Does vinigar change texture of iron?

[Glenn Springer]

First piece I cleaned with vinigar, the piece had no seasoning only rust so I wanted to try vinigar. After 8 hours nearly all rust was gone but the iron has a fine sandy rough texture.

[Jim Fuchs]

Glenn, using a 50% vinegar solution, the piece needs to be checked every half-hour. It will attack the iron. I'm sure  others could comment, as I haven't used vinegar.

[Cheryl Watson]

Way too long in the vinegar solution...

IF and when I use a vinegar bath, check it every 30 minutes.

That check includes cold water scrub down, to assess if any oxidation remains.  You cannot always tell by looking. 

Sounds like acid damage to the surface.

When you scrub with water, the fine gray material sheds turning the water gray...  :(

[Glenn Springer]

Thank ya'll for the response, maybe seasoning will smooth it out  :-?

[Valerie Johnson]

Thank ya'll for the response, maybe seasoning will smooth it out 

It might smooth out some but after 8 hours in vinegar it means the surface of the cast iron has been eaten away and degraded by the acid, I would try wet sanding it with one of the foam sanding blocks, It should help to smooth some of it out and seasoning after that will help a little more

When the cast iron was poured it was in a liquid state, as it cooled and hardened the cast iron formed into tiny granules and the granules that were on the edges of the mold took the flat or contoured shaped of the mold, the vinegar which is an acid ate away the flattened outer granules and left the rounded inner granules exposed which is why you see a sandy texture.
I learned the hard way about vinegar, I had a small skillet that was very rusty and I dropped it in a vinegar bath and left it for 3 days, when I finally remembered I had left it in there it was too late, the vinegar had actually eaten away layers of the surface and it looked terrible and is completely useless, I have it hanging in the area where I do my cast iron cleaning as a reminder , I no longer have a vinegar bath, I will saturate a rag with vinegar and wipe a skillet but I will wash it with dish soap right away to remove and neutralize the vinegar

[Glenn Springer]

Very informative Valerie, thanks. Yea I think I'm done with vinigar. After 8 hrs. there was still a little rust and already damaged the piece, what's the use.

[C. Perry Rapier]

I like the vinegar bath myself. Its like a lot of things in life, some good things, too much of them will kill you. In moderation the vinegar bath does an excellent job. If you burn something on the stove is that going to keep you from ever cooking again? So hooray for the vinegar bath. I think coke would probably work to take rust off too. Has anybody ever heard if you put a nail in a bottle of coke it will eat the nail plumb up?

[Roger Muse]

I like the vinegar bath myself. Its like a lot of things in life, some good things, too much of them will kill you. In moderation the vinegar bath does an excellent job. If you burn something on the stove is that going to keep you from ever cooking again? So hooray for the vinegar bath. I think coke would probably work to take rust off too. Has anybody ever heard if you put a nail in a bottle of coke it will eat the nail plumb up?

The nail dissolving thing is another urban myth.

Coke/Pepsi/Soda Water/Sodas in general contain carbonic acid (carbonated) and are about a 3 on the pH scale, about the same as orange juice. 

Vinegar is 10 times as acidic at 2 on the pH scale, about the same as lemon juice.

Seeing as we normally use 50/50 water/vinegar mix, it would only be 5 times as strong as Coke/Pepsi/Soda Water/Sodas in general. 

Simple math indicates that if you would check every half hour with vinegar, you would want to check about every 2.5 hours with Coke.

[Valerie Johnson]

I mistakenly described the hardening cast iron as nodules, They are actually flakes but the same thing happens, The outer flakes have taken the shape of the mold and when the outer surface is eaten away you are left with the rough,uneven inner flakes