of my yard.

I periodically bake my cast iron at 425ish for one hour, I use avocado oil for the seasoning oil. I set the oven timer for 1 hour plus whatever I think is needed for preheat. The oven timer will automatically shut off when done. I just let it/them cool in the oven over night. My absolute favorite at the moment is an old Wagner 9" skillet that I found at an overpriced "antique" store. It doesn't have the heat ring but it cooks better than anything else I have!

After an hour turn the heat off and let the pan cool down in the oven as it cools down. That part usually takes just as long or longer than the seasoning part. Then hit with a tiny bit of oil, grab a paper towel and try to wipe as much of that oil away as if it shouldn't be there. And then you're good.

In this case- aesthetics. If that was in the cooking surface, you definitely want to get it off.

Probably won’t be “ready” until the fall. Have you seasoned cast iron before?

Working on stripping 6 skillets now and will be seasoning them soon! I actually emailed you and will be sending you some pictures tonight as they are being stubborn.

it looked like a bees wax had a bee on the container

I’m not sure what you mean by a waxy coating? You said brand new, like store bought brand new? If so I personally wouldn’t anything, just use it. And make sure you watch my “how to season” video here you RU-vid.

Not super important, but generally if I’m trying to crank it out, I’ll let it cool down just enough to safely touch it then oil it up for the next of seasoning.

Hey pal, sorry for just seeing this! Shoot me some pics on Instagram or email me castironchris88@gmail.com

If you’re done with the vinegar bath, towel dry it and get it oiled up for the first round of seasoning, then put it in the oven whenever you’re ready. So essentially, oil it up and it won’t flash rust.

Either of those will work

Did you even watch the video?

You seem nice. @@ZonalJump97

Right now I’m currently using SOS pads

Watch my recent video!

@@cast_iron_chris I can’t see the video :( what’s it called?

It’s used as a drain cleaner, so yes. But a lot of gunk sits at the bottom so I usually neutralize with vinegar and dump it in the corner of my yard. But they last a long time, so you don’t have to dump after stripping just one pieces. I keep mine for quite a long time.

@@cast_iron_chris I just soaked my cast iron for like 3 days. One of them still has a thick layer of old seasoning inside the skillet. I cleaned it off as best as I could, do I just let it soak in the lye so more and try again in another day or so?

Try using grade 1 or 2, don’t press down Tok hard at first, and see how you make out.

5%

Hey Cody, were these restoration or did you get them new, pre seasoned?

One specifically is my field. I seasoned it 3 times right out of the box, and another one was a "restoration" but I used a wire wheel (before I came across your tik tok lol) but it is a lodge

@@codybennetch3612 email me some pics so I can get a better idea: castironchris88@gmail

Besides the initial chemical reaction between the lye and water(minor) there are no fumes with the lye bath. Leave it there for years if you’d like.

I have seen videos where they do it similar to this, plus electrolysis tanks as well.

high density polyethylene or polypropylene, plastic tubs and things usually are marked with a number inside of a triangle

Can damage the cast iron and affect the way it seasons

Granny Clampett makes all her special recipes in cast iron with lye. It gives her medicine jug that unique bouquet. You'll have to find your own bear grease for lye soap renderin'.

That’s a Wagner homie, not a Griswold.