Restoreing severely rusted cast iron skillets
I just purchased two cast iron skillets at an auction. I did not get a good look at them before I won them and discovered that both have severe rust. They are still solid and the rust seems to be surf...
Forum Discussion
Don't want to get picky, but rust is rust. Using methods for removing carbon build up will only clean the crud, not the rust. The very best way to rid a pan of rust is electrolysis. Same technique I use in cleaning rust from antique tools and machines. Car restoration is done the same, but much larger scale. Requires a non-conductive pan, I use commercial grade plastic buckets. A standard battery charger that has a 12volt and 6 to 10 amp setting. A scrap piece of sacrificial steel (I use M2 tool steel scrap) and some washing soda.
Fill the bucket with water to cover the pan being cleaned. For Dutch ovens I go three inches over the pot both upside down and right side up. Add a quarter cup of washing soda per full gallon of water. Keep the scrap iron/steel from touching the cookware. I use a cut-down piece of plastic tray grid. Keep an end of the scrap out of the water, attach the positive clip from the charger, making sure it stay out of the water (it will be eaten away if it submerges. Attach the negative lead to the pan (it can be in the water) and turn the charger on.
Very quickly you will see very fine bubbles rising from the "good" pan. If they are rising from the scrap, you have the leads reversed.
This produces hydrogen, so do it in a very well ventilated, or exhausted room.
What you are doing is replacing an electron on the rust, and breaking the "bond" with the good iron. This only works on rust, will not eat the good iron.
May take anywhere from 6 hours to six days. I cleaned an 18th century set of door hinges that had been buried in manure for probably 100 years. Took two weeks and more than a little time at 30 amps, but they came out amazingly clean and still with good detail.
When you think the pan is clean, wash with a little Dawn detergent. If you have a little cruddy spot, try a commercial scotch-brite pad and some Barkeepers Friend.
You need to force dry the pan, a very hot oven, a blow dryer, or heat gun. It will rust again immediately when exposed to the air.
If it's good early iron, it may have a "coat of black iron oxide" This can be cleaned as you season the pan.
I do about two hundred hand tools and pans every year and am totally confident in the method and the results.
Unlike abrasive methods this cleans the rust in pits, and cracks that you can not possibly get with a wheel, and does no damage to the good iron. If the surface is rough when you finish, I use a hard buffing pad and silica carbide powder to level things out, reasonably without having to re-machine the surface. This won't be perfect.
Total cost to do a single pad is less than a dollar, and the catalyzed water can be used several times before needing to be replaced.
Fill the bucket with water to cover the pan being cleaned. For Dutch ovens I go three inches over the pot both upside down and right side up. Add a quarter cup of washing soda per full gallon of water. Keep the scrap iron/steel from touching the cookware. I use a cut-down piece of plastic tray grid. Keep an end of the scrap out of the water, attach the positive clip from the charger, making sure it stay out of the water (it will be eaten away if it submerges. Attach the negative lead to the pan (it can be in the water) and turn the charger on.
Very quickly you will see very fine bubbles rising from the "good" pan. If they are rising from the scrap, you have the leads reversed.
This produces hydrogen, so do it in a very well ventilated, or exhausted room.
What you are doing is replacing an electron on the rust, and breaking the "bond" with the good iron. This only works on rust, will not eat the good iron.
May take anywhere from 6 hours to six days. I cleaned an 18th century set of door hinges that had been buried in manure for probably 100 years. Took two weeks and more than a little time at 30 amps, but they came out amazingly clean and still with good detail.
When you think the pan is clean, wash with a little Dawn detergent. If you have a little cruddy spot, try a commercial scotch-brite pad and some Barkeepers Friend.
You need to force dry the pan, a very hot oven, a blow dryer, or heat gun. It will rust again immediately when exposed to the air.
If it's good early iron, it may have a "coat of black iron oxide" This can be cleaned as you season the pan.
I do about two hundred hand tools and pans every year and am totally confident in the method and the results.
Unlike abrasive methods this cleans the rust in pits, and cracks that you can not possibly get with a wheel, and does no damage to the good iron. If the surface is rough when you finish, I use a hard buffing pad and silica carbide powder to level things out, reasonably without having to re-machine the surface. This won't be perfect.
Total cost to do a single pad is less than a dollar, and the catalyzed water can be used several times before needing to be replaced.
