Stains & Pitting

D

Dan Farmer

Member
I've been cleaning that old "WAGNER" skillet that I got recently and have come to the conclusion that I'm probably never going to get the last of the stains out. They seem to be actually in pitting. It has been in the lye for about a week at least, and I've scoured it with SOS and BKF numerous times without making a dent.

Would you leave it as it is, or try more drastic approaches such as wire brush in drill (gasp!)? I don't want to mess this one up! It is a very cool pan.

Image
Closeup:
Image
 
I had a ghost marked Favorite Piqua Ware pan do that. 50/50 vinegar and water followed by some scrubbing with fine steel wool did the trick. Look under the cast iron restoration tab, stripping and cleaning-->finishing touches for details.
 
Enough. Leave it. Season it and use it a few times with meats. Not cornbread. The stains will disappear and the pits will begin to fill in.

Hilditch
 
Ty L. said:
I had a ghost marked Favorite Piqua Ware pan do that. 50/50 vinegar and water followed by some scrubbing with fine steel wool did the trick. Look under the cast iron restoration tab, stripping and cleaning-->finishing touches for details.
Click to expand...
Vinegar, huh? I'm surprised, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks!

---------- Post added at 08:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 PM ----------
W. Hilditch said:
Enough. Leave it. Season it and use it a few times with meats. Not cornbread. The stains will disappear and the pits will begin to fill in.

Hilditch
Click to expand...

I've certainly thought about that. And, of course, I can't get rid of the pitting itself. But I would like to lighten the coloring of it if I can before I begin to cook in it. If not, then c'est la vie.
 
W. Hilditch said:
If vinegar takes the stains away, it was rust which is highly possible.

Hilditch
Click to expand...

Doesn't appear to be rust. Looks black. But the vinegar has brightened up the bare iron somewhat. I'd probably never have noticed except that the pan wasn't entirely covered, and what wasn't, was darker. I've since added more vinegar and water to make sure it is 100% submerged and the color is equalizing. But the stains are still there. May have to resort to trying to hide them with seasoning as you suggested.
 
Black stains are often left in areas where rust has been removed. Straight vinegar and steel wool is one solution, EvapoRust another.
 
I remember reading a post about an old timer who said you could boil black walnut shells for an hour or so and then dip your CI into the water and it coats or turns your iron blacker. If you want to try it, search for black walnuts and I'm sure you could find it.
 
Doug D. said:
Black stains are often left in areas where rust has been removed. Straight vinegar and steel wool is one solution, EvapoRust another.
Click to expand...
I did try a long soak in diluted vinegar to no avail. I've begun to season it now... if it doesn't look better after a couple more seasonings, I may strip it off and see about that EvapoRust. I'm curious about it anyway.
 
I've had a few pieces that I could not get a nice even color across the entire pan. They are not show pieces and I'm not selling them. I put a couple rounds of seasoning and started to use them. Now months later, I have no idea which pans they were. You can't see any color difference, they are just nice old black skillets.
 
Shawn R said:
I've had a few pieces that I could not get a nice even color across the entire pan. They are not show pieces and I'm not selling them. I put a couple rounds of seasoning and started to use them. Now months later, I have no idea which pans they were. You can't see any color difference, they are just nice old black skillets.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think I mentioned in another thread that I have a Puritan that revealed some abusive scratches once I cleaned the old seasoning off. I thought it was a lovely pan, so I made it one of my users. Because of its size, it is my go-to egg pan and gets used almost every other day. I can still see those scratches if I think about it, but generally don't, and it works just fine.

However... a guy can only use so many "users".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top