Can This Smiley Piqua Be Saved?

C

Christy T.

Member
This seems to be my week for finding cast iron. I went to a yard sale this morning and got two old CI pans, both of them painted! This is my first Piqua, and I'm wondering if it's possible to rescue it from that paint, or is it doomed to spend the rest of its existence as a wall hanging? I'm hoping the paint didn't sink down into the cast iron. She wanted $2.50 for each of them, and at that price I figured they were worth trying to save. The other skillet will be in another thread, because I'm hoping someone can ID it.

thumbnail-1.jpegthumbnail.jpeg
 
The paint should come off fairly easy. Easy Off oven cleaner may do it, but an E Tank should.
 
Thank you!

I just tried using chain mail made for cleaning cast iron pans. That just barely scratched the surface. Easy Off HD is what I will use.
 
OK, an update--

I was looking closely at the pans and realized that whatever shellac or other substance she put over the paint was cracked from age. I had an idea, and soaked the pans, using the unknown pan first as an experiment. Between the cracked outer layer and the good seasoning job underneath, I was able to remove the paint with a lot of scrubbing. After that, I used a little olive oil. I was really careful to get all the paint off, since if it was done a long time ago, the paint might contain lead. The Pequa is really nice. There is no warp to it whatsoever, it's super flat. And here it is:

thumbnail.jpegthumbnail-1.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top