Just watched my cousin spend 20 minutes babying a skillet with olive oil and a paper towel before cooking eggs and it drove me nuts. You can actually run soap and water through the damn thing as long as you dry it right after, so why are we all pretending it's fragile glass?
Wait, you're telling me you actually use soap on your cast iron skillets? That seems like the kind of thing that would completely ruin the years of work you put into building up that seasoning. I've always been taught that soap is the enemy of a good cast iron pan, no matter how careful you try to be with it. @the_sam, are you sure you haven't accidentally stripped yours and just haven't noticed yet? I mean, a little bit of salt and oil is all you really need to get that thing clean.