this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2025
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For those who don't know, you can wash cast iron with modern detergents, and as long as you dry it properly you won't have any problems.
It used to be that dish detergents contained lye that would strip the seasoning off of cast iron cookware.
Yep, which is why of you ever want to strip and re-season cast iron, you use a lye bath with some electrolysis magic. Do that once and you'll see why back in the lye soap days, you ~~want~~ weren't supposed to wash them.
PSA be careful buying lye. It has other uses than soap making, including stripping of carcasses to the bone, and then turning the fat into soap. If you order enough you might get a visit from your friendly government agent.
Corrected as to what it does.
lye (sodium hydroxide) has all sorts of uses and for cleaning your pan you don't need it dry. Just buy a cleaning agent containing it.
It is one of the most used chemical products and i strongly doubt that anyone having normal uses for it will ever get a government visit.
It depends. Usually no, but if there are any mysterious disappearances in your area, a person that has recently bought large amounts of lye will certainly be questioned at least.
Why would you do that? For getting the cast iron pan completely clean, just use oven cleaner or furnace glass cleaner. They contain sodium hydroxide and are meant to deal with burnt in residues.
There is no reason to buy dry lye for that, leave alone a large quantity.
The first rule of ~~fight club~~ project mayhem is…
It doesn’t turn bone to soap, it turns fat to soap
You are correct. Edited my post. My wife use to make soap so I knew it was caustic and I think she could only order limited amounts at a time or something like that.
throwback to this amazing scene from Four Lions
"Bleach scene"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWUTCo-D_J8
That's why I buy all my lye through my LLC, Bone Soap Co.
Why is this answer always so far down in the thread, right below all the nonsense and superstition that perpetuate the "cast iron is really complicated to maintain!"?
Soap and water is all you need, be sure to thoroughly dry the surface. If you get rust spots, just polish them off with a cast-iron cleaning sponge or some steel wool. Re-oil as necessary. Do not put in the dishwasher.
That's it. Not sure why the message gets so muddled with other methods involving stripping and reseasoning and baking and such... It's not required.