How To Clean Cast Iron Of Rust

Putting your pan in the dishwasher is one great way to cause it to rust and remove all that hard earned extremely helpful seasoning.

How to clean cast iron of rust. To do so submerge your entire pan in a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and water. Rinse under warm water. Wash your cookware with dish soap and a stiff bristle dish brush but don t soak it. Next cut a potato in half and place one of the cut sides of the potato face down on the skillet. If there are any stubborn rust stains remaining you can spray them with oven cleaner wrap the entire kettle in a heavy duty plastic garbage bag seal the end off with tape and let sit overnight.

You can place it on the stovetop on low heat for a few minutes to make sure it s completely dry. Depending on how much rust there is on the stove use either steel wool for smaller spots or a wire scraper for leverage when cleaning larger areas. Take it back to the burner and turn on. Take safety precautions removing surface rust from a cast iron stove is easy to do but repairing a stove that has already been significantly weakened by rust or succumbed to it entirely in the form of gaping holes is another matter entirely. Then scrape with wire brush repeat the salt and oil method and you re set.

Don t be afraid to use a little drop of soap if needed and feel free to use a sponge or dish brush to help you scrape off any stuck on food. But for cast iron with a thick layer of rust you ll need to remove the seasoning entirely. To clean rust off of cast iron sprinkle a thick layer of salt over the surface of the cast iron pan. This will remove all of the seasoning and return it to the bare iron. Use the potato to scrub the salt over the skillet to remove the rust.

To get rust off a cast iron stove or tub use a little bit of vinegar and something to scrub away the rust. Always wash your cast iron pan by hand. But when your cast iron needs a refresh follow this dry cleaning method. Work up a sudsy scrub and keep at it until you re down to raw cast iron. Completely dry your cast iron skillet with a paper towel or lint free cloth.

Rinse the skillet with water and then scour it with a small amount of dish soap and fine steel wool. Rinse your cast iron kettle clean with warm water. Fortunately removing surface rust from a cast iron stove is a relatively straightforward project.