Stuck-on residues soften in warm water, usually meaning you don't need to scrape or scrub. Clean a stuck pan in this order:

1. Let the pan cool and wipe out grease and loose crumbs with kitchen paper.
2. Pour in a layer of water with a splash of dish soap, or just water if the pan is made of carbon steel (plaatstaal) or bare cast iron.
3. Heat the water on low until almost boiling; after a few minutes you'll see the edges of the residues start to come away.
4. Push the residues loose with a wooden or plastic spatula, because a knife or metal spatula will scratch a non-stick coating.

If the residues still don't come off, repeat the soaking instead of scrubbing harder. Then wash the pan as you normally would after cooking.

Not everything that looks dirty will come off with a sponge, and sometimes that's okay:

• You don't scrub away the dark or black patina in a carbon steel or bare cast iron pan. That's what you cook on: it's the layer you built when seasoning it.
• Rainbow-colored stains on stainless steel (RVS), which often appear after cooking pasta, can be left alone: it's a chemical reaction and doesn't make your pan any worse.
• A coating that remains brown after soaking, or one that an egg sticks to even when the pan is clean, is often worn out, and scrubbing won't fix it. If pieces of the coating come off while washing or you see bare metal, cleaning is pointless and you should replace the pan.

Based on our article on how long a frying pan lasts you can decide whether you really need a new pan.

Which washing method suits a non-stick coating?

A standard and a ceramic coating get the same treatment. Let stuck-on residues soak in hot soapy water until they're soft, then wipe them out with the soft side of your sponge. You don't need baking soda for that, and in any case don't rub it over the coating: the particles are abrasive like a scouring pad.

Even if a coated pan is dishwasher-safe, our pan expert prefers hand washing. An egg is more likely to stick to a coating that's frequently been through the dishwasher.

What about a stainless steel pan without a coating?

Uncoated stainless steel can safely be cleaned with dish soap; you don't need a trick to avoid soap here. According to our pan expert, stainless steel is also fine in the dishwasher if your pan has the dishwasher symbol. What the machine leaves around the edge you can loosen by soaking in hot water and then wash away with soap. For stubborn deposits, you may also use cleaning soda or vinegar on bare stainless steel.

How do you wash carbon steel without losing the seasoned layer?

Wash carbon steel with hot water and a soft brush, and leave out dish soap or use only a few drops. Skip the dishwasher for carbon steel, because it contains the same tablet mentioned above. Then dry the pan on the stove and not just with a tea towel. The heat evaporates moisture the towel might miss, helping to prevent rust.

With carbon steel, steel wool does have a role: you can scrub away rust or a damaged layer with it until you see bare steel again. This way you can also start over with a pan that was never properly seasoned. You then build up a new layer by re-seasoning a carbon steel pan.

Is there enamel on your cast iron pan?

For an enameled cast iron pan, soapy water and a soft sponge are enough, and dry it with a tea towel. If your cast iron pan has a ceramic coating, wash it like any other coated pan.

Clean a bare cast iron pan with hot water and at most a few drops of dish soap, then let it dry on the heat. You can loosen residues in the rough bottom with the Keij Kamado Gietijzer scrubber - RVS reinigingsketting, which you use over the iron without soap. It's not for enamel.

Keij Kamado Gietijzer scrubber - RVS reinigingsketting

If bare cast iron does rust, maintaining cast iron is your next step.maintaining cast iron is your next step.

How do you get the bottom of your frying pan clean again?

A brown or black bottom usually comes from fat splatters that land on the outside during cooking and burn on. So clean the outside with your sponge every time you wash, to prevent such a build-up.

With a coated pan or stainless steel, let existing deposits soak first. Place it with the bottom in hot soapy water in the sink. What still sticks afterwards, rub away with a soft sponge and a paste of baking soda and water. Our explanation about cleaning the bottom of a pan also covers carbon steel and cast iron, and your other pans.

If you need a new pan, choose one that matches how you wash: by hand or in the dishwasher. At all frying pans you'll find pans with and without a coating.