How to clean a cast iron skillet Part of owning a skillet is cleaning it properly after each use. Shep McAllister FacebookTwitterEmail Cast iron skillets are one of the best deals in cookware. They’re great for searing because they hold so much heat, you can pop them in a hot oven, and they’re pretty inexpensive to boot – especially considering that they’ll last essentially forever if you take good care of them. And therein lies the rub: Part of that care is cleaning them properly after each use. Unfortunately, cast iron is a bit more complicated to wash than other pans that you can pop in the dishwasher or simply scrub raw in the sink... but it’s still not as difficult as you might think.