The spray bottle is a great idea, thanks!<div>One of my favorite ways to cook is with my $1 cast iron skillet, Wagner <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></div><div>I can remember as a young child, my grandmother (who I lived with) and I discussing about washing the cast iron in soapy dishwater. She remarked that many people thought it was better to never wash them in soap. But she was extremely clean & tidy, so we did use soap. Funny, I recall it was quite the decision for her.</div><div>Fast forward to 2011, I got this thing for $1 at a yard sale, looked awful, 1/4" of grease baked on everywhere. Had already snooped around on the net, at the Wagner & Griswold Society <a href="
http://www.wag-society.org/Electrolysis/seasoning.php" target="_blank">
http://www.wag-society.org/Electrolysis/seasoning.php</a> they show you how to easily clean a pan such as the one I got, looked like the day it was made when I got done, no fooling. Didn't scrub for even 1 second. Electricity did all the work.</div><div>They recommend that you don't wash them in soap and I have been using it that way for over a year now. Wish ALL of my cookware was cast iron. I simply wipe them out with toilet paper and a frugal amount of it at that. Sometimes have to scrape a little with a spoon or something. But once it's seasoned and especially after cooking with it more and more, piling up more & more oil on it it beats teflon hands down. And I don't end up eating any space-age plastic. Just don't forget that potholder, YEOOWWW!</div><div>Finally this note about the cleanliness of this technique. Back in Grandma's house, we learned to never dry the cast iron with the white linen towels that we dried the rest of the dishes with, as it would leave black stains on the towel. So we used paper towels.</div><div>Well, now, when I finish cleaning this waterless way, the last white piece of toilet paper I use has even less black stain on it than we used to get on those linen towels after they came out of Grandma's blazing hot dishwater. So I'm convinced.</div><div>I'm a bit fanatical about it, because I love this collector's item pan I got for $1. So I polish it like I'm waxing the car and it's clean as can be when finished.</div><div>But as a fellow said on another cast iron website I visited "heck, you heat the thing up with oil before you throw the food in anyway. If there's any critters living on there they'll be dead from that." I wholeheartedly agree, it doesn't take long, I have measured it with an infra-red thermometer gun I have, the surface is 350 degrees. I'd guess about a minute, I can recognize by the pattern the oil makes when it's that temp.</div><div>Well, had to put in a plug for my favorite, cast iron.</div><div>Oh, a final thing, unrelated to cast iron. I always wipe down my dishes with my napkin (when I use one). I save up my dishes and wash them all at once. I'd rather do them daily, really, but so wasteful on water. It helps alot. When I do wash it's in two big bowls, 1 soapy, 1 rinse. About 1 1/2 gallons I think. But 3-4 days worth of dishes too.</div><div>My napkin? I have a toilet paper roll holder mounted underneath the dinette table with a roll of toilet paper there. You can't see it unless you try to. Works great, my everything paper, kleenex, napkin, cast iron polishing, you name it, always close at hand. Of course, as someone else mentioned, doesn't do well with water.</div><div><br></div>
<div><br></div><div>So how do you wash your dishes? There must be an easier, quicker way than the way I'm doing it.</div>
<div><br></div><div>i use paper towels (cut into small squares) as wipes, and wipe out what i used as soon as i'm done eating. i spritz with vinegar and wipe, with a peroxide follow-up (thanks Bob!). i never ever use soap. if i'm in doubt, i'll boil a little water to rinse them with. </div><div><br></div><div><a href="
