My aunt told me I was ruining my cast iron by scrubbing it with soap

I always heard you never use soap on cast iron. Like it was a rule carved in stone. My aunt saw me rinsing my skillet with just hot water and a stiff brush, food bits still stuck on. She goes "you know you can wash it like a normal pan right?" I argued with her for like 10 minutes. Finally tried it. Used a little dish soap and a sponge. Wiped it dry, gave it a thin coat of oil. Cooked an egg in it the next morning and nothing stuck. Three months later that skillet is smoother than it's ever been. Is the "no soap" thing just outdated or does it actually matter for really old pans?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabetha921mo ago

I read somewhere that the "no soap" rule comes from back when soap had lye in it, which would strip the seasoning. Modern dish soap is way milder and won't hurt it. I was scared to try it too but once I did it made cleaning so much easier. Have you noticed any difference in how the pan feels after you dry it?

jesse2901mo ago

Hold on, I gotta push back hard on this. Honestly, the no soap rule still makes total sense today. Even modern dish soap is a degreaser, and seasoning is basically a layer of polymerized fat. You're stripping that off a little bit every time you scrub with it. Tbh, I've tried using soap on my cast iron a few times and every single time it left the surface feeling kind of tacky and rough instead of that slick, smooth finish. Ngl, a good hot water rinse and a stiff brush is all you need, and my pan has never had a rust spot. Once you start using soap you're just undoing all the work it took to build that seasoning in the first place.