at the risk of polluting the conversation with my $0.02 ... but maybe someone will find this useful:
I have a (found) cast-iron pan I'd basically given up on: thick, cracked, chipped coating. With a tiny kitchen, I'd stored it in my oven, and after baking a dozen or so loaves of bread while it was in there I discovered that the coating had almost completely burned off. I obsessively researched cast-iron seasoning (included Sheryl Canter's article), heard about the flaking flaxseed oil (not to mention the insane price of the stuff), and ultimately opted for high smoke-point grape seed oil ($4 @ Trader Joe's), the science-y logic being the goal of exceeding the smoke point at the highest possible temp, and indulged in $6 worth of lint-free (blue) shop towels (hardware store), and then:
1. preheat oven to ~ 200deg F;
2. give pan a vinegar/water bath (~50/50) for 30 minutes, then steel-wooled it for a minute to ensure it was down to the bone;
3. thoroughly dry ... and crank the oven to 450+;
4. using lint-free towel: thoroughly apply a coat of oil to the warmed pan, then wipe almost completely dry, then bake for about an hour;
5. apply another coat (yeah, silicone oven mitts), another wipe-off, another hour ... at most 3x;
The thing is now the gem I always wanted it to be; eggs slide around like on teflon. I wash after use in hottest water using a chainmail scrubber for any tiny stuck bits (almost none ever), and don't mind if there's a drop or two of dish soap. Dry thoroughly, on the fire for a minute to be sure, and then a quick wipe of oil - no re-seasoning, just protection. So the cleanup and maintenance is a bit of a ritual but for me it's well worth the performance.