The horror.

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Well, for the first time in my life, I feel a little like Marlon Brando. When I took this Wagner out of the e-tank, all I could think was, “The horror. ... The horror.”

When I bought this sucker, I thought it was gonna be dang near perfect. I could see the deep, circular pits on the cooking surface, but Never thought I would find a replica of the surface of the moon in a whole section!

It also has a weird splotchiness to it. I’m hoping a few rounds of seasoning will even it out some.

So far: Several days, maybe even a week?, in the lye bucket, a few days in the e-tank, 0000 steel wool, several toothpicks, 20 minutes soaking in a thick layer of Dawn Power Dissolver, and then more steel wool.

Any idea what caused the splotchiness? The picture of the bottom, taken at an angle, is the best of these, in terms of showing the true color.

[Cheryl Watson]

Imbedded bad rust, most likely....

Spray with 100% White Vinegar, wait 2-3 minutes, scrub with SS scrubby under cold running water.... watch the color of the rinse water...

Spray, repeat...

Spray, repeat...

You may see red starting to rinse off about round 3 or so...

Or it may just be converted black rust that isn't letting go... either way, the 100% Vinegar scrubs should show you more....

Just restored two of these for the next door Neighbor... an 8 and 10 Stylized w/Size...
they were so nasty, that I could not Identify them until after the Lye Bath...

 Both of those came out 100% perfect!  He was stunned when I handed him his 4 skillets...
 
His jaw dropped and he said, "BUT... they look Brand New!"

I smiled, and said, "Told you so!... What have I been saying for the past 8 years or so.... LOL.  Told ya I was really, really Good At This!" 

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Thanks. I’ll give that a try!

[Duke Gilleland]

If it holds water it's a great user. Them spot/places give it character! ;) [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Cheryl ... I humbly bow in you general direction. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the vinegar tip!!

It took lots and lots of vinegar baths. (I was at it for several hours ... eventually increasing the time of each soak to 20 and then 30 minutes). My arm is sore. My shoulder is sore. Even my back is sore. But I’m happy, happy, happy.

It still has some stains, but the water is clear when I scrub them, so I guess this is as good as it gets. (I decided not to worry about the insides of the pock marks on the cooking surface.)

It’s in the oven warming up now. I hope I can get it seasoned without too much bleed out from this pock marks!

[Cheryl Watson]

Well now...

My OCD would be telling me that NOW is the time to plop that puppy into the Electro for about 12 hours.....


 ;D ;D ;D
 :D :D :D

I'd tell ya to keep it a 'secret' between us...

But... danged I went and posted all this on a PUBLIC , free to everyone,

BOARD!! 

LOL

[Cheryl Watson]

PS... when I say 100% white vinegar.... that is not a 50/50 mix... btw... :) :)

[Jess T. Mills III]

Where does one get 100% white vinegar?  The stores sell 5%, and I have seen 75% on Amazon, but a supplier for 100%?

[Cheryl Watson]

Hi Jess...

You will not find 100% (Acetic acid) concentrate White Vinegar....

When I referred to the White Vinegar above, it is the Heinz Distilled White Vinegar that I buy in large jugs at Costco.

The maximum, in the bottle strength, of White Vinegar is 5% (Acetic Acid).

When White Vinegar is used in a Vinegar bath to soak a piece of Cast Iron, we mix the 5% White Vinegar with water in a 50:50 ratio.  Equal parts water and White Vinegar, and then check every 30 minutes (5% Vinegar used full strength can, and will 'eat' the Cast Iron).

What I was describing above was using full strength 5% White Vinegar in a spray bottle, to manually treat stubborn spots during scrub downs, with cold running water and squirts of dishwashing liquid in between, to semi neutralize the vinegar. :)

Hope that helps!

[Russell Ware]

You would be hard pressed to find 100% acetic acid. The most concentrated form sold is called glacial acetic acid, and it is generally sold as >96%. If the container of it gets too cold, it will crystallize. It’s actually quite spectacular to watch as the crystals grow. There are far less corrosive ways to go about cleaning cast iron than purchasing glacial acetic acid and diluting it yourself to 2.5% as is recommended here to aid in de-rusting cast iron. About the only use for glacial acetic acid itself that I can think of is removing warts. That’s what’s in those small 10ml bottles of wart remover at the drug store.
The MSDS states: Target Organs: Teeth, eyes, skin, mucous membranes. It really does have an overpowering odor. It should be treated with great care, being the industrial chemical that it is.

[Jess T. Mills III]

Thanks, Cheryl.

5% acidity seems to be pretty much the "store standard"; the grocery store here used to carry 9% vinegar (which we used to decalcify our coffeemaker and sink strainers (really hard water out of our well)), but no longer.  Drat and Darn!

I hadn't thought about using a spray bottle, but I will be using one going forward.

Between electrolysis, lye, and vinegar, at the end of the day (week?) a clean cast iron piece should be a "given".  OOPS! Forgot about the elbow grease!