Painted Cast Iron - Useable?

J

JeffProper

New member
Yesterday I stopped at a place I've previously found a couple pieces at reasonable prices. He had one older, gate-marked piece I'd be interested in, but its painted black. I've read everything I can find here about cleaning painted pieces (electrolysis sounds like the consensus), but I didn't see anything that specifically addresses whether its okay/safe to cook in cast iron that was previously painted, after stripping the piece. Can you give me an idea of whether thats okay?? Thanks!
 
I have always used lye to remove paint from cast iron, achieving the desired results. I would guess the biggest concern would be lead based paints, and they do sell lead test kits. I can't scientifically tell you one way or another, but I do have a user that was painted. Although it was "artistically" painted with acrylic paint.
 
Its seems it depends on the state in which you live, as to the availability of lye. My experience in the Midwest has ranged from no problems purchasing it, or having to show an ID at most. Try Lowe's or any hardware store, and make sure you are buying pure sodium hydroxide. (I prefer the crystal) Remember, ALWAYS add lye TO water, not the other way around.
 
Even in places where you can't buy "Lye" you should still be able to buy Easy Off oven cleaner. (Lye in a spray can)
 
RickC said:
Even in places where you can't buy "Lye" you should still be able to buy Easy Off oven cleaner. (Lye in a spray can)
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Not sure if Smart n Final stores are nationwide, just go there and get a gallon of commercial grade oven and grill cleaner. Really cost effective, you just use a tub and when finished, funnel it back into its jug for next time.
 
DaleR said:
I have always used lye to remove paint from cast iron, achieving the desired results. I would guess the biggest concern would be lead based paints, and they do sell lead test kits. I can't scientifically tell you one way or another, but I do have a user that was painted. Although it was "artistically" painted with acrylic paint.
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Most industrial strength paint remover is lye based, so lye is the go to method for removing paint.

Lead based paint is not really an issue. Lead paint is only an issue when cracking off and flaking. This is because it has a sweet flavor and little children with devolping brains would eat lots of the paint chips and get enough lead in their system to cause developmental problems.

Any microscopic amounts of paint left in any part of the pan would contain almost no lead as there was only a tiny bit of lead (0.05 grams) per gallon of lead paint.

The amount of lead in an entire gallon of lead paint equals the average amount of lead normally found in the bodies of 10 adults.

A gallon of water contains approximately 100,000 "drops". So one drop of lead paint on a skillet would at the maximum expose you to 1/10,000 of the amount of lead already in your body. Any residual paint would probably be less than one drop worth.

The only real concern with lead and cast iron is when a pan has been used to melt lead, and much higher concentrations of lead exist.
 
RLMuse said:
Most industrial strength paint remover is lye based, so lye is the go to method for removing paint.
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True.

I tried a spray can of CitrisStrip citrus based paint stripper the other day to remove the paint from a pot, and it said safe to use indoors. It worked great, on the paint, smelled like oranges, but doesn't seem to touch burnt on seasoning.

Any thoughts or concerns with this stuff?
 
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