I've used baking soda with a tiny bit of water to wash mine but if it's starting to look dry...then I rub oil in it and bake it for 10-20 min to set that .

I use cast iron pots and skillets. Wash in hot water and detergent. Scrub it but don't scour it. Then take a razor blade scrapper and scrape the bottom of the skillet until it is very smooth. A true seasoned skillet will be smooth as glass and black as pitch. Oil the skillet. Next time to use it, heat the skillet to almost smoking before adding oil, turn down the heat and then add the food. Do this with every use until the skillet is like cooking on a brand new non stick skillet for the first time. Now you have a perfectly seasoned skillet. Mine are so slick eggs slide right out.

My dad told me not to use soap on them. In fact, he used dirt. We would be camping and after cooking the trout, he would grab a handful of dirt, rub it around, rinse. Good to go....

It's the carbon build up that makes the skillet seasoned and non stick. Mild soap washing does not remove the carbon. Only hard scouring or extreme heat will do that.

I need to try this cleaning

My iron skillet is black and smooth. It's well seasoned. I make sure there is no food left in it - I don't really wash it, I wipe it out with a paper towel and scrape any food stuck in it with a plastic scraper I got from Pampered Chef.

I just remembered something from my childhood. My father let me go down to the basement and watch as he put our cast iron frying pan into the furnace when it was burning brightly. The heat burned off all the grease and any burnt-on stuff. I don't remember if Mom ever washed it, but mostly we just wiped it out with newspaper or something like that.