The Best Supplies for Restoring a Rusted Grill or Griddle
Bringing a rusted, neglected grill or griddle back to life — the degreasers, scouring pads, scrapers, and seasoning oil that do the work.
Published June 25, 2026
A neglected cooker is almost always salvageable. Most rust is surface rust, and most baked-on grease comes off with the right supplies and a little patience. Here’s the kit we reach for on a full restoration — pair it with our restoration guides.
#1 pick
Simple Green Pro HD
Heavy-duty, food-zone-safe degreaser concentrate.
Why: Cuts grease without leaving a residue that flavors the next cook. Dilute per label.
#2 pick
Heavy-duty scouring pads
Non-scratch and abrasive pads for grease and carbon.
Why: The workhorse of any deep clean — pair the abrasive side with degreaser, the gentle side on coatings.
#3 pick
Plastic putty scraper
A 2-inch plastic putty knife from any hardware store.
Why: Removes carbon and crusted residue without scratching seasoning or porcelain coatings.
#4 pick
Food-grade flax oil
High-smoke-point oil for griddle seasoning.
Why: Polymerizes into a hard, dark coating better than most kitchen oils.
#5 pick
Heat-resistant cleaning gloves
Chemical- and heat-resistant gloves for degreasing.
Why: Degreasers and warm grates are hard on bare hands. Cheap protection for every deep clean.
#6 pick
Heavy-duty waterproof cover
UV- and water-resistant cover sized to your cooker.
Why: The cheapest rust insurance there is. Keeps water out of the firebox and off the hardware between cooks.
Before you replace a rusted grill or griddle, try to restore it — it’s usually cheaper, often easier than it looks, and these few supplies do most of the work. Work in order: degrease, scrub, scrape, then re-season and protect.
The restoration order
- Degrease everything with a food-safe concentrate so you can see what you’re working with.
- Scrub surface rust and carbon with abrasive pads and a scraper — most rust is shallow.
- Re-season bare steel with thin coats of flax oil and high heat to build a hard, black layer.
- Protect the finished cooker with a cover so you’re not doing this again next spring.
Then keep it that way
Restoration is the hard part — staying ahead of it is easy. A cover and a quick wipe-down after cooks is the difference between doing this once and doing it every season. See our restoration guides for the full step-by-step.