Plastic melted onto stove element: now what?

February 1, 2021 6:35 AM

Bright kid here had a brief lapse and put a small plastic tub holding coarse salt down on a stove element that, while not on, was still hot. Yes, it melted.

Now the element – an old-style conventional coiled element – is partly encrusted with melted plastic and bits of rock salt. How do I remove this? Can I turn the heat on low and gradually melt it off, or is there some safe common solvent that will do the trick?

posted by zadcat to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

GE suggests this.
posted by XtineHutch at 6:45 AM on February 1, 2021

Not answering your question but for $30-40, I'd much rather replace the burner.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:50 AM on February 1, 2021

+1 to buying a new stove element. It costs $20-30 at your local hardware store.
posted by mekily at 7:10 AM on February 1, 2021

I would also just replace it - a new one can be shipped to your door for pretty cheap $. I've used both ereplacementparts.com appliancepartspros.com, even with exact part numbers Amazon is a flea market. The burners just pull straight out, and old cloth will help with gripping the burner. Just make certain there's no power first - but unplugging a stove can be a hassle so I would just kick off the breaker. It's less effort to go around setting all the clocks after.
posted by zenon at 7:15 AM on February 1, 2021

If you are thinking about going the 'burn it off' route, make sure the hood actually vents outdoors and doesn't just recirculate air inside the kitchen.
posted by andythebean at 9:42 AM on February 1, 2021

I should maybe have specified:
1. I'm in Canada, so commercial links may not be useful.
2. No range hood.
3. Ancient crock of a stove – I was planning to buy a more recent used stove, then I was laid off last March and have been putting off new purchases. I'm hesitant to invest much in fixing this one.
4. Footnote: the stove clock has never worked.

So I turned the burner on low, scraped off as much plastic as I could with a wooden implement, as recommended in the GE link suggested above, and it will have to do. Maybe, in some dream future, I will be able to go to the used appliance places again and buy a new stove with an oven that works (dream on!).

Thanks all.
posted by zadcat at 10:16 AM on February 1, 2021

If you have access to a powered wire brush like in an angle/bench grinder or to fit in a drill (like this one from Canadian Tire) it'll strip the plastic off without damaging the coil.
posted by Mitheral at 10:50 AM on February 1, 2021

For right now, you should be able to swap it with a rear burner. Quite nice used stoves turn up on craigslist/free in my area. Worth a look.
posted by theora55 at 11:26 AM on February 1, 2021

If you don't have a powered wire brush of the sort Mitheral mentions, try steel wool. Or, ball up some aluminum foil as a home-brew scouring pad. Tougher than pot scrubbers.
posted by notsnot at 12:22 PM on February 1, 2021