Before seasoning a wok if it is new, you need to clean it (even though it has never been used for cooking). You need to do this because new woks are sold coated in industrial oil to keep them from rusting during shipping and storage. The first step in how to season a wok is to remove this oil, so you need to wash a new wok vigorously with hot soapy water as the first preparation step before starting the wok seasoning process.