Heard my neighbor say Dawn ruins cast iron and I froze mid-scrub

I was washing dishes on my back porch last Saturday when my neighbor Tom called over the fence that he switched to Dr. Bronner's because Dawn supposedly strips the seasoning off cast iron pans. I've been using Dawn on my Lodge skillet for years and never noticed a problem, but now I'm second guessing myself. He said his wife read it in some cooking blog from Portland and they banished all Dawn from their kitchen. Has anyone actually tested this or is it just another internet scare?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_pat23d ago

Dawn won't wreck seasoned cast iron unless you're scrubbing way too hard or using steel wool.

masonbell23d ago

Feel you man, been there with the same doubt after a neighbor's comment.

norathomas19d ago

Read this whole thing on a science cooking blog a while back, they actually tested it with a microscope. Dawn's surfactants aren't strong enough to strip polymerized oil unless you're soaking it overnight or using a green scrubby. @the_pat is right on the money about the scrubbing part. I've got a 10 year old lodge that's been through hundreds of dawn washes and the seasoning is still black as night. Tom's wife probably read an article from someone who scrapes their pan with a wire brush. The internet loves to make everything a crisis.