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)

Best answer: GE suggests this.
posted by XtineHutch at 6:45 AM on February 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

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 [9 favorites]

+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 [4 favorites]

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 [1 favorite]

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 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: 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 [2 favorites]

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