Cast Iron Stove gone sticky

[Lily left the valley]

Our electric kitchen stove is mostly cast iron bodied, with some steel portions (stove top, stove back). When I went to give it a more thorough cleaning using only dish soap and water, the sponge just kept coming up black in certain spots. It seems to be the paint/blacking--whatever was used prior. The finish is a bit uneven (and I don't mean due to the cast texture, I mean in small and medium sized patches.)

This is only happening to the cast parts, not the steel.

I seem to remember this happening the last time I did a once overall for it, as opposed to the spot clean from spills, but had forgotten.

Has anyone else with cast iron had this happen?

Is it simply the surface treatment broke down over time, or perhaps former owners had painted over black (I only have ever known the rub in stuff as black. I have no idea what it would be called otherwise.), or...? The cast parts of the stove do have some rust (particularly the cast doors on the top overhang due to steam because the overhang isn't deep enough to put them in front of all burners), so maybe it's below coating rust loosening the coating somehow?

Will I need to start considering stripping it down completely and giving it a fresh coat?

Any advice would be appreciated and will be considered, as I'm not having much luck searching the web. (Which could be I just haven't figured out the right key words to be using.)

A pic of the stove from its Craig's List ad in case folks forgot what ours looks like:

[1918ColonialRevival]

More than likely, it's old grease. From the picture, it looks like a 1920s era stove that has probably been in continual use for 90+ years, so that's a lot of time to collect buildup. Just like with a skillet, a fine layer of grease will build up on the iron. Dirt and dust will stick to grease, which gives the black "residue" on a rag when you clean it.

I'd clean it with a de-greaser like Mean Green to get the top layer with the dirt off, but I wouldn't go nuts with it. Think of it as "seasoning" of the cast iron. Even though it may seem unsightly at times, it's protecting it from rust and corrosion. You may see some superficial rust here and there (the nature of iron), but it would be a lot worse without the seasoning.

If you are seeing bare metal underneath, then it is the paint.

[Lily left the valley]

I will try a de-greaser next, thank you for that suggestion.

From the picture, it looks like a 1920s era stove that has probably been in continual use for 90+ years, so that's a lot of time to collect buildup.

It's actually not that era at all. The Country Charm stove was first produced by House of Webster in the 50s from an 1875 wood stove. (Link goes to archival advert.) I just checked out of curiosity and there's two for sale on ebay right now.

Here's backstory from an ad for one.:
For Sale, in exceptionally nice condition....a fully functional "Country Charm" electric range, made in Arkansas by House of Webster. Webster began making these stoves in 1957, based on specs of an actual wood burning stove design created in 1875. Webster bought the former foundry where the plans were discovered, and they set about to make an electric version that would be practical for modern use where an antique appearance was desirable. House of Webster is still in business and does supply parts[sic], though they stopped making the stoves in the mid 90's. This particular unit is a Model # S87, and based on the serial number was manufactured in 1991. It is 100% fully functional, even the clock / timer disguised as a coffee grinder works and keeps good time. It serves a dual purpose as a timed on / off control for an electric outlet on the side of the grinder, and also houses the switch for the built-in exhaust fan. It features the deluxe solid covers on the stove heating elements. Overall dimensions are : 36" wide...total depth is no more than 26"...total height at the very tip of the handle on the "coffee grinder" is 68".....cooking surface is 30" above floor. In my conversation with the gentleman at H.O.W., he stressed that these last years of production of the stove were the best of the line, with heavy duty controls and high grade silicone insulation for the internal wiring. This appliance has been lightly used and well cared for, is clean and has no negative issues. One point in particular that was brought to my attention by the fellow at Webster....the Temperature Gauge in the oven door is strictly decorative, and not defective as I had thought. I have numerous pictures of the stove if you should desire to see more. One last point, the stove is made of cast iron and quite heavy, somewhere in the 350-400 lb. range. New price on these unique and very solidly built stoves was in the $2,500 ballpark when sold back in '91....

