Is it ruined?

Hello. I've got a 3 qt. cast iron saucepan that I've had this mixture in for about 2 years. 1 lb. beeswax, 1 lb. paraffin, 1 lb. Vaseline, 1 tbs. STP oil treatment, and 2 red crayons. Can this be saved for food, or is it not safe? Thanks for any input. Ron.

I won't ask the sequence of events that would lead to such an outcome.

Let's see. First, when you ask "Can this be saved for food" I am assuming you mean the pan.

I think that most of this material will come out in a big chunk, right? So start by scraping it as clean as you can get. Anything left over should burn off when you re-season it. I would start by putting it in the oven on the Self-Clean cycle as recommended in Paul article.

Looking at the MSDS for STP, nothing raises red flags for me. I am sure others on this forum would disagree with me. If you have other cast iron pans, I would probably go ahead and use those ones, but if this is all you've got, I would be comfortable cleaning, reseasoning, and using it for cooking.

Welcome to permies, Ron. You've got me curious...what was that mixture for???
I think all of it could be cleaned out and then run through a nice big bed of coals and then seasoned...you need to be sure it is heated evenly or it could warp and if there is a wooden handle remove it. I guess I would worry about the STP mostly. Lots of petroleum products in that mix though...including the crayons. Have you seen the thread here about seasoning iron skillets?
...two years?

Well, I was making bullet lube. I was melting this concoction in a pan and ran out of room. The cast iron pan was there so that's where I poured the over flow. It wasn't very good bullet lube so that's why it's been in the pan that long. I've emptied the pan. I haven't put any heat to it yet. I do have other cast iron, I just thought maybe I could save this one. It is a cheap Chinese pan with a wooden handle, but it was my sisters. I wasn't sure how much of the petroleum products would have been absorbed into the cast iron. Maybe I'll take the handle off and put it in the next campfire we have. Thanks, Ron.

Nathan, yes the pan. Lol. I guess I didn't make that real clear. The beeswax does smell good though. Thanks, Ron.

Nathan is spot on when he says that all those things will burn off when you reseason it. In fact, you don't even have to do a high temperature seasoning, but a lower temperature 300F one will be sufficient to burn off what you listed and get it properly carbonized. After a reseasoning, you would be hard pressed to find any molecules of your magic mix.

Thanks Judith and John, sounds like I've got some work to do!

Everything in your list would melt under low heat. Seems like this would be the way to get the last of the stuff out. Warm the pan, add some water, don't warm it to a simmer. As the pan warms, what remains should melt off, float to the top. Change the water when you think you have all of the stuff, repeat. When no more stuff melts and rises to the surface, you probably will have most or all of it out. A tiny bit of residue should burn off when restarting the pan.

Thanks Ken! I took the pan and hung it over the fire pit this morning and gently caressed it with my wife's weed dragon. I think I will try your heated water idea and see what happens. Thanks, Ron.

gently caressed?

Well, didn't turn the weed dragon on full blast.