Wear gloves if you’re one of those delicate folks with fancy nails. I went in circles, following the shape of the skillet inside the pan to help minimize any odd looking scratches.Īnd then you just get really dirty.

Yes, it’s gonna scratch the surface of your skillet a bit, but it’s going to be fine. I used 60-grit because I wanted to get off as much of that rust with every swipe as possible. You’ll want to use a really tough sandpaper. What you’ll need to clean a rusty cast iron skillet Some people use steel wool for this, but I prefer sand paper. In order clean this rusty cast iron skillet, I was going to need to take it down below the rust level. I grabbed these shots from my Instagram stories after the project was finished.) Here’s how to clean a rusty cast iron skillet properly. Which makes me think that the seller coated it lightly in some oil so you couldn’t see the rust. Well, as soon as water touched it, it revealed solid coating of rust. It looked perfect and I thought I had really gotten my hands on a great piece of cast iron.īecause it turns out after I brought it home and rinsed it off (because I dare you to use random piece of cooking equipment from Lord knows where and not wash it first, even if you aren’t supposed to). I bought this skillet at an antique store for $15. It’s not nearly as hard as you might think! Learn how to clean a rusty cast iron skillet and have it ready to use quickly and easily.

How to remove rust from cast iron