Regarding the [sic], I know ours is a mid 70's (I have the year written on the manual but don't have it handy) because when I called HoW to get a manual in 2017, the fella looked up our serial number to give me the exact year. They sold the parts for them for decades, but unfortunately stopped by the time we got our stove. I was lucky to get the manual I did. (The clock in the manual is a different look than ours, but the function is the same.) The fella I spoke with was the last person working there who knew anything about them and was near retirement, so I really lucked out.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Didn't know that. I assumed it was originally a wood stove that had been converted at some point. It's very similar in appearance to some smaller wood stoves that appeared in a lot of the mail order catalogs in the first half of the 1920s. They did a good job with their design work.

[Gothichome]

Lily, a product called Go Jo works great on grease, it’s a hand cleaner loved by many a mechanic. You can find it at almost any auto parts store or hardware stores. If the castings have lost that dark black colour, you can still get stove black, with a little bit of elbow work you can have it looking new again.

[Lily left the valley]

Didn't know that. I assumed it was originally a wood stove that had been converted at some point. It's very similar in appearance to some smaller wood stoves that appeared in a lot of the mail order catalogs in the first half of the 1920s. They did a good job with their design work.

One of the things that attracted me to the stove is that it is similar to designs of the 20's. There's one image I found ages ago that I'm slowly working towards for our kitchen, and although the stove in that image is a bit less chunky, it was close enough for me. We're actually debating now, if the paint is shot, we might just go ahead and refinish it in the colors we'd rather have even if it's not an accurate restoration of what HoW offered. Image in question below.

Lily, a product called Go Jo works great on grease, it’s a hand cleaner loved by many a mechanic. You can find it at almost any auto parts store or hardware stores. If the castings have lost that dark black colour, you can still get stove black, with a little bit of elbow work you can have it looking new again.

I wasn't sure I'd heard of that one before, so I looked it up. It seems similar to Fast Orange which we used to use in theatrical shops for clean up and that always worked great. I did look up some comparative reviews, and apparently Go Jo changed their formula somewhat recently and some folks have complained that the new formula is inferior and have switched over to Fast Orange. I did find that our local Tractor Supply has Fast Orange, so I'll be getting some when Sean gets home and we run our errands for the week.

[1918ColonialRevival]

If you get Gojo or Fast Orange, be sure to get the cream WITHOUT pumice added. There are two versions - cream and pumice.

[Gothichome]

Colonial, yes, I should have mentioned that. Lily, if you get your kitchen to look like that you will be the envy of all those looking for a vintage look.

[phil]

it probably had some blackening or painton it originally. how hot does the top get? Its a bit different than a cast iron stove I guess. You might have issues getting paint to stick to it. you could look into "pickling" metal and maybe blackening chemicals. cast iron is inerently a little porous, especially lower grade cast which that would be.
with a fry pan you can put oil on it and put it in an oven around 300 or so and let it soak in to protect it but your stovetop might not get so hot since it's electric.
my frying pan was good but someone decided to use it like a baking dish. I dont think it liked being heated like that and the expansion cracked it. now Im wondering where to get a good old fry pan, or if I should try a new one. they tend to be better if they are old and well used it seems and I don't think any new made in china castings are comparable to old ones. I have a huge one , it's like you'd want for putting on a huge pankake breakfast but a little rediculous for most stuff.
i wondered if I might try to weld or braise up my old one but the metal is likely so penetrated with grease, its just seen it's day. trying to buy someones old fry pan from a thrift or something might be the only way to get a good old one but it seems a little weird. it might be hard to find a good one and cast is one of those things where the quality is hard to see, but all castings aren't good quality and these days our markets are infiltrated with cheap made in china garbage. most of those old foundries are gone from north America. in Germany and Sweden they made good castings, the ones from the midwest were ok too but all cast isn't the same quality. china and india seem to make real junk and it is hard to tell when new , visually.

[Lily left the valley]

Update: this has been very slow going. It looks like at one point someone tried to strip off the old finish but didn't manage to do it thoroughly, then added a new one that I don't think was meant for an appliance, hence it going gooey.

There definitely was some very, very old grease in some spots that are less convenient spots to clean (why did I not do a more thorough clean when we first moved? ), but once I've knocked that down, a different black is coming up that is not the same consistency or feel of the old grease. I even did a spot test with just dishsoap after the bulk of the old grease was off and that spot had dried in case somehow the fast orange was the culprit, but still that same gooey not grease black coming up.

So now it looks like this might turn into a total restore, and that winds back to the question of...keep the original color scheme, or say the heck with it and do something a little more cheery?