i'm with you - i don't really take good care of my cast iron pans because they were so incredibly cheap and i just don't care that much. i never 'seasoned' the

i'm with you - i don't really take good care of my cast iron pans because they were so incredibly cheap and i just don't care that much. i never 'seasoned' them, i just started using them. i don't wash them regularly, and when i do, sometimes i use soap, sometimes i don't, depending on how negligent i was. it doesn't seem to matter. they work fine and produce great results with my heavy duty metal utensils (spatula, tongs). they can easily produce non-stick eggs and fish. i can brown->roast without worrying at all about the pan. i have also destroyed every other pan i have ever had, and have learned my lesson - i just won't buy those precious non-stick or anodized or ceramic pans anymore. to me that's the beauty of cast iron - superior results without having to treat it well. i thought that was obvious but apparently some people have a very different take on it!