Several years ago I bought a house with a beautiful 30-year-old Scandinavian (Danish or Swedish, I think) cast iron stove. The stove was in excellent condition - deep black like an old iron frying pan and no rust. It has no enamel - just iron as far as I can tell.
Now, however, it has rust in some areas and has turned an ash grey color in others. I'd like to clean it up but have no idea how to go about it. The chimney sweep and the guy at the stove store have no advice for me.
I use the stove all the time from September to April, so I don't want to oil it or do something else that would create an odor or toxic cloud in my house.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.