Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a "new man", I'm not "in touch with my feminine side" and I don't like cooking or cleaning. But it's coming up to 5 year ssince Jacqui died, and now my mother has just died and I have all her old saucepans. Long pre-dating non-stick (she was born in 1911).

Mostly they are grey metal. The weight would say "iron" to me, but the absence of actual corrosion says not. They are not I think light enough to be aluminium.

THey have good heavy bases to spread the heat (most of them) and I'd like to clean them up and use them. But the insides of teh bottoms are pretty much blackened. It looks more like a stain than a deposit.

So far Fairy Power Spray, Cillit Bang, and teh dishwasher hvae had little effect. I don't want to use a true scouring powder as it leaves a roughness which will make keeping them clean a lot harder.

Suggestions (preferably ones taht do not involve physical effort)?