This Old-School Cast Iron Refurbishing Method Will Give Your Thrifted Cookware New Life

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It's hard to name a piece of cookware that can stand the test of time like a good cast iron skillet. A well-cared-for cast iron is excellent for frying everything from proteins to pancakes, while imparting some health benefits straight into your food. And if you do keep this heavy-duty cookware in good condition, or find an old cast iron pan at a thrift store that's prime for restoration, it could last a lifetime. 

Regular maintenance like gentle cleaning and re-seasoning it are critical — but sometimes you need to pull out the big guns to fully rehab a damaged pan you've found at a thrift store or even in the back of your cabinet. That's where an old-school restoration method comes in: lye baths, as recommended by cast iron expert Chris Wing, aka Cast Iron Chris. Wing helms a popular Instagram where he educates cast iron enthusiasts, debunks common cast iron myths, and shares his impressive wisdom on all things restoration. 

For bringing even the most gunked-up old pans back to life, he recommends soaking the cookware in a mixture of water and the chemical compound sodium hydroxide, also known as lye — an incredibly alkaline substance that's been extracted from wood ashes and used to make soap since ancient times. "It excels at stripping off thick, stubborn buildup that other chemicals barely touch," Wing told Chowhound. Using this old-school method on neglected cast iron cookware is a great way to avoid shelling out cash on a brand-new pan.

To get rid of particularly tough buildup, Wing advises starting with a 24-hour lye soak. After that, check if it needs more time, letting it soak until the old skillet is clear of buildup. As powerful as lye is at stripping, a cast iron piece could hypothetically spend months submerged in the bath without becoming damaged, he explains.

When it comes to lye and cast iron, it's all about knowing when to use it, and how to do so properly. The substance is not a magic fix-all, nor is it an ingredient to use flippantly or without following instructions or taking the proper safety precautions. So before you buy a bottle of lye on Amazon to try out this hack, bear in mind, this is no daily maintenance cleaner. It's a potentially dangerous substance that can cause chemical burns when coming into contact with uncovered skin — so always use gloves and eye protection.

When preparing the bath, most instructions advise a ratio of about 5 gallons of water to 1 pound of lye in a chemical-safe plastic tote. Crucially though, Chris Wing also warns that "adding water to lye can cause a violent eruption." Wing instructs to always add lye to water — not the other way around — and to do so slowly and gradually. It's also important to let the lye bath cool down before putting the pan in. Once your thrifted or otherwise grimy cookware looks good as new, rinse and scrub it, let it dry, reseason it, and it's ready to use.

Though it's important to note, while Wing claims lye is "essentially unrivaled" at removing even ancient layers of built-up gunk, it won't touch rust. Wing prefers electrolysis for dealing with rust, but since it's an expert-level method using live electricity, he recommends that DIY-ers try a safer yet still effective option. "A 50/50 vinegar and water soak for up to 45 minutes at a time, followed by scrubbing with steel wool, works very well," says Wing. "Just don't over-soak, as vinegar will damage bare iron if left too long."